Call to the Stars
Author's Note: This one-shot is an unusual one. It came as a request from an anonymous person, who wanted a story where Ashley converts her cauldron into a cannon and she fires Red from it - and they gave me free reign to do whatever with what happens before or after. It's an unusual request with a lot of room for interpretation and it probably isn't a fetish thing, so I decided to take it on. I took a few creative liberties with the initial prompt, but hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did writing this.
Magic has always had deep connections with the eldritch, with those beyond the stars, but Ashley had yet to commune with them.
She considered herself a failure in that regard, though she won't openly admit it. What kind of self-respecting magic caster doesn't speak with eldritch forces beyond comprehension? Only losers don't. And she doesn't want to be a loser. She doesn't want to be a failure.
And so that's why she found herself at a bazar, to pick up the things needed for her ritual to bring the damned onto Earth. She frequently found herself shopping there after joining up with WarioWare; one of the (very very few) perks of working under Wario was that he knew where to get weird stuff, and today she needed to get really weird with it.
"Is this what the otherworldly likes?" Ashley asked.
"Mmh! Yep indeed!" exclaimed Orbulon, in between bites.
She had gone on a rare shopping trip with another person – this person being her weird alien co-worker – to acquire the ingredients she needed in her quest to not be a loser. Being from space himself, he's probably the closest thing to an expert. Even though he's sorta out there.
At that moment he was currently chowing down on hamburgers. Or "hammed burgers" as he prefers to call them. His eating sickened Ashley but she found it somewhat endearing, so she let it slide.
"They might be a bit weeeeeird, but!" Orbulon took another bite. "That's just cultural differences!"
Ashley nodded along. She wasn't sure what to expect when her plan comes to fruition, but she needed to do this. For the honor. For the glory.
"Erm… Ashley…" a small voice squeaked behind her shopping cart. Of course, Ashley wasn't going to push her catalogue of stuff around and it'd be rude to make Orbulon do it. So of course, Red is handling the physical labor of shopping. "Are you… sure about this?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? It's going to be fine," she said dismissively, rolling her eyes. Ugh, why can't he just be a regular minion and unquestionably do everything she asked?
Red can only stand back and watch nervously as the girl he watched over obsessively pursued her dreams of connecting with the eldritch. Night after night he watched Ashley stooped over her cauldron and spellbooks, experimenting with all the things she bought. Every time the small imp tried to approach her, she shooed him away, demanding that he get her drinks or something. Strange lights and sounds erupted from her room at odd hours. Sometimes she called up Orbulon to get his opinions on things.
Which made Red kinda miffed. Why doesn't she listen to him? He's been telling her that all this is a bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea. Like heck, since when did summoning anything from beyond the stars helped anyone? At best, they usually end up killing whoever summoned them in these kinds of stories.
But Ashley, no, she believed in herself. She believed she can tame the unknown. Red had to admit, he admired her confidence and he would find it inspiring if the whole deal wasn't also incredibly stupid.
She soon fell asleep, usually around 3 like usual. This particular time, Red thought about sabotaging her experiments. Maybe push her research notes into a fire and try to pass it off as her forgetting to turn off her cauldron's fire and paying for her hubris. Having all that work just suddenly go up in smoke would surely demotivate her from calling to the fiends of who knows where. It all seemed so simple…
At least until he took a look at the extent of her work. Her head laid down on her desk, every inch covered by books, odd ingredients and handwritten notes. Every failure, every reaction found in her studies were meticulously detailed. While a lot of them were scientific, some of them she treated as if it was her diary, discussing her thoughts and day. But it was her most recent entry that took Red's attention the most.
"Red might be right. But I have to do this. I want my family to be proud of me. I want them to notice me. Like the demons, I will summon them to me."
Red couldn't remember the original masters of the house that summoned him to take care of their daughter. If they talked to him or to her, it was usually in the form of magical letters, no direct confrontations.
They of course sent letters to Ashley. He never read the letters addressed directly to Ashley, but she always seemed to be upset by it. She always burned them afterwards.
And so Red couldn't bring himself to sabotage all this.
A week or so later, it was all ready.
A full moon hung in the sky, directly above the hill where things were set up. A cauldron was set up on a campfire, bubbling intensely. Ashley stood by at the ready with her ingredients, spell words memorized, having successfully narrowed down the ritual that will call the unknown. Red just kinda stood by, anxious.
Orbulon was also there. "All armed up!" Orbulon said, giving Ashley a big thumbs up.
Ashley gave him a curt nod as the alien started scrambling toward his pig-shaped ship.
"Erm, why's he here?" Red asked.
Ashley looked toward the spaceship as it started to rise. "Well. I thought about your warnings. I'm still doing this, but I decided to take precautions…"
Orbulon's voice suddenly blared from a loudspeaker. "Natural Killer Cyborg Mode activate!" The mouth of his pig ship opened up wide, revealing a massive gun hidden within, aimed into the sky.
"See, everything's going to be fine. I even had the gun enchanted in case traditional weapons doesn't work," Ashley said, patting Red on the head.
"I… I don't think shooting eldritch abominations would work…" murmured Red.
Unfortunately, Ashley decided to ignore him after that, confident that her preparations are adequate. With that, she turned to the cauldron.
It was a careful ritual, one that Red didn't want to interrupt, fearing the repercussions of a botch summoning more than the summoning itself. The cauldron bubbled intensely, colorful smoke rising into the air. Between each toss of an ingredient, Ashley murmured spell words in a language that Red was not sure was of this world. Red could swear that the pot itself was also murmuring alongside Ashley, faint whispers of the unknown growing louder and more noticeable as the ritual continued.
Finally, Ashley turned to the pot, pointing her magic rod at it. "Oh dark lord, oh unholy divine, I ask that you grace us with your presence!" Her scepter glowed –
And the cauldron exploded into light, the smoke it was emitting turning into a pillar of light. Ashley tried to hold her ground, as some unnatural force starting to push her away.
Red was not so lucky and was flung off the hill. From the bottom, he could see the beam firing into the sky, straight into the moon. He squinted his eyes as he began to make his way back up.
The light subsided by the time Red got to the top, Ashley seemed… confused. Red looked around. The immediate surroundings were the same as they were before the chaotic reaction.
"That…. That should have worked," said Ashley, quietly, looking disappointed.
Red gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "Um… hey maybe next time, right?"
There will not be a next time.
To that, Ashley and Red started looking around wildly. It was a voice that spoke everywhere and nowhere.
Up here.
And so they look up.
I stare down on all of you.
And indeed, the demon was staring down at them, because the demon was the moon, a large red eye opening on the lunar surface.
A smile broke on Ashley's face, in a rare bout of being ecstatic. "I… I did it. I summoned an eldritch being…"
One of the greater ones at that. You are more skilled and knowledgeable beyond your age, witch. Knowledgeable yet foolish.
"…So what did you mean by, "There will not be a next time?"" asked Red nervously.
Because now that I have been summoned… I need the blood of a magical being.
And that rare moment of happiness for the witch turned to an even rarer moment of horror. "W-what?"
You will become one with me, witch. You will have the power you crave – but your physical form is the price.
"You can't do that!"
I can and I shall. Be jubilant, for I shall free you from your prison of flesh.
And just like that, the moon seemed to grow larger.
More eyes started opening in the craters.
Ashley held up her wand to her head like a cell phone, trying to hide her fear. "O-Orbulon, I need you."
The lesser being of the stars heard her plea. The pig ship turned up to face toward the advancing demon that manifested in the moon (or perhaps the moon was the demon all along? Nobody present wanted to think about the implications). Energy gathered at the tip of the gun, glowing with both the power of advanced technology and ancient magics. A loud crack followed, as a huge beam tried to cut into the moon.
But of course, demon or not, it's the fucking moon. Maybe if they had a bunch of giants to push that thing back into the sky, sure, but a laser did absolutely nothing.
The beam suddenly broke when, by some psychic, unnatural force, Orbulon's ship was cut plainly in two. The alien screamed, flailing his arms as he descended. He's had plenty of crash landings before, so he'd be fine.
But would anyone be if that thing reached the surface?
The creature of the stars continued to descend.
Red saw something that he rarely saw from Ashley: panic. She looked up into the sky with complete despair, legs quivering, hands trembling as she tried to maintain a tight grip on her wand.
"I… I messed up…" she said, in a quiet admittance to herself.
But her disappointment wasn't aimed at the fact that she summoned something that planned on taking her physical form.
"I'm… really not worthy of my family… I'm a failure…"
Red was quiet. He wasn't sure how to comfort the girl, as her possible demise continued to descend with ferocity. The many eyes stared down at Earth as Red heard panicked sirens rise out of the bustle of Diamond City. Would the demon stop after just Ashley? Would it go on to terrorize the people? Red's not sure, but all he could do was tremble in fear and feel pity for his charge, his charge that tried so hard to become something important.
He did not like seeing her like this.
And so Red thought. He tried to think of how to get rid of the demon, but he quickly hit a wall. If Ashley didn't know how to dispel it, neither would he. The moon would only be satisfied with the blood of a magical being…
Then the imp remembered.
"Ashley," said Red.
"…"
"It just needs the blood of a magical being. It never specified who."
The realization hit the witch. "R-red?"
"Send me up there! I'll deal with that thing!"
"Red, this is my mistake, it shouldn't be your problem… I should have listened to you…"
"Well, I mean, you should have," said Red sheepishly. "But that's in the past! You're too young to die, or, get absorbed by some monster or whatever!"
"Red…"
As scared as he was, he tried to put up a reassuring smile. "It'll be okay."
Ashley sniffled. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.
As the moon got closer though, she decided to get to work.
Her pot, now empty, was refilled with water. Ashley started throwing in whatever spare ingredients she had, working with an intense focus.
Then, she looked at Red, with tired eyes. "If you're so sure about this, get in the pot."
"What? I mean, okay…" Red hopped right into the cauldron. It was lukewarm. He wasn't sure what this was supposed to be, but it didn't seem to be solving the problem of a descending rock full of eyes. "Is this some sort of potion?"
"Well. No." Ashley pointed her wand at the cauldron and a fuse appeared in its side.
"Umm…"
She pointed her wand again and it was suddenly lit.
"Oh."
Ashley looked at Red. She looked absolutely miserable, the first time she showed this kind of face to him. "Red. Thank you."
A loud bang.
Then the imp found himself flying into the air. Passing clouds, he rapidly ascended from Ashley's makeshift cannon, heading right toward the abomination, toward the mess of eyes.
Then he found himself floating in an infinite blackness. His velocity stopped. Red twirled around in the air, trying to get a sense of place. But all he could see was blackness. He wasn't even sure how he got here. One moment he was flying toward the moon, then the next, poof.
"H-h-hello?"
Hello.
Red was suddenly surrounded by eyes. Staring at him. Judging him.
He did not like it.
…Why?
"W-w-why what?"
Why did you choose to sacrifice yourself for that girl?
Red wasn't sure how to answer that, initially.
It was by her own foolishness that she summoned me… by her arrogance that you were put into this position. Why?
He tried to think. At that moment, he thought about all the times Ashley was cruel to him, all the times she was dismissive of him, including all the moments that led up to this situation.
But then he thought of the miserable face that she showed him outwardly. And he started remembering all the times she was upset but chose to hide it, all the times she tried to hide her insecurities, her desire to impress parents that she barely saw.
And then Red remembered the good times. He remembered the times they played together, the times they sat down to eat and talk about their days. He remembered small things like Ashley trying to learn how to cook for herself and trying to show him the results. He remembered the big things, like the times Ashley practiced magic and looked toward him to see what he thought, as if he was one of the parents she wanted to grab attention from. He remembered how despite the harsh times, there were times where she tried to be close to him. It was almost familial in a way.
Red wasn't sure how long he had been thinking of this. Perhaps it was a minute. Perhaps it was days. He wasn't sure if there was even a concept of time in whatever space the abomination had dragged him into. But in that time, he found his answer.
"Because I'm the only family she has."
The abomination was silent for a bit. Finally, it spoke out.
Even after putting you through her foolish mistakes? After throwing you to me?
"Yeah!"
…
I've heard of this human concept called love before. I heard that it was very powerful.
This is what love is, isn't it?
…
I don't even feel hate in you.
I don't even feel fear in you, anymore.
Love is powerful, I suppose.
"That's kinda corny, but yeah!"
…
You two are interesting.
I can feel her love for you, as well.
She cries out as we speak, thinking that nobody can hear or feel her.
This wasn't just about power for her, unlike many that I've absorbed into my collective.
I feel a misplaced love in people distant from her.
But her familial love for you is greater than that.
…
It'd be a waste to absorb either of you into me.
...
...Let's say that these experiences will be the only payment I take…
Red jolted awake. He found himself in a bed, covered in warm sheets. He turned his head toward the window and saw that it was night time. The moon hung in the sky, at a safe distance, no eyes to be seen. For a few seconds, Red dismissed it all as an absurd dream…
But then he saw that Ashley was sitting in a chair next to him, looking shocked. She held a bowl of soup in her hands, spoon reaching out toward him – he supposed that she had been feeding him while he was out of it.
Her reaction told him that what happened was real. "Red, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, what happened?"
"I don't know. Everything just… turned to normal after you disappeared. I got Orbulon to track you down and he found you in the middle of the ocean… what on Earth did that thing do to you?"
"Hey, don't worry about it!" Red said, though, having her worry for him felt nice.
"…I'm sorry," she said, in somber admittance.
"It's fine…"
Red thought about how she felt. She was clearly shaken by her failure and what it had caused, even if things had worked out.
"But hey, Ashley… you did it though! You summoned a thing from beyond the stars!" he said happily. "I'm so proud of you!"
The mix of surprise and joy on her face felt good to him. Despite it all, she was still just a girl looking for acceptance. Surely, her parents must have heard of this incident. Would they be proud?
That no longer mattered to Ashley, because she at least made Red proud. With that, she put the soup down and pulled her minion into an embrace, simply saying: "Thank you."
It felt nice.
Red coughed. "…But please never do it again."
"…Fair."