Day 21 - Blood
Starfire anxiously watched as Raven moved around her bedroom, collecting up things they would need for their evening.
"Raven, does such a conjuring always take such preparation?"
The sorceress spared her a quick glance, "Not always. It depends on the spell that your casting. The darker the spell, the more preparation. Be glad we're not raising the dead."
Starfire blinked before nervously giggling, "You are doing the joking, yes?"
Raven simply smirked to which Starfire whimpered and clasped her hands to her chest. Starfire scooted forward as Raven used her chalk to draw a circle around where they were going to be sat.
The empath handed Starfire the six white candles, "Light these for me, please."
Nodding, Starfire lifted her index finger and shot six teeny starbolts at the wicks, illuminating the candles. Poking her tongue out, the Princess moved around the circle on her knees, placing a candle down strategically.
Raven turned back to her best friend with a large, dusty spellbook and quirked a small smile, "Nice work."
Starfire beamed, "Thank you."
"Alright." Raven said, sitting down in front of Starfire. She crossed her legs and watched as Starfire followed suit, making sure to get every movement right, "So, we've got the setup all ready. Now, we light the black candle I have here."
She pulled it from beneath her cloak. It was thicker than the white candles and had a language engraved around it but Starfire didn't particularly feel too curious over what the language was.
Raven proceeded to light the black candle and placed it between them, upon a thin plate to catch the melted wax.
"Here's the part you might not like." Raven mumbled,
"Why?" Starfire replied, hesitantly,
The empath sighed, "Because it's a summoning spell, the spirits need to latch onto something of us…"
"Okay…"
"We need to use our blood."
Starfire's eyes widened and she snatched her hand up to her chest, looking down at it before staring at Raven,
"What?"
"Not a lot… just a pinprick from your finger." Raven explained, showing her the pack of thumbtacks she had on her person.
"Will it hurt?"
Raven rolled her eyes, "Starfire, we fight and injure ourselves everyday and you're worried about a small prick on your finger?"
"That is true but we never intentionally injure ourselves." Starfire retorted, lifting her hand to illustrate her point. Raven watched her waving her hand around and in a frantic moment, grabbed hold of that hand.
"Eep! Raven!"
Her dark eyes found Starfire's, "Relax, Star."
Starfire took several breaths but shifted uneasily, "And this will bring the attention of spirits we wish to speak with?"
"It'll give us more chance, yes."
She chewed on her lip in thought,
"Look, I won't do it without your consent." Raven told her, loosening her grip a little on Starfire's hand,
"It just seems so very drastic for the spell." Starfire commented,
Raven shrugged, "Sometimes, that's the way it is. Are we doing this or not?"
Starfire sighed and turned her hand over within Raven's, revealing her palm and fingertips. Raven nodded, swapped Starfire's fingertip before quickly jabbing her skin with the needled edge, drawing blood almost immediately,
"Ow!" Starfire squeaked, pouting a little,
Raven gave her a look, "I'm sure Robin will kiss it better."
Starfire narrowed her eyes playfully as Raven squeezed her finger, watching as the blood tricked down into the flame of the black candle. It flickered and altered colour for a second before returning to normal.
"I believe it is your turn, Raven."
Raven nodded and was fast in cutting her own finger and doing as she had done with Starfire. She squeezed her finger and winced a tiny bit as the blood dribble out of the small wound and dropped into the flame.
"This seems… almost… the satanic." Starfire mumbled, quietly,
The witch smirked and shrugged, "Well, you know me… Trigon's daughter and all."
Starfire rolled her eyes and smiled briefly, something she had picked up from her best friend. Raven handed her tissue to dab her finger for excess blood and did the same as well.
With that first, disturbing part out of the way, Raven reached and took hold of Starfire's hands, the grip between them fairly solid.
"You know what to do next?" Raven checked,
The Princess nodded, "Silence and concentration before you will recite the spell."
Raven nodded and closed her eyes the same time as her best friend. Their breathing evened out and they became in sync with each other. The atmosphere was became calmer and Raven felt the perfect moment to start speaking.
" Spirits of the night, I beseech thee,
Find favor with mine call and summons,
On the seven winds I beg thee travel,
And greet me in mine presence,
For a speaking of things that need bespoke,
From this moment hence,
Thy powers do I wish invoke,
For things that need be done."
She could feel Starfire's hands somewhat shaking beneath her own and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Raven opened her eyes just before Starfire did and looked upwards,
"Now, we wait and see if we've got any takers."
Starfire gulped but nodded, watching and waiting to see if they'd be speaking to the dead tonight.