Chapter Text
Today was a very special day for Keith. It was the day every young wicche dreamed of. He had finished his final studies, earned his title, and would be sent out to work with his familiar. The animal that would help him with his job. Keith had high hopes for his familiar. He hoped for a wolf or a panther, but if he could summon some high ranking magical creature he hoped for a dragon. That would really help the young fire wicche out.
The young wicche waited patiently outside the summoning room with other wicche’s. They were all waiting for their names to be called so they could enter the room and summon their familiar. Keith was excited. He watched as the other wicche’s walked out with toads, owls, and cats. A few people came out with slightly more absurd familiars like emus, turtles, and someone ended up with a banana slug. He kind of hoped that he didn’t get a banana slug.
A girl exited the summoning room with an excitable looking terrier happily running around her legs. The region’s head wicche, Takashi Shirogane, followed behind her with a scroll in his hands. He easily spotted Keith in the crowd and smiled at him, not even needed to unroll the scroll to know he was next.
“Keith Kogane.” He called. Keith quickly made his way through the small crowd and followed Shiro into the room. Behind closed doors, Shiro chuckled and patted his head. “I can’t believe it. You’re already an adult. It feels like just yesterday when you were setting your pinky on fire when there weren’t any candles to light.”
Keith rolled his eyes and playfully jabbed Shiro in the ribcage. “Well now I am a full fledged wicche… Well, once I get my familiar…”
Shiro nodded his head in agreement as they made it into the summoning room. “Yep. Well, time to get started.”
The summoning room was large and circular with a high ceiling with a glass dome. On the ground were engravings that ensured that this room was always made for summoning familiars. Shiro’s familiar, a phoenix called Adam, pecked at the ground until he saw Shiro. At which point he flew to his master and landed on his enchanted arm made of petrified wood and stone.
“Remember the spell?” He asked Keith as he walked away from the circle.
“Of course.” Said Keith as he rolled up his sleeves. “Just give me a moment to clear my head.” Shiro shrugged and happily gestured for him to continue. Keith cracked his knuckles and cleared his head. “Fire, air, water, and earth. I call upon you to bring them forth. Light, ice, storm and night. A path to me I do invite.”
The summoning circle started to glow softly as the red energy of his manna poured into the circle causing it to glow red too. Keith closed his eyes and let his emotional defences drop. Something he hated doing, but it was important for finding the right familiar. Pouring your manna into a summoning circle was like throwing out an advertisement to the magical world and seeing who will take up the task. The better your manna the more impressive the magical creatures would try and take the job.
However, a pathetic looking familiar didn’t mean the wicche was weak or anything. A wicche’s manna could improve a lot over years. Some of the most powerful wicche’s in the land had creatures like toads and tarantulas as familiars. But having an impressive familiar right off the bat was always prefered for obvious reasons.
After a few seconds of the summoning circle glowing red with his manna, it started to flicker with different shades. It flickered orange and purple a few times, even green. This was a good sign. It meant that there were a few creatures out there that liked the look of his manna. Suddenly a wave of blue washed over the circle and an orb of light appeared in the center of the circle.
Seconds later there was a loud plop sound as Keith’s familiar manifested in front of him. It took Keith a few seconds to figure out what he was looking at. It was big and round with a dog’s face and flippers.
“... Shiro… Why the fuck is my familiar a leopard seal?” Asked Keith.
The older wicche snickered as they summoned a small wagon and ramp for Keith to move his familiar around with. “Don’t ask me. These things happen. I thought for sure I was going to get some kind of storm hawk, but I ended up with Adam instead. The old magic works in mysterious ways.” He reached over and gently scratched under his familiar’s chin, which the bird seemed to enjoy. “Now bestow your familiar with the gift sentiants.”
Keith sighed in mild annoyance, but walked up to the confused looking blue eyed seal. “Bless your heart with magic light I give the gift of wicche’s tongue.”
The seal blinked a few times and him before snorting sea water at him. The seal then waddled up the ramp and onto the wagon and looked over at Keith, snorting again.
“... Did it work?” Asked Keith.
Shiro shrugged. “It can take a little while for the magic to work. Just take your familiar outside to the gardens. Everyone else is out there getting to know their familiars.”
Keith nodded and started to drag his familiar outside. He had planned for all eventualities except for this… He didn’t think he would get an aquatic animal. He was planning to go to the mountains but how the hell was he going to do this with a seal? How the hell was he going to get his seal home in the first place? He lived on a hill.
He walked towards the pond and sat down with the seal. They were meant to talk or something, right? The seal seemed very interested in everything that was happening around them. They watched the birds and the dogs and cats doing stuff.
Keith cleared his throat to catch their attention. “So… I am Keith. I’m your Master. I am a fire wicche. My official title is lesser arcane weapons master… I guess I should name you? Are you male or female? I can give you a gender neutral name if you like?”
The seal suddenly sat up and their fur started to shiver like they had goosebumps. They sat back and opened their mouth wide. All the fur on the seal’s body became loose and flopped off like a second skin until sitting on the wagon was a naked man with tanned skin. The only thing covering his body was the seal skin. He was handsome and had a playful smirk on his face.
“I’m not a lesser magical creature. I already have a name.” They said. “The name is Lance. I’m a selkie. It’s nice to meet you, Lesser arcane weapons master Keith, my Master.”
Keith was stunned to say the least. At least now he didn’t have to worry about dragging a honking huge seal up a hill to his house anymore.
***
An hour after the last wicche summoned their familiar, everyone was allowed to travel home. Shiro came out to find Keith and was surprised to see that the seal was actually a selkie. He laughed it off and congratulated the two of them for coming together and told them to get along well. Adam squawked in approval.
The two of them started the long walk home. Keith had asked if Lance wanted some clothes or if he wanted to turn back into a seal so he could wheel him back most of the way. Lance brushed it off and said he wanted to walk on two legs for a while. He just tied his seal skin around his hips and happily followed him.
“I haven’t been this far inland before.” Said Lance as they traveled along the cobblestone path near the Lakewood forest. “I usually stick to the coast. Lots of sand and what not… Wait, does this mean there’s no fish this far in land?”
Keith shook his head. “We have a lake nearby that has a lot of fish you might like?”
“Oh cool. Thanks.”
Eventually they walked off the stone path and walked along a dirt path towards a small hill. On top of the hill was Keith’s home. It was big enough for two people and made of stone and wood. It wasn’t much, but it was his home.
“Is this where you live, Master?” Asked Lance.
“Where we live.” Corrected Keith. He wasn’t too sure how he felt about a higher magical creature like Lance calling him Master. “Um… I don’t know too much about selkie’s apart from you guys live in the sea… So…”
Lance chuckled. “That’s fine. I don’t know too much about wicche’s either.” They went inside and Lance sat down at a table. “So what does a lesser arcane weapons master do, master?”
Keith frowned and went about starting a fire to make some tea. “I make spells and enchantments to enhance weapons. Mostly small things like daggers and arrows at the moment since I am a lesser wicche. But who knows? After a few years if my work quality is good I could make some interesting things…” His eyes suddenly lit up. “I could start using sea glass… Since you’re a selkie and everything.”
“You could.”
“Yeah. What things do I need to know about selkies?”
Lance shrugged. “We’re pretty low maintenance for the most part. We like being damp, love eating fish and seafood… Oh Master, there is one very important thing you need to know about selkies.”
“Yes?”
Lance reached down and ran his fingers over his fur. “... You can’t take my fur. Ever. If I hide it somewhere for whatever reason, you can’t move it unless it’s going to get destroyed. Okay? We don’t like people touching our furs.”
Keith shrugged. He was okay with Lance setting some boundaries. He was a high level magical creature after all. Plus over the next few days he would look up how best to take care of a selkie. He assumed he might need a lot more water. Not something he ever thought he would need in abundance since his manna was linked to the element of fire. Not water. Still unsure why a selkie would even want to be the familiar to a fire wicche anyway.
He grabbed some herbs and heard a plop as something hit the ground behind him. Keith jumped and quickly turned to see that Lance had decided to pull his seal skin back on. He watched as Lance plopped along the ground towards a bed of hay in the corner that had a soft sheepskin blanket over it. He looked over at Keith and raised an eyebrow.
“Go ahead.” Said Keith. “That’s your bed for tonight. We can figure out something a little more comfortable for you tomorrow.”
Lance huffed in agreement and happily flopped onto his hay and wool bed. He yawned and closed his eyes. He seemed happy enough to be here. Keith was still more than a little confused. Something from the sea shouldn’t have been attracted to his manna when he called out for a familiar. He’d figure this out later. Lance seemed to have the right idea about sleeping. Keith would probably go ahead and do that too after he drank some tea.