Chapter Text
Kohane had triple-checked the sigils.
The dusty pages of Practical Conjuring for Intermediate Mages were sprawled across her desk, held down by ink bottles, half-melted candles, and an old teacup still stained with jasmine tea. The smell of chalk and old parchment filled her cramped dorm room, and the circles drawn on the floor glowed faintly under the flickering candlelight.
She took a deep breath, wiping the sweat off her palms before tracing the final rune with the tip of her wand. Her voice trembled slightly as she began the chant, her pronunciation careful. The summoning was supposed to bring forth a guidance spirit—nothing more than a flicker of ethereal energy to offer advice for her enchantment exam tomorrow.
"Small. Harmless. Helpful," she muttered to herself, as if repeating it would make it true.
The air grew heavy. The candles dimmed. Something shifted.
It happened all at once: a deep pulse beneath her feet, like the earth itself had taken a breath. The air turned hot and dry, and a sharp gust of wind whipped through the room, scattering her notes. Kohane shielded her eyes as the summoning circle flared with crimson light.
When she dared to look again, there was someone standing in the center of the circle.
Not a guidance spirit.
Tall. Smirking. Wreathed in shadow and faint curls of smoke. She had horns that curved back from her temples like obsidian, black and polished. Her eyes glowed like embers in a dying fire. And she looked absolutely thrilled to be there.
Kohane stumbled back, her heart hammering in her chest. "You're… not what I meant to summon."
The demon gave her a look of amusement.
Kohane stared for another moment, then blurted, "Oh my god, I just spawned a demon."
"Clearly," the demon said, stretching her arms over her head like a cat waking from a nap. "But I'm flattered. Not every day a mage botches a summoning this badly and still manages to pull me through."
"I-I was just trying to summon a guidance spirit!" Kohane said, voice rising. "Something with advice! You know, safe!"
"And instead," the demon said, stepping out of the circle like the barrier didn’t even matter, "you got a contract-bound high-tier demon." She grinned. "Lucky you."
Kohane pressed herself against the desk as the demon approached, her breath catching. "Contract-bound? I didn't agree to a contract!"
"Doesn't matter," the demon said lightly, waving a hand. "You summoned me. That counts. Name's An, by the way. Demon of flame, chaos, and... inconvenient timing."
Kohane stared at her, completely out of her depth. An looked nothing like the illustrations in her textbooks. For one, those had all been terrifying. An was… well, still terrifying, but also weirdly charming in a way that made Kohane's brain short-circuit.
"You—you have to go back," Kohane said finally, voice still shaky. "This is against academy rules. If anyone finds out, I could get expelled. Or worse."
An raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I could go back. If you had the spell for that."
Kohane paled. "...There's a spell for that?"
"Oh, yeah. Probably somewhere in a different book. Not the beginner-friendly ones, though." An walked over to the desk and casually picked up one of the books, flipping through it upside-down. "Nope. Not in this one."
Kohane groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I'm going to die."
"You won't die," An said, leaning against the desk beside her. "You're my contractor now. Hurting you would be against the pact. And besides, I like your face."
Kohane peeked through her fingers, cheeks flushed. "You're not taking this seriously."
"I don't think you can take this seriously when you're conjured by someone who didn't even know what they were doing," An replied, her voice half-amused, half-intrigued. "But hey, this could be fun. You need help with magic, yeah? I am magic. We can work something out."
Kohane blinked up at her. "You'd help me?"
An grinned, her sharp teeth gleaming in the candlelight. "On one condition."
"What?"
An leaned in close, close enough for Kohane to smell the faint scent of smoke and spice that clung to her. "You stop trying to send me back."
Kohane swallowed hard. Her heart wouldn't stop racing, and she wasn't entirely sure it was from fear anymore. "...Fine. Just until I figure out how to fix this."
"Deal," An said, holding out her hand.
Kohane hesitated, then took it.
The moment their hands touched, the summoning circle flared once more, brighter than before, before finally fading to darkness. Something warm settled in Kohane's chest—a spark of unfamiliar magic, tethered now to the girl standing beside her.
An let go and gave her a wink. "Looks like we're stuck with each other, little mage."
Kohane sighed, already regretting every life choice that led to this moment.
But deep down, buried beneath the panic and the looming threat of academic doom, a part of her was... curious.
And maybe, just maybe, a little excited.