The Summoning.
Shrouded beneath the beauty of the earth's gravel, hidden under the deepest depths of molten rock, piping hot magma that burns even the hardest metal, and endless seeping red pools of lava that can never be crossed, lies a gate, one so huge, so wide and awaiting, yet unattainable… As mysterious and controversial as it presents itself,... it is said to supposedly lead to…
_Chapter 1_
It's the year 21XX, the current year, in general, isn't really relevant, I just felt like it was worth mentioning. A college student, struggling in his early twenties, My name is Yuki Obi, half Japanese and Half African. My birth family, which consists only of my mother and younger brother, lives all the way back in West Africa, I won't state where, because...it isn't relevant. I live with my adoptive family, well, used to. Everything as a whole is very complicated, so I will refrain from getting into the details... Regardless, my adoptive family consists of my father and mother, who gave me the name, "Yuki", with the acceptance from my birth mother all the way in Africa, which leaves my actually given name a secret…Right? Wrong, I never had one.
…..
See? Complicated.
How I landed in Japan, Kyoto is and will always remain a long story that I hate to share, but for now, we will focus on the part where I mentioned that I was "Struggling"...
It has been about four years since I moved out of my adoptive parents' home, currently staying in a decent apartment, I live by myself and usually have to "Pound the pavement" to be able to pay rent, buy food, and other daily necessities while all the while keeping myself sane by purchasing certain trinkets, items, and toys to entertain myself…Please don't take your mind into a perverted place, I'm talking about video games, actually toys for kids that can be played with by adults and of course, TV subscriptions and whatnot. Consider me a child at heart, an ong-running Otaku, a nerd if you will, although I don't look it. And you know, when you combine all that with University studies, for I'm trying to get a bachelor's degree and much more, it's rather stressful, depressing and boring... But, yep, that's me, Yuki Obi...I never would've thought that my life would've taken a huge L for the better...or maybe, for the worse.
In the middle of March, it was slowly edging closer and closer to the most horrid day of my life...My Birthday. Yes, ladies and Gents and Non-binary Pals, My Birthday. Please wonder and ponder why I would hate something supposedly precious, or don't, it doesn't matter to me, nothing will change my hate for my date of birth, it's like God somewhere made a mistake by creating me, that's if he even exists. But anyway, my birthday was closing its distance on me, and I wanted to try and forget about it, but it was fairly hard when your family members and friends constantly kept reminding you by wishing you a "Happy Birthday, Yuki!", Each time you open your social media apps and so on. It was frustrating, to say the least, but this was the norm for me.
Practically on a hot afternoon, I was in a coffee shop, scrolling through more GIFs, Pictures, and Videos of people wishing me, "Happy birthday", that couldn't come tell me in person. My face showed nothing more than nonchalance as my thumb swiped further and further and further...till I stumbled upon something of Interest…
"Hm?.." I hummed with piqued interest, intrigued by its colorful showcase. It was an Ad, or to put it more bluntly, spam mail that I had found. I would've ordinarily ignored it and swiped off, but the words I read caught me by the collar and had me hooked, "Tired of being alone? Summon your very own personal keeper, one to keep you company and entertained! Nothing inappropriate nor sexual...Unless asked for. The choice is yours~", It said.
It was weird, ominous, and completely out of the blue, not to mention that it couldn't have shown up at a better time. I saved the mail into my archives and considered checking further into it, perhaps I could delve deeper and find out more. I also happened to see an address on the bottom of the Ad, and once I had returned home, I looked it up and found out that it was the address for an Occult Shop. Go figure, am I right? I'm not really one to mess around with Occult-related things and such, and I certainly don't feel like getting cursed...But!- My curiosity got the upper hand and I caved. Later, the next day after University, I found myself standing right outside the shop's window, staring intently at the door. My determination, hell knows where it came from, forming some sort of condensed, invisible aura around me, as if I were some kind of anime character. After I had stared at the glass door for more than ten minutes and got tired of people whispering behind me as they walked past me, wondering if I was okay, I gathered my resolve and pushed on, literally pushing open the door and striding my way inside.
As soon as I made my entry, the first thing I noticed was how dim, and grim it was inside, not that it was any flasher outside, but, the light bulbs weren't very bright, and the decor was pretty dark themed as there were all sorts of abstract art that were painted in dark colors scattered around on the walls and floor...One can only assume it's for the sake of building some sort of ambiance. Glancing around the shop, I saw all sorts of knickknacks, trinkets, and many other things that left me unnerved, most of it concerning the dark arts, gothic style, Voodoo, and a lot more. I can't really describe it well, but I can assure you, it was an Occult Shop.
Anyhow, I made my way to the purple, fuzzy, cloth-covered counter, only to find no one at the register...So, Naturally, I called out, "Hello? Anyone in here?" I tried not to show or voice out my fear, because it was relatively frightening in here, but a bit of it managed to escape and linger just a little on the edge of my voice, my eyes traveling around the room lazily, searching for any signs of life, as soon as I returned my gaze back to the register and counter, I saw a lean, petite girl, she had jet black hair, purple lipstick, pale skin, and clothing her model like body was a black and white dress that was checkered. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and she slumped forward slightly, as if she had bad posture or a hunched back...But, she looked like she was my age, so I failed to understand such a thing. Strange.
She didn't say anything at first, simply staring at me with a neutral expression, blinking every now and then, I stared right back, feeling a bit uncomfortable by her daunting stares. Finally having enough of the gawking, I spoke up first and said, "I came here because of an ad." Explaining my reasons for showing up in her store, I pulled out my phone and showed her the evidence, which was the advertisement I saw in my mail. Her eyes were still glued to me, before it finally left me, thank the Lord, and trailed to my phone, watching the screen with an unreadable expression. That was the first time in my life I actually felt uneasy, like, genuinely scared.
"I see. You're a smart boy for coming as soon as you saw it. My brother posted this a few days ago, nonetheless.." She croaked, trailing off right after as her eyes wandered to the wall beside her, her voice was deep, yet feminine, however, raspy and groggy. She stared at that wall for a very long time before sighing deeply, as if frustrated with my existence, or maybe even hers. She then returned her gaze back to me, then mumbled, "Give me some moments, and I will bring out the items for your quest." Without uttering another word, she turned her back to me and disappeared behind the curtains, which were some meters behind the counter, which I assumed that's where she showed up from in the first place.
I'm not one to tell a lie, so to express how at ease I felt once I was out of her presence was "Magical", a feeling like no other. She, as a young lady, I don't even know her name by the way, was so intimidating! Never had I felt so intimidated by simply trying to converse with another human being, she would be the first, I'll have to give her that benefit of a doubt. Seriously, I'm impressed by her ability to "not give a fuck".
But enough about her and her apathy. She left me alone to stand there and wait on her, it gave me room to think back to what she had mentioned about the Ad, apparently, her brother was the one who had set it up. Makes sense, seeing as she didn't have much of an expressive bone in her body, not to be rude or anything...but if you saw just how colorful the Ad was, you yourself would agree with me, she definitely did not make it, period, and she said so herself, so...I still don't know why I'm elaborating here.
Just as I was beginning to grow bored of staring at the purple colored wall, she emerged from behind the curtains with an oddly large book and a box that was black. She plopped it before me and said bluntly, "Here. Thank you for shopping at Jinx's Occult Shop, may the nine realms give you oversight." After that, she reached her hand out over the counter and gestured, "This is the summoning kit for newbies, everything you need to know is inside and the book is complementary, you'll need it. The whole package is 660 Yen. Pay up." She was as flat lined as could be, waiting for me to drop the cash in her hand.
Confused about everything, but not wanting to ask her any questions, I obliged and handed her the money, reaching into my pocket for my wallet and paying her shortly, then picking up the book and box in my arms, turning away from her swiftly and speeding towards the exit. Just as I was about to leave, surprisingly, she called out to me and said, "I forgot. Be warned, whoever you summon, you will forever be bound to whatever contract and pact they make with you, you must fulfill your side of the deal to the very end, or it could have dire consequences, Good luck, and have a terrible day." waving me goodbye, unenthusiastically, she leaned on the counter and sighed loudly, almost dramatic as her eyes went to the ceiling, staring at it blankly. It all left me speechless, so I simply nodded in understanding and left right away, probably never coming back there again, but who knows, I might just change my mind, but she certainly left an impression on me.
I eventually returned home, tired and mentally drained. I did what I had to do before returning my attention back towards the box and book. It was most likely passed evening.
There it sat, the box on my working desk and the book neatly placed on top of it, I sat on my bed with my legs crossed, my arm cradling my other and reclining said arm to support my chin, allowing me to stroke it as I hummed and thought out loud,
"Am I really going to go through with this?"
Let's face it, it's a question worth considering. As a logical person who strives to put reasoning first before anything else...Going ahead and buying items from an "Occult Store", was beyond my normal reasoning. Period. I never thought I'd catch myself purchasing something from a place like that, without even finding out what's inside, and here I was, looking at it on my desk from my bed with my own two eyes. How... unorthodox.
Yet, stranger things have happened. Moving on, I was able to work up the courage to stand up and at least check out the contents of the box. Pushing the book aside, I popped the lid open and took a look in the box. There wasn't much inside of it though...It's contents; Six Thick Black candles, White chalk, A red note...which I assumed were Instructions, A Jagged Knife...No, I'm not joking folks, a fucking knife...And then… A Black Choker, with some other things that I'm gonna leave to your imagination...All in all, it was pretty wild. The box was fairly large, so I can understand how all that was able to fit inside, however, what left me puzzled was the purpose of the book. Turning my sights to the book, I stared at it and took in it's features, noting the inscriptions on the cover that read "Open at own risk", a large half of a sphere in the middle that was dim with some sort of fog background in it, who the fuck makes this shit?... And then, some characters that were written in some type of native language, because it definitely wasn't in Japanese, English or any language I'm familiar with.
I made a small prayer to myself, hoping for the best, before opening the book, after all you can never be too careful. As I did, it immediately shut close and a strong gust of wind pushed me back in that instant to the floor. Just before I landed, I closed my eyes shut and braced myself for the worse. And so, by the time I opened my eyes, I found myself on the ground with the Red note on my face, which I picked off me and sat up to stare at it, extremely concerned. Can't say I'm not regretting my choices, but at that moment my heart was racing, so I didn't think about anything else at that point in time but the note in my hands. With my eyes scanning its contents, I gave a nod and concluded my analysis.
Turns out, I was supposed to read the note first before touching the book, silly me! Is what I'd like to say in this situation, but one has to think back to how the book itself knew that in the first place and supposedly showed me the way, how scary. Still reading the note, I slowly got back to my feet and advanced towards the box, since it said for me to do so. Taking out the choker, I put it on, around my neck, then I grabbed the candles and chalk. First, I drew some sort of pentagonal like thing on the ground that resembled something I've seen before, then placed each candle on the end of specific lines, as directed in the note, before stepping back and overseeing my work. After examining it and checking to see if it looked exactly like what I had read, I sighed in relief and went for the book. This time, I cautiously approached it, only for me to see the sphere in the middle glowing as I got closer. It didn't alarm me though, since I've already seen a handful of craziness so far. I ignored the glowing orb and opened the book, the first page was blank, so I skipped to the second page, only to see a simple sentence in pure English, it read,
"Light, light up. Ignite the flames that refuse to die out, I call in vain, the name Runē, destroyer, Overseer and All knowing...Come to me, now."
Suddenly, the lights went off, leaving me in total darkness. I dropped the book right away and swerved my head around the room frantically, confused as to what just happened. Then, without warning, as if it would be needed, the candles came on, one by one. Each one lighting up. Once it got to the last and final candle, the pentagon, or whatever you wanna call it, started to glow, and so did the book and the collar on my neck. It was at that moment that my brain stopped trying to understand what was happening, and instead, I commenced panicking at its finest. Bolting for the door, I struggled to open it, but to no avail, it was locked! I don't remember locking it, and it refused to unlock, so I changed directions for the window, but as soon as I got near it, it shut close tight in my face, leaving me baffled. Now I was terrified. Wind from only God knows where was swirling around and around in the room, my stuff taking flight, the book with the sphere opened wide, light emitting from its pages. Everything was happening so fast and my brain could not articulate the speed of it.
"Fuck it!" I yelled out, too pissed off and agitated to care about my room and what was transpiring, and just opted to take cover from under my bed, the one thing that wasn't flying around. I hid there for quite some time till everything settled down...until..
"Get out of there, Human..."