Pentacles and Pentagrams

Man, the resources you had access to on Manta Carlos were incredible. The school’s library was fascinating in its own right, and Matilda probably could have spent eons in there devouring every bit of arcane lore that Starlight Academy had to offer. In fact, that probably would have been the smart thing to do, seeing as she hadn’t even finished learning the basics.

But in Matilda’s defense, it is far easier than it should be to get your hands on some really dangerous and powerful stuff, if you know where to look for it. And, in a way, this was helping her to learn the basics. In fact, if she played her cards right, she’d be able to skip over the basics entirely.

She set aside the materials she’d been using to prepare the ritual, adding to the clutter of her already-crowded desk. Her bedroom was a mess, and not in the way of someone who was a slob, with clothes riddling the floor and a putrid odor permeating the air. No, Tilly was no slob, but her room was packed with clutter. Every bit of exposed wall was covered by a pair of mismatched tapestries, a hoard of assorted polaroid pictures, and a few movie posters for works such as Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Evil Dead, and The Princess Bride. Every surface was riddled with bottles, books, half-made potions and odd artifacts, and other such paraphernalia.

In the center of the room, a circle was drawn, encasing a five-pointed star, with each point touching the edge of the circle. Each point was equidistant to its peers, representing the five elements of fire, air, water, earth, wind, and spirit, all enclosed in a circle, representing man’s control over all such elements. Matilda hadn’t dipped her toe into the ritual component to magic, but she at least knew enough to know what this symbol was about. A pentacle was a powerful tool, not to be confused with a pentagram, which is markedly different in that the points of the star exceed the circle. If employed properly, a pentacle could contain all sorts of nasty powers, and practically anyone could make one, if they knew what they were doing. She’d never actually tried it herself, but she’d spent the past four hours measuring and redrawing the circle with an obsessive level of zeal, making sure every square inch of the pentacle was perfect. In the center of the circle lay a blank book, a fountain pen, a can of coke, and a bag of pretzels. Those last two additions were mostly just to try and be accommodating. It never hurts to be polite when invoking goetic demons, one assumes.

When at last Matilda was satisfied, she drew back from the shape, and took up her staff. She was wearing her usual school uniform, but had draped a black cloak over the ensemble, in addition to her pointed hat. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and tried to look imposing. At last, it was time.
”Paimon.” She uttered, invoking the name of the one she hoped to summon ”Come forth.”

Matilda’s eyes widened, her face a cocktail of surprise, embarrassment, confusion, and annoyance. Surprise, because someone who was most definitely not the being depicted in The Lesser Key of Solomon. Embarrassment, because she had mucked up the ritual and summoned the wrong entity. Confusion, because she’d spent hours preparing that ritual. Annoyance, because the being before her was really rather rude.

”I think I’ve got the wrong number.” She said flatly, ignoring the woman’s cursing while absentmindedly flipping through a book. She glanced up again, eying the sigil behind her, doing a double take back to the book, then back to the woman. ”...Oh. No, I was definitely right. Paimon? King of the West? Ruler of between twenty-five and two-hundred legions?” She inquired, flipping back a few pages in order to do so.

”I promise I won’t take too much of your time. My request is super small, cosmically speaking. You’ll be out of here in no time at all. Feel free to help yourself to the refreshments.” Said Matilda, waving a hand to the measly offering on the ground. While her intent had not been to seem condescending, she was now regretting that she hadn’t sprung for la croix and pizza. That would have probably been much more appealing. Still, at least she’d tried.

Were demons always this impolite? She’d expected it at first, what with Matilda thinking she’d dialed the wrong number, but now that she was sure she’d done the ritual correctly, it seemed to her that this lady didn’t have anything to be mad about. It was her job, wasn’t it? Hell, she thought demons usually enjoyed the whole “Devil’s Bargain” thing. As she slammed her hands against the barrier, Matilda couldn’t help but draw in a bit of smug satisfaction from the fact that she’d done everything so painstakingly. She wasn’t getting out of that circle till Tilly was done with her.

”Nope. That’s where you come in.” She said, setting the book down, now that the not-Paimon had confirmed she’d done everything correctly. ”I practice the ancient art of Vancian Magic, like the Wizards of old. Trouble is, I’ve been having trouble cramming more than one spell into my head, and I have tried every memorization technique out there. I had no formal teaching, so I’m convinced there’s something wrong with my technique. I’d like for you to write down, in that book there, the method through which I can memorize more spells, without causing harm to myself. I’d like you to write it in english, in a way that is clearly understandable to me. In cases where you can’t use english, I’d like you to indicate in english what language you are writing in, and why.” She listed, giving a speech that sounded somewhat prepared but still improvised, like a student bullshitting their way through a powerpoint they’d written weeks ago.

She glanced down at her hand, where she’d scribbled a few bullet points of things to make sure to cover. ”Oh yeah, and the book needs to be intact and easily readable and legible. I think that’s everything.” She said.

The demon seemed to accept her fate, asking Tilly to hand her the coke she’d provided. She stared blankly, the corners of her mouth slowly rising into a small smile.
”Sure, just let me break the circle so I can reach in there and get my arm ripped off. Or are you the soul-sucking kind of demon? Or maybe I’d just be burned alive.” She snarked, turning on her heels and marching back to her desk. ”I put it in the circle as a measure of hospitality. Do not test a Wizard's generosity."

She figured she should probably let this demon lady know she meant business, since it was abundantly clear she wanted to get out of there and hurt Matilda.

”Let me know when you’re finished, then you may leave.” She said over her shoulder, switching on a hot plate and setting a small mug upon it, dumping a bit of battery acid and a snack-sized bag of small container of hand sanitizer into it as she began to work on a potion.

In truth, Caissa had touched something of a nerve with her first remark, though Tilly did her best not to let it show. She told anyone who’d listen that she used the same ancient form of magic as Merlin himself, but the truth of the matter was her magic wasn’t as special as she’d care to admit. In fact, it was almost as if she could produce fireballs out of sheer stubbornness, as she exhibited nearly no natural magical talent. She called it what she thought it was, and she assumed her style of magic had to come from somewhere, had to have a great, storied history. The truth was, she was just a nerd with something to prove. Caissa had already managed to pull aside a shred of her facade. And she hated it.

”This circle binds you to my will. Get thee behind me.” She demanded, her demeanor changing from self-assured and teasing to visibly annoyed. ”-and get thee to work.” She snapped.

This newfound surge of bravado would be short-lived, however. As Caissa busied herself with checking the verbiage of her circle. It didn’t take long for her to find a mistake. She made it quite clearly known, and Tilly, with her back to Caissa, turned white. Hours of preparation, down the drain. She did not turn, mostly because she was afraid her expression might betray her stoicism. Or, perhaps, how red her face was becoming at her embarrassment, both at her failure, and the mockery of the demon. It wasn’t just shame, though the other feeling was one she didn’t really want to think about.

Instead, she drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and released it in a deep sigh. She caught her reflection in a shard of glass she had on the table for an invisibility potion she’d been testing, confirmed that her face was no longer red… Well, as red, and turned to face the demon. She stalked forwards, kneeling down to look at the mistake that had been indicated in the circle. She picked up her book, erased something from her diagram, and wrote in her correction. ”Well, I won’t screw that up next time” She said, a new sense of purpose in her voice.

”So, I suppose I waste an hour of your day. You said it yourself, you’ve got places to be. Give me what I want, and I’ll save you the time and let you go in a hurry. You don’t even have to write it down, I’ll take the notes.” She was trying to be reasonable now. At least, as reasonable as one could be when threatening to hold someone captive.

This was like talking to a brick wall. She was adamant not to help Matilda, it seemed. She continued writing… something, into her book, and Matilda had absolutely no doubt in her mind that the information within would be completely and utterly useless to her. At least when she was looking down, focused on her work, she was merely annoying. When she looked up, examining Matilda’s face, as if studying her, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. For the first time since summoning this demon bitch, Matilda felt a pang of fear.

When she spoke, Matilda’s face grew only redder, outraged, frustrated, humiliated. Resisting the immense urge to chuck a fireball into the circle and be done with it all, she gritted her teeth, flipping the book shut in her hand, and tossing it at the bed, grunting in frustration.

”Fine. Get the hell out of my room.” She said, trying her best to sound tough. She was pretty good at faking it. ”Your task is complete. I release you.” She sighed, turning back towards the potion she had been simmering. At least she’d get something out of this complete waste of time.