Private Voyeuristic Intention

The wizard worked tirelessly, throughout the night, to ensure that their preparations were as thorough as possible. It wasn’t actually her intent to work the ritual on Samhain, a most auspicious day, but as the preparations had ended up taken a bit longer than she’d originally projected, she deigned to wait until the eve of her 18th birthday, on the one night every year where the veil between the physical world and the forces beyond was at its weakest.

She inspected her circle, crafted of an unseemly amount of foci-quality wood, the very finest, hand-carved (with small assistance from a few power tools, still strewn about in the corner of the room) by the wizard herself, then wrapped in foil of gold, a generous donation by their lupine benefactor. The arcane inscription within was intricately inscribed in painstaking detail, all but for one blank space, yet to be filled. She smiled, for her work was good.

Next, she examined the ring. Layers of complex magic had been woven into the delicate metal, prepared especially for the demon who would wear it. The four jewels set into platinum conducted magic with incredible ease, and given the extra time to prepare for All Hallow’s Eve, the potency of her work brought her no small amount of pride. She smiled, for her work was good.

Her preparations were nearly complete. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that sported the logo of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, underneath a set of honest-to-goodness robes. Even she didn’t typically bother wearing actual robes, but for what she was about to do, she needed to feel a bit more grandiose. Besides, it was really cold out tonight. She was pretty sure she saw it snowing outside.

Filled with nervous excitement, she cradled her staff across her chest like a rifle, glancing out one of the large skylights of the warehouse. Wouldn’t you know it, the moon was full tonight. She could not make this malolly up. ”Everything’s ready.” She said simply. ”Except for- Well, y’know.”

”Bad who? Like the guy from Dr. Horrible?” She asked absentmindedly. She got the idea of what it was, but playing dumb was an easier way for her to deflect the subject somewhere else. ”Endless possibilities for enchanted items at your disposal, hand-crafted and enchanted in-house by a capable wizard, and your mind jumps to sex toys. ” She grumbled, bemoaning her underappreciation with an overdramatic flourish of her free hand.

As Caissa closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around Tilly, the wizard reflexively tightened her grip on her staff, her mind straying from her calculations, unable to focus. ”You’re in my space, Caissa-” She said weakly, trying to force her body to obey her and calm her quickening pulse.

She nodded gravely at Caissa’s threat. She understood her hesitance towards giving it away, especially with their history. Still, she didn’t back down or shy away, even through her discomfort at Caissa’s advances. She didn’t like the way the spawn of Paimon knew just how to make her feel powerless, barging into her personal space and wrapping herself about the wizard. It was all part of the game, of course, because Caissa was about to give Matilda ultimate power over herself.

”I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” She shrugged, trying not to seem too nervous. ”But you know me better than that by now.”

And then, finally, after months of preparation, the final piece was set into play. Caissa spoke the word into her hear, hardly more than a whisper. She felt a chill run down her spine as she heard it. The wizard steeled herself, raising her left hand towards the circle.

”Mezorlu.” She repeated, her voice soft and small, keeping its precious cargo safe and hidden as best it could. She snapped her fingers. Another chill. With a crack, the wood suddenly burned bright orange, the word seared into its spot on the circle. The runes upon the circle began to glow, the circuit complete. She felt the small, cursory power of the circle’s completion coursing through her own body as the ritual circle readied itself. ”Cuter than I expected.” She grinned, gesturing towards the center. ”Take your place, and let’s get this party started.” She said. Then, realizing that speaking the name would have laid a compulsion upon her, she quickly added: ”-if you so wish.” The gesture was sloppy, but giving her the choice should have freed Caissa from being compelled, and having made her request at all should have freed her from being bound again.

As Caissa entered the circle, Matilda felt the magical energies course through herself as well, dancing through her veins and forming an arcane bond between herself, the circle, its occupant, and their conduit, sleeping beauty. Her eyes actually began to glow sea green as her wizard’s senses went absolutely mad with overstimulation. She could see the lines of energy coming into place as she closed the circle around Caissa, stretched around like a spider’s web, encircling them both.

And oh, gods, the power. She had used her body to conduct high magic before, but nothing like this. Even the residual energy gave her goosebumps. Was she strong enough to channel all of this? She wasn’t the target of the ritual, so she was unlikely to get the worst of it if she failed, but she was by no means safe.

She steeled herself, inhaling deeply, finding her center. This was easy. She was a goddamned wizard. The forces of creation itself were hers to command.

”If anything, I’d prefer you put on more clothes, but you can give your little speech if you need to.” Shrugged Tilly weaving a few small spells that she’d prepared. ”There’s a nonzero chance one or both of us will be dead in the next ten minutes, so now’s the time for tearful goodbyes and confessions.” she snarked as she worked. All around them, the runes of the circle began to glow with power. The runes along the ring around the pentacle glowed green with Tilly’s channeled magic, pouring in through the top of the star formation. From each other point, a silvery pink energy, channeled through the ring, mingled with Tilly’s energy, surrounding Caissa in a protective aura. There was no going back, now.

”As for me, I’m ready to get this show on the road.” She grinned.

The power of the ritual was beginning to take shape and coalesce, wrapping Tilly in a cloak of raw power that did not feel incredibly unlike being constantly tazed, her muscles tensing uncomfortably as she directed all of her focus into the energy that was being poured into Caissa.

”Oh, I love the Addam’s family.” She grinned, just as the last of her willpower became unavailable. She was wholly dedicated to the ritual, now. She didn’t always need to use incantations for her spells, but now she was chanting, waving her free hand and directing energy through her staff, drawing sigils in the air. She was even starting to do that cool thing where a wizard starts to float while doing badass magic, a phenomenon that had baffled scholars for millenia.

Tilly’s sea-green mana melded with the pink of their sleeping beauty, subtly directing the raw power into Caissa, pouring along the lines of the runes, singing their circle with its power. Then, the energy reached the daughter of Paimon, starting at her finger where her ring rested, and creeping up her body, filling her.

Tilly's whole body quivered as the feedback send a wave of electricity down her spine. The pain was considerable, though it was nothing compared to what Caissa was likely to be experiencing. Regardless, she was too entranced in her magics to notice it as much more than a dull throb in the back of her mind.

With her wizard’s senses, she saw the pink-green energy creeping up Caissa’s body, overtaking her completely. Now it was the moment of truth. She began to speak a slew of phrases, directing the magic, very precisely. Each word was carefully chosen to manipulate the spell in just the right way so as not to kill one or both of them. Each syllable caused the magic within her to flare, flash, change color, or otherwise react, the mixture of ancient, primal magic and the mana of the earth, wind, fire, water, and spirit that Tilly commanded, manipulated, squeezed and formed as she wished. At the peak of the ritual, Tilly spoke her final words, and lightning crackled, illuminating the warehouse in a blue-white flash.

Then, slowly, the energy began to recede, and Tilly sunk to the floor. Her hands shaking with exhaustion, she sunk to her knees. ”Alea iacta est” She grunted, spewing out whatever latin she could think of to make herself sound smart. Her staff cluttered to the ground as she flopped onto her back, dizzy and weary. ”Gods, I need some excedrin.”

She wasn’t sure how long she’d laid there. She couldn’t even be sure she didn’t pass out at some point. But slowly, surely, the wizard began to rise again. She rubbed her stinging eyes, then her ringing ears. She felt her hair, still standing up as if she’d been given a static shock.
”Bejabbers, that was heavy.” She groaned, rising slowly into a sitting position, still nursing her head with shaking hands. ”I feel like I just stuck a fork in a power outlet.”

She looked over at her partner, who was currently lying in a heap of limp appendages. She shuffled towards her, realizing that she was struggling to breathe.
”Oh, come on, don’t tell me her power came with that kind of baggage.” She said as she shook Caissa’s shoulders. ”All this work just to put you to sleep till true love’s first kiss like her. Wouldn’t that be funny?” She joked, visibly nervous.

She rolled Caissa onto her back and tried to make it easier for her to breathe. She was happy to note that she was still doing that, super important. She drew a small, plastic bottle from her robe, labeled “Not Juice” and popped off the top. ”Here, c’mon, drink up. This’ll put a pep in your step.”

The potion was basically a pound of sugar mixed with morphine. It didn’t really do anything substantial except make you feel better, but she would have been afraid to introduce anything too powerful to Caissa’s system right now. For her own part, Tilly produced a bottle of pills, tapping a few out into her hand of varying sizes. She sorted through them, choose two of the largest, and returned the rest.