the entire thing just seemed like the biggest absurdity. even if karma had appeared to save her, the demon wasn’t being of much help. aesin could still hear her heartbeat reverberate in her ears, sucking in a sharp breath at the sudden appearance of the other. in her mind, she had imagined the woman jumping on the creature, heroically destroying it, but there she was, snuggling into her arm.
aesin hissed at her, brows furrowing into a deep frown as she kept snapping her head in between karma and the unnamed will. “what…?!”, the ritualist finally snapped, feeling flustered by the sudden closeness of the other. feeling her fingertips against her burning skin, aesin swallowed thickly – almost forgetting the intruder hovering just closeby. she felt thankful that karma didn’t disappoint in appearing in a moment of desperation. with her eyes glued onto the other’s, she let her hand grab onto her arm gently, pressing her lips together into a thin line. worry washed over her, a pinch of anger just by listening to her words. she could feel herself getting upset and pouty, absolutely knowing that she had made a mess.
“i bound it to me, didn’t i?”, she whispered to karma, trying her best to blend out the dark figure in the corner – she felt save with her demon so close, enjoying the coolness she was radiating, calming her down just the tiniest best.
“̶̂͜i̵̹͌̇ ̴̧̘̍͗a̷̤̐m̷̢̱̄̒ ̶͕͎̆s̵̫͍̐͘ṯ̶͐̒ȋ̷̹l̵͇͈̐l̵͖̙̇͐ ̶̦̑h̸̔̃ͅe̶̠͉͐ŗ̶̇ͅě̴̱͌"̵͎̆
its horribly deep voice echoed through aesin’s head, making her frown even more. she took a glance at it with a long sigh leaving her body – she had to confront it, didn’t she? there was no need to answer her question, she knew this thing was a part of her now. its emerald eyes bore through her soul and she rolled her eyes at the entire situation.
sheepishly, she brought her attention back to karma – who looked way too stunning for a situation like this, automatically inching closer to her, her slender fingers reaching out to grab onto her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. aesin leaned in, tilting her head to whisper into the demon’s ear. “we can negotiate, right?”, she asked quickly. aesin possesses a basic knowledge about wills, what she was suspecting this was. her extensive research on elementalists and mana cores surely wasn’t enough to let her be able to tell what she was binding herself to, but she could guess that this might be a beast will of some sorts.
what she didn’t expect, was the answer she would get soon. finally, she brought her attention back to the green eyes, staring back at her impatiently. clearing her throat, she grabbed onto karma’s arm a bit harder, speaking out: “what are you? and what do you want?”, aesin asked the thing.
"̶̹̪̓͐ȩ̴̩͗͗l̵̻̾̿d̵̥̈̓ẹ̴̓̂r̸̙̀͋ ̷͚͚̔̚ġ̴̜ù̸̳̼a̴̫̿̋͜r̶̝̻̈d̴̗̣͒i̴̖̊̑a̸̲̓n̴͈̠͆̊.̶̝͉̑͆"̶͕̰̒
“elder guardian?”, aesin whispered, biting her lower lip as she turned her head over to karma. “beast will after all…”, her head felt light, her body slowly feeling like it was giving up on her. with a deep breath, she tried to weigh her options: with an elder guardian bound to her, she faced powers that she had always wanted and always wanted to be able to wield, but she wasn’t quite in the mindset to think properly.
pushing her grimoire against karma’s chest, she felt herself shivering, another droplet of sweat dripping down her temple, the situation being way too overwhelming for her. “you do something.”, aesin pleaded to the demon, who had seemed to be rather useless up until now, only making her feel flustered and unfocused, and definitely not helping her heart beat slower any time soon.
Karma’s crimson lips pressed into a firm line. She wanted Aesin to understand the gravity of the situation, of the mistake she’d made in her haste to attain the power that so many frail beings coveted. It was in her nature to verbalize such thoughts and in bold, clearfaced terms. However, Narcissa’s attachment to the girl practically strangled them both at this point. She swallowed with difficulty, cursing Narcissa’s inconvenient empathical impact. She could only express her concern with a pointed look but even an expression that was outright grim and disdainful couldn’t be described as uncomely on her delicate features. She said nothing, which was ample answer to Aesin’s question. Had she bound this unstable creature to her? Absolutely.
The guardian’s presence did not...could not go unnoticed but it seemed to speak to Aesin with words Karma could not hear. Her gaze remained locked on the lovely girl, piecing together the results of their exchange from the words she muttered in order to process them; an attempt to no doubt, accept the reality of her new existence.
A deep sigh escaped the demon’s lips at the utterance of ‘elder’ before guardian. Dark eyes flicked toward the murky corner of the room where the beast’s energy eminated, glaring at the unformed mass. The sudden pressure of Aesin’s grimoire against her breast served to bring her focus back to the girl who now pleaded with her to take action. Karma clenched her jaw, the movement of muscle just barely visible beneath porcelain skin. She did not appreciate how much her words had resembled an order.
Still, Narcissa’s affection won out over Karma’s hubris and she righted herself, giving Aesin some much needed space. Despite feeling awkward and unbalanced while kneeling on the plush mess of covers, Karma’s poise and corset-restrictive posture spoke otherwise. After a steadying breath, a spark of amusement seemed to ignite in her tone and features. It was her time to shine.
“I would be delighted to facilitate a contract between the two invested parties. I would say ‘binding’ contract but you’ve expertly handled that part on your own; haven’t you, dear Neren?” the demon growled rhetorically. She opened Aesin’s grimoire from the back cover and unceremoniously ripped out a couple of blank pages. Her expression became hard now; cold as ice and demanded the undivided attention of both entities; Aesin moreso than the Elder Guardian.
A manicured hand reached upwards, thumb and forefinger nudging between her breasts to withdraw a previously concealed fountain pen. The silver, dagger-sharp tip glinted in the moonlight as she repositioned it in her hand. Slowly, she reached for Aesin’s nearest wrist, turning the delicate appendage in her grasp before piercing the skin with the tip of her pen. Her grip turned to steel, holding Aesin steady as her blood pooled inside the crystal shaft of the implement. The length of the transparent tool slowly filled with crimson ‘ink’; glints of emerald refracting in the light until it was ready for use.
The demon relinquished her hold on the contractee and immediately began to write. “This contract will detail the rights and entitlements of both entities as joint custodians of the vessel; Go Aesin,” she decreed, narrating the process for their combined convenience. “Now, my treasure,” she cooed darkly, turning darker eyes to Aesin. “It’s up to the both of you to settle on terms that are agreeable for the both of you for the forseeable future.”
“I will be happy to transcribe the terms and conditions, but first and foremost; in order for this contract to become binding, your new roommate needs a proper name.”