‘…………….’

Slowly, the demon breathed out, releasing it – whatever it was, that tension that had been winching his body so tight – but not moving away as he spoke, only the slightest tremor in his voice betraying the weird heat still spiralling about them.

‘Sehun! C’mon, tell me what you wanted! You wanted it enough to go to the trouble of summoning a demon, selling your soul for it – ‘

‘I did not know that part!! I didn’t… ‘  it was so difficult to speak with him so close – ‘ I wasn’t planning to.. sell my…. friggin soul for it..’

‘Well, you did.. so just tell me!! Whatever it is, I’ll do it for you. Look, that’s how it works, okay.. You have to tell me what you want me to do for you! I mean, I already know it’s not the stuff most humans go for with these type of deals.. like for instance, if you had just wished for money, then someone from the Clan of the Wind would’ve been Called – they deal in wealth, riches.. If you’d wanted political power, or position, it would have been one of the Spring Clan…they can send Influences… bu - ’

‘Whra…’ dammit!!  - he was so close, his breath was falling Sehun’s face – it was so ridiculous how much demon breath smelt like warm, tasty chocolate!! - ‘What does .. your…’

‘Us Fire folk?’ Tao finished for him, as Sehun swallowed painfully again, trying desperately to snap out of it, get his head back in –

‘Well….actually… nothing. I mean, usually we don’t get Summoned individually in the way you did.. by a specific human, ya know? We get Called by Circumstances.. like, when there’s war.. or some heavy duty rampaging to be done. Actually, I’ve seen it only once …..’

‘….mm?…’ Sehun breathed as Tao’s words fell away, the silence stretching till he was sure the phantom would hear his heart pounding

‘Ah..’ reaching his fingers along Sehun’s jawline, Tao quickly ruffled his hair vigorously, before stepping away. ‘My aunt – she got Summoned by a human a coupla hundred years back.’

‘…and... Ah…’

Wow..
Sehun took a deep breath, smoothening his hair fussily – it felt somehow like he’d been freed... let off, somehow, his mind slipping back into clarity – ‘And what happened?’ Clearing his throat, he continued, stepping forward away from the sink.

‘Well… she stayed.’

‘…huh?’

‘She stayed..with the human who called her.. they ended up together.’

‘Oh. Well.. that’s cool..’

‘Yeah well….it was kinda a huge scandal, everyone in the family was pretty worked up about it.. I was really young, ya know, I was barely a hundred at the time, but even I could tell. It’s kinda… freaky….’

‘Huh??’

‘Getting..ya know, with a human?! Ah.. no offence..’

‘……Hey!!!!!!!!!!! Who was the one who wanted to… try out stuff from that dirty mag, huh??!!! You freak, now getting with a human is freaky!!!????!??!?-‘

‘Sehun! That’s different~~ That’s just playin around~~ Hehehe, I’d forgotten about that magazine actually – Ah!! You wanna do it?? Wow, is that why you brought me here, where we’d be alone????’

‘…………………………… …………………. No. No. Don’t even –

Do not take another step!!! I brought you here, so we could talk. And if you don’t stop looking so excited in the next three seconds, I swear – ‘

 ‘…oh alright, alright, Sehun’s such a bore~~ well, anyway, other than my aunt, I can’t think of anyone from my family who’s been Summoned by a human before… ‘cept, well, that time, my granddad, once.. it was waayy before I was even born, right, so I’ve just heard this story, but um, there was this chick, this.. gorgeous,..just.. spectacular human ‘kay, and this other human liked her, so he like, wanted her? So he Summoned my granddad to get her for him… my granddad’s a genius at Sigil magic, that’s why – well, ya know how it works, right?

When you wish for something and offer to barter your Soul in exchange; you speak the Chants and Draw the Sigil here, in your world, and an identical one appears on the Other Side..and the demon who can grant your wish is pulled – or ‘Called’ – to the centre of it.. He’ll still be on the Other Side, you understand, but the Sigils act as conduits, so he can send through whatever you ask for, and take your Soul in return. Wealth, spells, growth potions… he’ll just pour out everything to you through the Sigil.

But then there are times when the Summoner needs us to do something, here, in their world – like their wish involves having us come all the way through, to, say, build a temple, or a dozen giant sand triangles in the middle of the desert or ten thousand sock puppets…

‘Wait... giant sand triangles??? Demons built the pyramids???? ‘

‘…huh?? Yeah…. It’s obviously super weird, but like, humans, man~~ Whaddya gonna do~~ there was this guy once who wanted us – the South Wind Clan, I mean, to build these like, sawed-off globe things with white marble to keep his wife’s body in…’

‘…ok…ayy….’

‘Well, anyway, when that guy wanted that girl, and cast the Rite, that’s what would have happened if my granddad hadn’t been available - someone would’ve had to come through to get that girl and take her to the Summoner…

Buutt~~~ my Grandad – he’s a genius at Sigil magic! So ya know what he did? He drew a Sigil himself!! Demons can’t draw sigils~~ and especially one from the Other Side to the Human World?!! Super difficult!  No way!! But he can, which was why when the Human wished to get that girl, he was the one Called. He drew a Sigil to the Human World where the girl was, and pulled her through it, to him – and then sent her on to the person who had Called him..  There aren’t many demons who could pull that off, hehe~ Ah! But he says I have promise!’

For a moment, Tao broke off to throw his chest out, beaming at his own reflection in the bathroom mirrors out of the corner of his eye – before getting back to his lecture.

☲☲☲

‘Ah– well, anyway, you gettit, right, the Rite is like..Wish specific, not Demon specific.. when you make a Wish, the demon who can grant it – whoever that is, depending on the wish – is the one Called…

For instance, imagine you had asked for wealth? So you’d get someone from one of the Clans of the Wind, right? But it’s more than that.. like this girl in my class, Kristi Zephyr? She’s from the East Wind Clan, which deals in precious stones; specifically from the Zephyr Family of the East Wind Clan, which has Rubies. So say you wanted wealth, but the particular type is rubies – even if you didn’t specify it in your Rite, and just wished for ‘wealth’, depending on where you live, the.. location and geography, your human economy and culture and society, say the type best suited for your optimal satisfaction is rubies – then she would be Called. Gettit?

We aim to please!!

~~ Demon Deals~~Best Value for your Soul~~ -du-dum dum du-dum dum dadadaaa ra dum!! ~ Your Very Own Personalized Deal is just a Sigil Away!! What are you waitin for!? Call now for a visit from our talented team of experts~~ One Wish Extra on Halloween and all Satanic Holidays~~ Sa-tis-faction gua-ran-teed!! ‘ Tao broke off his recitation to jab a finger at Sehun. ‘That’s the advert we have on our Tellytime Scrying Channels, they flash ‘em like, every half hour, it’s super catchy… Not to mention Lady Beelzebub dancing on this revolving stage….. aahhhhhhhh……man, is she hot…..

Well, So.. anyway, obviously whatever you want me for.. is something that you need me to do here! So it’s obviously not like, chocolate-potion! And it doesn’t involve wealth.. or power, or building stuff even, coz that is soo not something anyone from the Fire Clan would be Called for….

…………………………….

………………..

……………………it can’t be an Ability, either, right, like.. you want to be able to remember everything you read.. or the Ability to transform yourself, or…like.. bring back the dead, coz that’s all Water Clan stuff…….

………

……………………….

And even if you wanted someone assassinated or something like that, it would be someone from the Black Tribes – well, they’re actually from Fire Clan too, a side branch of the family that separated a long time ago…but anyway…

…………. I guess you could’ve wished to start a War… or have a country blown up..but..somehow, I don’t think you of all people would want something like that…

Besides humans who want things like that.. humans who sell their souls for these wishes, they’re totally eager to get it done!! They’re yelling out their desires even before the Demon can even be fully pulled in, we’ve watched plenty of Reality Tellytime Scrying!! I’ve never heard of anyone who’d string their demon along for so long, without even telling them what they wished for – unlike a certain.. big punkin head!!’

‘…………………… ………’

‘ I..dot!’

‘…………… ……………..’

‘fluffergut!!!!’

‘………………..’

‘Dock….breath……‘

‘…. Dogbreath..’

‘..Really? Huh….. I thought it was dock, ya know, like saying you have breath that stinks like ..fish and rotten goods and stuff..’

‘No, it’s dogbreath..’

‘Oh….okay, dogbreath!!’

‘………… ………..Hey, how come you know what a dock is?’

‘Oh, we studied that~’

‘In your Human class?’

‘Yup! Have I mentioned, I’m like, the top scorer in Human?~~’

‘…………. ……………………………. ……………………….BWAAAHAHAHHAAHHHA omhygod haahahahhaaaaaa-’

‘…okay, like, third….. but still!!! Oy – Oyyy!!! Don’t laugh!! I was cursing you!!! Pidgeon!!!!’

‘…….’

‘Why isn’t this working… there's something wrong with you! Your human quotient is defective!’

‘…whaddami, a robot??!’ Sehun guffawed even harder, clutching his side as Tao glared, annoyed his genius wasn’t making the impact he’d expected it to.

‘Okay, seriously, you human, what was your wish!!!? Like… burn something up, make something explode… or make it rain lava, or.. something..like that?

…………………………….

…………..

……

Aaaarrghhhhh!!! I can’t think of anything!!!! I give up tryina guess Sehuunnnaaahhh, just tell me!!’

‘……………. …………………..okay okay, the…erm…. homework..replication thing!! That’s it, that was what I called you for!!! Ehehehe!!! That’s it, you already did it! Yaay you!!’

‘……………………….. ………………….. Se. Hu. N. Do you think I’m stupid!! C’mon, you stupid lil’ human, tell me!!’

‘No!’

‘….. come on!’

‘No!!’

‘…………………………..’

The next moment, Casper the jumped him – grabbing him in a chokehold to rub his face in his armpit, vigorously mussing up his hair -  blowing loud raspberries in his ear, interspersed with cries of ‘Eewww Sehun’s farting!! Eeww – eewwwwww!!’

Pushing him off, and panting with the effort of yelling nonstop curses at him, Sehun clutched the edge of the sink. ‘Where…. Where did you learn to do that, you dummy dumbdumb jellyin-fish brain?’

‘Ah! Dumnbdun jerryinish brain..’ Tao recited to himself, trying to remember it – Sehun’s cursing was so good, he was totally gonna remember everything and save them all up till he got home – ha!! Wait till the next time he got into it with someone – Lu won’t know what hittim!!– ‘Ehh? Ahh, the fart thing?? I got bored with that game, on your… foone? - so I tapped these… flashy things, and then, there was this place, with like our Tellytime-Scrying, where we have these actors doing stories..on the water screen? This was exactly like that, this story called Episode. See there's a guy, and he can blow stuff up with just his mind… and his friend can tame instects and his girlfriend can sing…and they’re all human.. ah, but they have a dog, too – that’s this short, hairy – ‘

‘I know what a dog is!! And you do too – look, we saw one in the morning, right? When we left the station…’

‘…eehh….EH??! No – Sehun, a dog is like, bigger – Ah!! Is THAT where the ‘dogbreath’ comes from??!! Ehh.. but that dog seemed to have good breath, he was everyone’s faces, and they didn’t mind… Well, anyway, a dog is bigger than the station-animal, and it’s tail is ..floppier, and has long ears that – ‘

‘It’s the same thing!! That was a puppy, a baby dog – they might’ve been different varieties, but they’re all – ah!!! That’s all beside the point!! Don’t go clicking every link you see on my phone you , if you get a virus in- ‘

‘Virus???’

‘………………aahhh-ahhh…. Never mind, let’s – ‘

‘Sehun!!! You still haven’t told me! I can’t leave till I’ve granted your wish, I can’t go home till my work’s done. Well, I’m not really complaining, but like.. the sooner you tell me what it is, the sooner I can- ‘ 

‘But that’s impossible!!’

 ‘………………eh?’

‘It’s impossible for you to grant my wish.’

 ‘……………….. ……………………….. ……….. It is NOT!!! It’s not impossible for me!! Don’t you gettit?? That’s the whole point of the Rite!! The one particular demon in the entire world who can grant your wish the best – that’s who you Summon. So.. so basically, I’m the one best equipped to grant your wish..

Which I can’t unless you tell me what it is.’

‘…I take it back..’

‘eh?’

‘the..the rite..thing, I take it back, cancel, done, redo!’

‘You can’t~~’ Laughing, Tao looped his arm around his shoulders, tugging him about to face the vista he spread his free arm to indicate [apparently blind to the fact that it consisted of stalls of toilets], like he was in the theatre club, inviting him to claim the centre of the stage. ‘C’mon Hunnie~~ spill! How embarrassing can it be~’

‘akss…sjkl.. aahhff’ Spluttering, Sehun shook himself free, stomping off towards the door. ‘It’s not embarrassing, it’s not …… your ..you can’t… I’m going to be late back to class, hurry up, before they send out a search party!!’