A Theory of Summoning

[Anonymous]

[center:b2ud4jl0][/center:b2ud4jl0][center:b2ud4jl0]A Theory of Summoning,
Legio Materia.[/center:b2ud4jl0]

"Curious.." Leothiel watched the various number of ritualistic signs, circles and shapes that he had scribbled into the dirty road, he made some final corrections with the small stick he used as his pencil, then a pleased grin spread across his lips to bare those sharp teeth of his. A rush of joy were jolting through his body as he realized now just how probable his idea were. Those weeks of planning had not been for nothing, nor had his small journey to Suna been a waste. As it was there that he had managed to get his hands on a quite extensive Grimoire containing the various methods of demonic summoning. He gave his magical scribbles a last critical look before he wiped it away with his foot. Then he raised his eyes to watch in the direction of the small village that was the intended target of his experiment. If he had done everything correctly, as he much hoped he had, then he would create a maelstrom of demonic energies and if he were lucky maybe a gaping hole into the very realm the demons lived in. For he had spent the last week writing that very pattern he had just wiped away with his foot, around the entire village that was the target of his curiosity. The very last step of his plan were only a hour away and the excitement he felt in his stomach was almost painful in its intensity. He began to walk towards the village and luckily for him he did not meet anyone along the road, as he so loathed having to walk into people who might somehow obstruct his planning.

Though it was in the middle of the night, and people rarely traveled the roads at night, this much he knew. As he arrived at the outskirts of the village he could feel the power of the circle he had created, like a caged beast that knew it would soon win its freedom, a beast of such power that Leothiel for a second feared that he himself might have his life threatened, if it were not for the fact that he had taken many precautions in order to ensure his own safety once the ritual was activated. Or rather, as safe as one could be once everyone inside that village had their bodies transformed into walking demonic beacons, oh the chaos that was soon to come... He laughed to himself as he wiggled on the spot, he knew his magic would leave trails, yet he were quite certain there would be enough chaos for him to get to a safe distance before other magicians could sense his involvement and start hunting him, if they would even hunt him, this place would be the melting pot of demons for years to come, it would be the main attraction for anyone who had the slightest interest in these sort of things. He raised his right hand and made a subtle gesture, a small discharge of necromantic energy waves through the air and then from the sky a single large black bird suddenly soared, landing closely to Leothiel. "Is the circle whole?" He asked the bizarre fleshy bird, which merely twitched before it let out a pained gurgling noise "Curious.." The circle were whole and everything were ready, well almost everything...

He still had to finish creating the last symbol which would be placed in the middle of the village, the idea had come to Leothiel some days ago and he quite liked it. He intended to summon a giant mass of demonic creatures, mostly lesser demons, and then force them all to fuse together in the center of the village to create a rift into the realm of demons. If he could only look into that world for a hour then all the preparations, all the time spent on this project, would be worth it. He made a dismissive gesture with his hand and the bird flew into the sky again. He quite liked the bird creation and it served as a excellent scout... Seeing things from a birds eye perspective, he shuddered at the thought, he hated heights. He moved silently towards the village until he reached the first pair of houses. He crept along the walls and kept to the shadows, yet it seemed like everyone were sleeping at this hour of the night. Even the villages necromancer seemed to be sleeping, luckily for him, as Leothiel dreaded the thought of having to waste time fighting someone and endangering his whole plan... It were to close to completion, he could not fail now.

He made his way to the center of the village, which quite conveniently held a small empty square. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small knife which he slid across the palm of his right hand, letting his blood drip onto the ground while he chanted silently under his breath. Slowly the blood stained on the ground began to form complex patterns, crawling obediently on the ground to appease the twisted words spoken by Leothiel. He stood there for about a hour, undisturbed, simply chanting and watching his own blood finally creating the last of the patterns needed for his demonic circle, his mouth spread into a wicked grin as he spoke the last words of his ritual and a sudden powerful surge of demonic energies suddenly swallowed the entire village. The giant circle that were placed around the village began to glow in a intense dark red colour, and the very center of his ritual, the very place where Leothiel were standing, lit up like a small sun, a beam of radiant red energy shot into the air and anyone within several miles radius could easily see it.

Then came the screams as the world around him began to mirage and rip, the very fabrics of this worlds reality began to break down infront of his eyes. Twisted shapes began to pop out from thin air, creatures of various shapes and sizes howled in confusion and anger as they had been torn from their native plane and set down into this unknown world, they clawed and raked at Leothiel, yet the wards he had set up around himself were strong enough to keep them at bay. He made a elegant gesture with his right hand before ramming it down into the center of the square. The giant radiant beam of energy got extinguished and the air was filled with a ominous humming sound of what seemed like thousands of demonic voices, all mumbling in awe at the power they felt. The screams of the bewildered villagers suddenly became very clear, all around him people were running and screaming, having small demonic creatures latched to their bodies, clawing and tearing at their flesh. The whole scene became a bit overwhelming even for Leothiel, and for a second he felt a small flashing emotion of guilt for having used these people for his own twisted theories. Yet, he had little time to think about such as the ritual came into its final stage, and with a power strong enough to shake the very foundations of reality within the circle every demonic creature were suddenly sucked into the air, into the middle of the circle, to form a giant bubbling black mass... Leothiel let out a gasp as he felt something grow inside that bubbling twisted screaming mass of demons, it was no gate to the other side... No, this was something sentient being created, a creature of such potency that he soon realized that the feeble charms he had put on himself would not repel it...

Yet all he could do now was watch, as the black mass began to take form...

[Anonymous]

A smell, a soft in distinctive smell.. Darkness and nothing else it tries to see but cannot, it tries to hear but is unable to do that as well, the smell get's stronger, a sickly sweet smell.. No it finds that it is something different, burning flesh. It tries to move but is unable to do so, then out of nowhere  scream, a single scream.. Going as fast as it came, it tries to listen once more but only silence remains. The smell strengthens and he tries to move towards it yet he seems to be stuck. He tries to move again and it feels like something of his body is reacting, but he cannot see or hear it.. He feels something, smooth and hot.. Another scream from a distance, it does not reside as quickly as before and he listens intently. His mind becomes distracted as he grabs something by the hand, something in a long round shape.. He takes it by the hand and tries to move it but it hits something and it results in pain.. He hit himself with it and the feeling shot through his body. Another scream.. It's followed by many screams and he is unable to close his ears.. Incredible screams of pain and agony in all tones of voices. He tries to scream but his voice doesn't work.

Then suddenly a flickering vision in his sight, incredibly blurry and he can only make out the colours.. Waves of red and yellow, he connects it with the smell. "Fire" He thinks to himself and he tries to focus more.. He can feel his legs but it is like he is floating.. He cannot move from the spot where he is, the screams tear through his mind like a knife and the visions start to become more vivid.. The pain, the sound, the smell and the vision become too much, it doesn't stop and his mind feels like it is being ripped apart and his mind cannot yet interpret everything that his senses are picking up. The smell of sulfur now fills his senses and he can taste it in his mouth.. He roars! "GRAAAAHHH" His voice, it works! He yells again and every time he repeats it it becomes louder and louder. His vision is clear now and he looks around him desperately, rage filling his mind as he tries to shake loose whatever bounds keep him in place.. He looks down at his body and sees a twisted vision of a being, small arms.. Legs, heads and other bodyparts stick out from every part of his being. He looks around frantically like he is being murdered and sees a twisted sword in his hand made out of the same things as his body. He swings it left and right unable to think straight, and the pain keeps soaring through him.. The pieces of creatures seem to slowly dissappear in to his body, making place for skin followed by armor.. Metal, a dark black metal.

Finally after long desperation he looks down and sees one being... It is looking intently towards him and as a helmet forms around his head the last expression he shows is an angry one.. "What is he doing to me" He shouts inside his own mind. He feels a weight on his shoulder, gravity and he drops to the ground, dust flows forth creating a cloud around him. The body parts still have not completely merged in to his body but he knows where that creature is and he barges in that direction, holding his sword tightly in his hand... "ANSWERS" That is all he desires as he charges forth.

[Anonymous]

It began to take shape and Leothiel could feel the power even more clearly now, the creature inside that fleshy bubbling orb of demons, it was nothing he had come prepared for. All he could do now was to hope that through some incredible force of luck he would come out of this situation unharmed, he was not afraid of bodily injuries as long as he was not cleaved in half nor as long as he could manage to atleast find a safe hole in which he could lie for a couple of days while his body recovered. The villagers around him were still running around in panic, despite the fact that most demons had already been sucked into the giant blackened orb. Fires had erupted in the houses and the villagers was to busy trying to save their homes... To busy to notice the twisted phenomena taking place in the square of their own village? He suddenly snapped his eyes back to the creature as he heard a unearthly guttural roar emerging from the orb, then another one, even louder.

The orb slowly began to take on a more humanoid shape and for a moment Leothiel was to amazed at the events unfolding to focus properly on the fact that he would soon have to answer to whatever creature he had managed to summon. As he was still tied to the ritual he had no hope of moving from the spot until the creature had been properly created, he cursed silently as he began to put up magical wards around himself, casting one handed was never a good idea if you wanted potent defenses, yet it would have to do for the moment. A giant black sword emerged and then the creature was encased in a giant suit of black armor, it hanged in the air, suspended, before it fell to the ground and the weight of the creature was enough to throw up a large cloud of dust, shaking the ground. "ANSWERS!" it bellowed before coming charging directly at Leothiel, he raised both his hands just in time to cast a very basic form of defensive magic, he merely lowered the probability that the sword would hit him, then he had to rely on his own mobility to dodge it. The heavy sword slashed through the air leaving a unearthly sound in its wake, Leothiel threw himself to the side and avoided the blade, or so he thought.

Pain suddenly flared through his face and he felt blood pour from the left side of his face, dripping into his left eye obscuring his field of vision. By pure instinct he threw himself to the side as the giant blade came crushing down into the ground, a large cloud of dust forming around the hole the sword caused in the ground from the violent impact. His wasn't going like he had planned at all, and he would most likely perish if he could not get on his feet, yet the gargantuan demon was overpowering him, leaving no opening to cast any major forms of magic nor get to a safer distance. The beast raised its sword again and suddenly there was a opening! Leothiel quickly moved to his feet and raised his hands over his head, a shower of blood spraying from the palms of his hands forming a floating shield above his head, the sword came crushing down into it, sparks of energy flying everywhere as the shield absorbed the blow.

Leothiel felt the power of the creatures sword, it would most likely break his shield if he managed to get two more hits with the same amount of force. He did not think as he suddenly screamed "I will give you answers demon, if you do not take my life I shall trade it in return for information, anything you desire to know I shall tell you, anything you desire to get, I shall fetch for you!" It was rather cowardly, one might think, but one is rarely brave in the presence of such powerful demons, especially when you realize you are ate the mercy of said creature. He was attempting to buy time, so that he could build up enough preparation to send the mass of demons back to their home plane once again...

[Anonymous]

The sound of a heavy object splitting the air in it's wake.. His body felt numb as he let himself get taken over by his rage, it felt releasing after having felt so trapped. Suddenly he smelled it, fresh blood flared up his nostrils and it brought him back to his senses. The creature continued his attack however till the man spoke, yes.. He knew nothing, he wasn't even sure how he was able to speak. Where did he come from? What was he..? All he felt was this brooding darkness inside of him and he thoroughly enjoyed the smell of blood. A silence as he pressed his blade on his magical shield.. He left the sword again and punched it followed by a single handed strike with the great sword. The shield was broken and menacingly buried the tip of his sword right next to the face of the one before him.

"Speak" He said.. His voice now however was not as rumbling as when he shouted and one could make out in the furthest reaches of his speech that his voice was supported by more voices that said the exact same only softer. The being loomed over Leothiel making certain there would be no way out for the mage. His questions however were many and he was uncertain where to start once they began.. They went through his mind like clockwork.

What am i?
My body looks so strange yet I do not know what I am supposed to look like.. My body as it looked a little while ago..?

Where am I?
What is this place filled with blood and carnage...

What happened?
What happened here, the fire, the death, blood and destruction..

Who are you?
What are you and what are you doing here, what answers do you know...

Where did I come from?
What created me, where am I from and why can I not remember anything, why!?

What did you do to me?
You foul pestilence filled being.. You will answer my questions and die at my hand..

The creature looming over Leothiel slowly took off his helmet revealing long white hair and an unexpectedly humane if not intimidating yet handsome face.. The features were quite indescribable as his skin was ghostly white contrasting with his crimson black lips and two deep piercing eyes that did not show any traits of being human.. Both of them were completely red with no pupils to speak of, it showed in itself that he was a creature of magic.. Created by Leothiel at the lives of so many.

The village itself had finally noticed the dark armored creature and the few remaining that still dared stay in the village would rather risk it outside in the woods or hid away in their basements. He could hear it, the soft whispers of voices, he could nearly taste the fear of the beings that were running mindlessly from one place to another in this place that's entire vision spoke of the destruction and horror that had passed this night.

[Anonymous]

Mixed emotions, the awe at having succeeded so grandly in creating a demonic entity of such power, the many ways he could use this knowledge in the future to perform similar rituals of even greater power. If he could survive this encounter... His shield had already been destroyed and he was quite certain that trying to summon another would only anger the giant further, so he changed his tactics. "Of course, you want to know what you are? Why you are here? And 'why' you are here in this place?"

His eyes slid to the side to spot a group of villagers staring at him, their mouths ajar from the fright and awe of the two creatures and their 'conversation'. He looked back to the gargantuan demon and lowered his arms, standing in a quite relaxed manner "You are the powerful demon..." He thought about a good name for the creature and with a small grin he said "Legion.." named after the ritual itself 'Legio Materia'. "You were trapped and had your memories taken from you, the courtesy of one of your many powerful enemies I reckon..."

He watched the creature and then he looked down to the ground, seeing the small pool of blood at his feet, blood that had dripped from his cut eyebrow. "I saved you from your captivity, I realize you are confused, but I assure you I am no foe! Why would I have released you if I had any hostile intentions towards you?" He could feel the magical energies in his blood and he used those to call out to the large creature in the sky, it would reach him in a couple of minutes. All he had to do now was to keep the demon entertained.

"I learned the location of your prison from one of your enemies, and I am glad to inform you that he is no longer living... And you might wonder who your enemies are? Well, they are powerful magicians, creatures hidden in shadow..." He moved his left hand backwards a little to hide it behind the cloth of his coat, slowly forming complex patterns with his hand. "We both need to be on our guard now, for I am sure they have realized you have been released, and you will need me to survive if they attack... So this not the place for us to continue our conversation..."

Suddenly a soaring sound could be heard and only a couple of seconds later a large black creature had landed next to Leothiel heavily, throwing up a small cloud of dust. The creature had a long crooked neck and a tail could be seen swaying behind it. Two large black wings folded, its yellow glowing eyes looking to its master, the air filled with the smell of decay and blood. Leothiel took advantage of this sudden surprise and with a quick gesture of his right hand he released the seal once again, reactivating the ritual circle and with a powerful surge of magic the demonic maelstrom opened in the centre of the village once again, tearing at reality as its claws flew out towards the gargantuan creature, attempting to pull it into the center once again.

Without even glancing at the creature Leothiel quickly ran to the large winged creature and with a pair of agile steps he had sat himself at the base of the creatures neck. He threw a last glance at the giant demon as the maelstrom began to swallow it, before the creature shot into the air and into the darkness of the night...