Work Text:
"Please work, Please work! If I'm desperate enough to use something like this it has to work right?"
Lux looked down anxiously at the tattered book she held tight in her hands, simply titled "Summoning the otherworldly for the hopeless! Even a dummy can do it!" she had strangely found it at her school's library. Normally, Lux wouldn't have given such an obviously suspicious book the time of day, but in her current state it had somehow seemed like a logical option.
If she were to put her troubles bluntly, Lux really really wanted a girlfriend, but was entirely inept at getting one. Her social skills were practically zero thanks to a family that had strongly encouraged strict study over things like making friends or having a life. Lux had entered high school with exactly zero friends and looked to be leaving it with an unchanged total.
If she couldn't even make a single friend in three years, then getting a girlfriend was also incredibly unlikely to happen unless she turned to more extreme measures like this. Or at least that was what Lux in her current state of mind had decided upon. As for her reason for leaping past making an actual friend right into getting a girlfriend through occult measures?
You couldn't do those things with a friend, all that lovey dovey stuff and of course the............ naughty stuff. Lux began to blush wildly at her own thoughts, the heat radiating lightly fogging her glasses, as she tried to busy herself with the needed set up to chase her indecent desires away.
"I blame mother for this, what did she mean those are thoughts for adults and not for girls my age!? Maybe I wouldn't be resorting to this if we actually talked about this kind of stuff instead of ignoring it like it doesn't exist."
Lux continued to angrily grumble to herself as she finished up drawing the summoning circle and placing the 'offerings' onto a small plate in front of her. Hopefully whatever she was summoning liked seafood mix because that's all that was on sale today and Lux didn't get a very large allowance to limit ‘frivolous spending’ as her mother put it.
"Focus Lux, this is the last day of mother's business trip and I highly doubt she'd let me do something like this when she's around."
Quickly she began to leaf through the book, stopping on the page that featured the chant required alongside a handwritten note by what Lux could only assume to be from someone else desperate enough to use this. It simply said:
Try not to get upset if what's summoned doesn't seem to be your type at first because you will quickly find out they actually are even if you didn't know. Best of luck and don't forget, they know you better than you know yourself even if that fact is incredibly frustrating. -- C
"Did they actually like their results? I can't tell from this wording...."
Lux stared at the advice of her mysterious senior "C" before turning her focus back to the chant she was supposed to recite, clearing her throat and hoping it would go smoothly.
"Here goes Lux....."
Oh Being from outside the stars,
Hear my pleas and offer your blessings,
I pledge mine being to you in return.
Oh Being from outside the stars,
Heed my call and let us make our eternal oath!
Lux shut her eyes tight as she came to the end of the chant, mounting dread at what she was doing, making her fear the worst upon completing it. Yet silence was all that greeted her, after what felt like several minutes she slowly opened her eyes to see nothing had changed. Quickly she looked around her room only to again see nothing had changed, slowly realizing that of course a book she could check out from her school library was unlikely to actually summon something otherworldly.
She let the book slip from her fingers, making a dull thud upon hitting the ground, as a wave of pure embarrassment hit her. Lux began to angrily ruffle her hair as she chastised her own childishness at having even attempted something like this in the first place.
"Great Lux, pathetic enough to actually believe some obviously satirical book was legitimate! How am I ever going to live down the fact that I actually was desperate enough to resort to this!? Even if nobody will ever know I will and---Huh? Where did the seafood mix--"
"Mighty fine mix you gave me Girlie."
Lux froze at the unfamiliar voice that had come from above her, with slow stuttering movements turned to look upwards only to be greeted by the less than human appearance of a grinning girl with long blue braids. Her face was largely normal, outside of the gleaming slit golden eyes and a mouth full of shark teeth that seemed to stretch far too wide. Those were just the light playing tricks on her was all she could think. Then the large finned clawed hands and long shark tail she spotted swaying behind her legs became the focus, those definitely weren’t . Darkish strips lined both sides of her body, making her overall appearance as if a Tiger Shark and a human girl had merged into one horrifying monster.
The girl gave a giggle at Lux's stare, swimming through the air around her as she took in the appearance of her summoner with a predatory glint. She continued her circling until coming to a stop in front to give a curious look at the still stunned Lux.
"So for what reason have you summoned me? Got enemies to kill? Oh, how about a nice old rampage! Those were always a specialty of mine...."
She gave a wistful sigh at her own words, reaching out one clawed hand to stroke Lux's cheek as a bloodthirsty sneer twisted across her face.
"Just name it and I'll do it Girlie! It's only fair after managing to summon me."
"Pl-Please be my girlfriend!"
"Hehehe very wel--Huh? Girlfriend!?"
Her words seemed to have actually stunned the girl as her eyes grew wide before quickly turning to a squint.
"You summoned the great and powerful Jinx to be your girlfriend? Not to massacre your foes or obliterate a city?"
"That's exactly what I did!"
"......"
"I-I hadn't actually thought this would really work so I'm just as surprised as you if I'm being honest!"
Jinx leaned back in the air with a large grimace as she continued to squint down at Lux who had grown increasingly red at the attention.
"What's a girlfriend?"
"Huh!? Uhhhh th-the dictionary definition is someone you regularly have a romantic or s-sexual relationship with."
"......You want to have sex with me? Is that a human thing or a you thing Girlie?"
Lux couldn't hold back the cry of panic that erupted from her at Jinx's words, her face the spitting image of a boiled lobster at that moment.
"N-No, I mean m-maybe I-I haven't done any of.... that before so I don't really....! I-I more want a girlfriend to do....girlfriend things with....th-that might include....."
Her voice drifted off as she realized what she was saying and covered her face with her hands in an attempt to escape her own embarrassment. She could feel Jinx move back and forth in front, a slow giggle beginning to come from her, but Lux was currently far too overwhelmed to do anything but stand there in silence.
"Alright, let's do this girlfriend thingie then Girlie! Sounds like it might be fun if it's with you!"
Before Lux could say anything a long string of unknowable words came from Jinx, the sudden shift in air pressure that followed finally causing her to look up to see the girl pulling incredibly close to her with bright yellow eyes. Her words came to a sudden halt as she locked eyes with Lux, her face tearing apart into an otherworldly grin as she spoke her next words. Ones that Lux could actually understand.
"Jinx and Luxanna Crownguard have henceforth bound their souls for all of eternity. This bond shall never be broken as the outer gods are our witnesses, no matter what pathetic forces may attempt to destroy it."
A sudden shooting pain erupted across Lux's entire right side, causing her to let out a yelp of pain as she doubled over. It felt like something was being etched atop her skin all over her arm and down her side. She could only let out a whimper as the pain slowly began to die down even if a prickly feeling remained.
"There we go!"
Jinx's voice caused Lux to look up, noticing that there was now what looked like blue cloud tattoos covering the girl's right side. With an ominous feeling Lux looked down at herself and noticed similar tattoo patterns peeking out from below her clothes. She rushed towards her full length mirror to get a better look, pulling off her t-shirt to reveal her tattoos also covered almost her entire right side.
"Wh-What are these!?"
"Huh, those are proof of our bond. They are a bit more than normal, but that's probably because of the kind we made. It's like a.....special one?"
"C-can everyone see these...."
Jinx gave a proud snort as she floated closer, crossing her arms with a satisfied look.
"Of course! Gotta be loud and proud about forming such a special pact with the great Jinx y'know!“
Lux slumped at her words, knowing what hell awaited her as soon as her mother noticed.
"My mother is going to kill me..... gone for only a week and she comes back to find I've gotten a ridiculously large tattoo...."
She gave a start when Jinx drifted practically an inch in front of her face with a serious look.
"Look Girlie, she tries anything funny and she'll be sleeping with the dead fishes. We're a couple now, so that means I look out for you since you're a puny human."
"That's....almost really sweet if you weren't threatening to kill my mother in the same breath."
'And calling me puny, but can't get that angry at the truth. PE was always the one class I couldn't ace....'
A sudden alarm from Lux's phone caused her to frantically look towards the wall clock, a renewed panic coursed through her.
"Oh no, I didn't expect it to take this long....we're going to be late!"
Lux began to rapidly throw her clothes off to get changed, too focused to care about Jinx idly watching her do so with an interested look.
"What are we gonna be late for Girlie?"
"Technically our first date....my prom is tonight and the thought of going to it alone kind of sent me over the edge and made me think turning to the occult would be a good idea."
"Hmmm, what do humans do at this prom thingie?"
She rummaged through her closet to find which of the date dresses she had bought, but never had the chance to wear, would offer her the most coverage in hiding her new tattoos.
"Mainly dancing with your date I think, a chance for some romantic stuff like k-kissing..."
"You think ?"
"I'm basing this off of romance movies I've managed to sneak past my mother okay!? She always called those types of movies trite garbage not worth wasting time on. Ah, this one should work!"
Lux began to change into the dress that covered up the most, coming with a pair of long gloves to boot, even if she'd have some of it exposed at the upper arm area it was the best she had. Next she went about fixing up her hair and putting on a light layer of make-up as a finishing touch. All while this was happening, Jinx continued to lazily swim around in the air.
"Jinx, are you able to take on a more....human appearance?"
"Hmmm yeah."
Before Lux even noticed Jinx was casually lounging on top of her bed looking completely normal besides the blue hair that could easily be passed off as dyed. For clothes she wore an adorable looking shark hoodie and a pair of shorts, nothing that fancy, but better than the large tattered cloak she had been wearing before.
"Do you have any uh fancy clothes to go along with this dress?"
"Sure do!"
Jinx was suddenly standing in front of her in a fancy suit, giving herself a twirl as she gave a "Ta-da!" with a smirk.
"This is your preference right Girlie?"
Lux blushed at her joking tone, having never really thought about it till now, but realizing that the more she stared the more she enjoyed it.
"Y-yeah it looks great on you Jinx."
Jinx gave a giggle as she pulled her close, quickly lifting her up into a carry much to the surprise of Lux who gave a short yelp of surprise.
"Wh-what are you--"
"You were worried we'd be late right? This is way faster, trust me!"
With zero explanation she reached one hand forward and grabbed the air in front of her, tearing it to reveal a dark void that she immediately jumped into. Lux felt her entire being twist sickly before it quickly went away with a soft touch from Jinx squeezing her tighter, looking up to see a slightly apologetic look flash across her face.
The next thing she knew the two of them were standing in front of the familiar sight of her school, currently bustling with activity from the prom beginning to kick off.
"Sorry about that, I forgot humans need some sort of protection going through void jumps like that."
Jinx gave a sheepish grin, which gave Lux a clear view of the still quite pointy set of teeth she was sporting.
"Ah, Jinx your teeth...."
"Huh? But you like them like this though, why would I change it if you think they're hot?"
"......"
"Right, let's head inside to have our first date or whatever shall we?"
"Y-yes right......are you going to let me down?"
Jinx just shook her head as she began to march towards the door, not even bothering to use her hands as she kicked the door open with a wild giggle. All eyes by the door stopped to look at the sudden noise, which only made Lux curl further into Jinx out of embarrassment at all the staring that followed them as they walked forward.
"Alright, where's that dance stuff? Or do you just wanna skip to the kissing?"
"Jinx!"
Lux rushed to cover her big mouth as she began to hear whispers of confusion at her rather loud comments, along with some pointing out the new tattoo they spotted. None of it sounded like positive things from what little she could hear, especially not the hushed giggles. Jinx sent her a quizzical look as she slowly pushed Lux's hand down.
"What's the point in caring what they think? We're here to have a fun first date right? None of them matter Girlie, just us. What do you want to do?"
She froze at the serious tone, looking down at her lap as her blush returned.
"Ummm, whenever I watched the movies that included dancing I always loved how the guy would ask the girl for a dance. A-all the elegance and how politely they asked....."
"Then let's do that!"
Jinx carefully placed Lux down as she lightly bowed in front of her, one hand to her chest as the other reached out towards her. A gentle smile replaced her typical wide one, carrying none of the manic energy she usually had.
"Will you have this dance with me, Lux?"
Being called by her actual name instead of her apparent nickname caused a shiver to run down her back, gingerly taking Jinx's outstretched hand with a nod. She let herself be led quietly towards the dance floor, trying incredibly hard to ignore the stares that followed them and instead focus on Jinx.
Noticing her gaze, Jinx broke out into a more familiar wide grin.
"Was that everything you wanted?"
"....Yeah."
She gave a happy smile of her own as she watched Jinx's wide grin grow even more at her words, practically beaming as they finally arrived onto the dance floor. Before Lux could even wonder if Jinx knew how to dance she had taken her into a practiced hold and began to slowly bring the pair around the largely vacant floor. Jinx gave a giggle at the look of surprise on her face.
"Thought I wouldn't know how to dance Girlie? Been around long enough to pick up a few things, dancing being one of them!"
She pulled her into a tight twirl as she spoke, Lux giving an excited laugh as Jinx continued to skillfully guide her around the dance floor. The whispers that had been bugging her since she arrived had disappeared as she focused on the fun she was currently having with Jinx. Likely, even if her own mother had come bursting through the gymnasium doors in a furious rage she still wouldn't care.
"Hehehe, I'm having a blast, Jinx! I didn't know having a girlfriend would be this much fun!"
"Well, look forward to an eternity of fun then Girlie because I'm not going anywhere!"
Another giggle escaped Lux as Jinx pulled her close, giving a wiggle of her eyebrows as a mischievous grin appeared.
"Time for some kissing yet?"
She immediately blushed, giving a quick nod with a look of bashfulness.
"I-I've never done it before so no mocking okay?"
"Never would have dreamed of it!"
At her words, Jinx immediately leaned closer for a kiss that was hesitantly reciprocated by Lux. The entire time she felt in bliss, almost a bit sad when Jinx eventually pulled back with a satisfied look. Before Lux could say anything she had already gone back for another one, releasing a giggle afterwards as she snuggled close.
"You looked like you wanted another one, couldn't resist hehehe."
"Kinda glad you didn't."
Their time together was interrupted by a sudden cough from behind, both turning to see the figure of one of Lux's teachers Mrs. Kiramman who stood with a smile. Lux nervously separated from Jinx, who just shot a grumpy look at her over doing so, as she gave an awkward greeting to one of the few teachers she actually liked at this school. She was wearing a lovely blue dress that nicely complimented her hair, with a light blue shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders to bring it all together.
'She's always the perfect image of that cool adult...'
"H-hello Mrs. Kiramman, it's nice to see you tonight...."
"Please Lux, call me Caitlyn. I doubt anyone would raise much of a fuss tonight about us teachers being a bit more personable. This is somewhat of a send off you know?"
Lux fidgeted at her teacher's warm gaze before giving a quick nod, pulling herself closer to Jinx who took the opportunity to intertwine their fingers with a giggle.
"Is this your date for the evening Lux? I haven't seen her around school before, is she someone you met outside of it?"
Caitlyn's voice contained nothing but genuine curiosity rather than the pity or scorn she had expected at her notorious loner self actually showing up to prom with a date.
'One of the reasons she’s one of my favorites is she's never judgmental....'
"Ah, y-yes. We met a little bit ago and hit it off, her name's Jinx."
"It's nice to meet you Jinx! I'm glad the two of you became such fast friends."
"Hehehe, not just friends! I'm her girlfriend, both in the romantic and sexual way even if it's only been the former so far!"
"Jinx!"
"Huh, what's the big deal? Wanna make it clear to all the rubberneckers that you're taken so they don't get any funny ideas!"
She was practically yelling by the end, causing the crowd that had slowly been forming to scurry away like a bunch of cockroaches. Lux covered her burning face with her one free hand.
"Jinx, as much as it pains me to say, I'm not popular enough to get any form of attention besides mockery. You don't have to worry about any competition...."
"Huh!? Which one of those bozos dared to mock you Girlie? I'll tear 'em to pieces right now as soon as you point 'em out!"
Her rebuttal was interrupted by sudden laughter from in front of her, an apologetic looking Caitlyn desperately trying to get it back under control.
"I'm so sorry for laughing, it just made me a bit nostalgic of when I started dating my wife. She had a rather similar attitude is all."
"That reminds me, where is she exactly? Usually at events like this you two are always together."
Lux leaped at the chance to possibly change the subject away from what Jinx had just loudly declared, Caitlyn seeming to have realized.
"Ah, she's just finished some late night coaching out on the practice field. Their last game is only in a couple of days so some of the football team members wanted as much practice as they could get, which she was happy to help with. She should be coming soon since I told her to make sure they'd be able to make it to the prom as well. Oh, there she is, Vi!"
Caitlyn gave a quick wave to behind the pair, turning to see the familiar pink-haired figure of their schools PE teacher and coach for a good chunk of their sports teams. Lux wasn't on the best terms with her, but that was simply because she was absolutely dreadful in PE yet Vi would always push her hard to keep up with everyone else. Unlike with Caitlyn, Lux didn't need any prompting to casually refer to her as Vi since that's what she always insisted on during class.
Then, the most unexpected thing happened. Upon Vi spotting Jinx and not Caitlyn, she broke into an incredibly wide smile as she rushed over with open arms.
"Huh, Jinx!? Are my eyes deceiving me or is that my little baby sister here of all places!"
"Vi!? Is this where you've been all this time? I was starting to worry a bit y'know!"
Jinx leaped into her outstretched arms, giggling happily as Vi spun her around with incredible vigour. Even when Vi's spinning came to a stop the two still maintained their tight hug as if savouring it.
"Huh, you're Vi's sister.....but that means...."
Lux slowly turned to give Caitlyn a studious look before a gasp of realisation hit her.
"C! Y-you're C my summoning senior from that Summoning the otherworldly for the hopeless book!"
Caitlyn began to blush furiously at Lux's words.
".....Does that mean you summoned Vi........then you...."
"Hehehe, Cupcake was pretty desperate when she summoned me!"
"Vi!"
"What? It's the truth!"
"But there's no need to tell her that!"
Vi wandered back over with a confused look, Jinx still held tight.
"Why not? She's practically family y'know, summoning Jinx as her girlfriend basically means she'll also end up marrying her eventually."
It was Lux's turn to blush furiously.
"M-Marriage!? B-but I only summoned her to be my girlfriend!?"
"It's all the same thing to us though? When we make our contract it binds the souls together and that's an eternal bond. There's no way to break it."
"Yeah, don't you remember the little vow I made at the end, Lux? Our souls are bonded together now."
Caitlyn gave Lux a pat on the shoulder, leaning in close to whisper in her ear as she did.
"It's also a little frustrating to admit, but you'd likely never find anyone else as perfect for you then who you summoned. You'll never really want to date anyone else, so marriage just comes naturally. Plus, they take their contracts very seriously so you don't have that much of a choice even if you did try and date someone else."
Lux gulped at her ominous sounding words.
"W-Would she kill the other person if you tried going out with them?"
"Possibly, frankly nobody had wooed me enough after meeting Vi to really tempt me to find out."
She turned from Caitlyn, meeting eyes with Jinx who gave her a large shark toothed grin.
"Here's to an eternity together Girlie!"
'My mother is going to kill me....'
