((Alrighty! For clarification, from this point onwards any words written in BLUE Are NPCed actions or words, anything in RED Is an Action or speech by Ilixia ^.^ ))

For years it had sat within the students old bed, hidden in a secret compartment it had remained undisturbed and undiscovered by the monsters of the island and by the faculty, but after Kanoe's bedhead had been damaged by a monster who had been searching for easy prey but found her missing the Faculty had replaced her existing bedhead with this one from storage, the head of the bed that had belonged to a 'graduate' of Shokushu.

So now it sat within Kanoe's bedroom, waiting for just the right moment to reveal its secret, the jostling and bumping during transit had unlatched the secret compartment within the bed head and now it stood slightly ajar, its hidden treasure awaiting discovery by its future owner.

It was a book, a notebook and a photo of two young women in the uniform of the Campus, on the back of the photo were printed the names Stephanie and Hayley, a dark haired girl and a Blonde respectively. The book however was the true prize containing secrets from an old student of the Campus, secrets that had been hidden since the disappearance of Stephanie a single day before her graduation...

Who knew what study of this book might reveal, that was if Kanoe found it at all...

She had been floating, who knew how long she had been floating between the stars, drifting from world to world within her domain and casting her senses outwards, but now she was lost, she had been for months? for days or years? within the Darkness all things like Time were quickly forgotten and quickly lost track of. She needed something, she needed a beacon or a familiar signpost but preferably something big, bright and Neon, in the shape of an arrow pointing to either Shokushu or Earth... it would have been nice... But for the time being all she could do was wait in the empty void, her mind turned inwards in mantras and exercises to strengthen her control over her arts, to toy with new thoughts and ideas in applying her skills to her victims... Once she found some again of course. Once she returned for she knew it was only a matter of time, a foolish summoner trying to summon a demon and failing miserably, any old artifact of hers she had made on a number of worlds, anything could be used to call her back she just had to have patience.

Most of Kanoe's classes were early in the morning leaving a very small window between waking up and leaving her room. The monster chose a poor time to hunt when majority of the dorms were empty as students head to their classes. But the witch would be none the wiser, seeing her day as a normal day or at least as normal as any day could be on Shokushu.

The Faculty knew both students' schedules and had plenty of time to get in and replace the damaged headboard. The student always did wonder how the school was able to remain in perfect shape despite the many monster attacks and various damages done while practicing her magic. It only added to the strangeness that was this island and school.

The dark witch would return first as her lover was always busy with her duties as a Prefect. Her day was uneventful, just attending boring classes while wearing the skimpy school uniform she was issued. Setting her bookbag down, a snap of the fingers was all it took to ignite the four candles that were sitting at the table. Unbuttoning her blouse, Kanoe was in the middle of changing when she noticed a panel hanging loose from the head of her bed. Rather wary, she moved closer to peer at the panel and the opening hidden behind it.

The headboard itself was only so thick so the compartment could only fit so much. Finally shaking away her paranoia, the woman reached out and gently unhinged the loose panel to find a book and a notebook. Carefully she slid and pulled out both items along with a photo of two past students that were apparently on the island at one time or another. Still only half dressed, Kanoe sat down on the bed and began to flip through notebook before moving on to the book. She found it odd to have something stashed away like this, what was this all for?

Finding out that this was in fact a journal from a past student of Shokushu immediately peaked her interest. What amazed her further though was the mention of returning home. For now, she ignored the strange scripted and focused on Stephanie's entries to find out what had happened.

It was a similar tale to those other unlucky students on campus. Their bodies and minds being abused but could not believe or remember what had happened. It had happened to Kanoe a number of times though she was a bit more aware of the monsters' existence. Stephanie mentions a book that her and her lover found that had a ritual that could summon a powerful being to their plane. But both students were wise enough to not try it.

Unfortunately, Stephanie's lover had died leaving the woman alone with nothing left but thoughts of escape. It was then that she turned to the ritual and mentioned the steps necessary to perform them. Kanoe's eyes widen slightly at the mention of a sacrifice though it was not of blood. She could feel how desperate this woman was when it was mentioned that the student knocked out another woman and tied her down. The dark witch could only gasp at the sexual acts that were required to do the summoning. But according to a few paragraphs down, the ritual had some sort of effect on the other student.

Sighing softly, Kanoe sets the book down. It was an interesting read but she had the same worries as those two students did. The dark witch already had prior failures in summonings and controlling summons. Some of those summoned beings still haunt her and her lover every once in awhile on the island. But then again, the sexual nature of this ritual may be something her newest apprentice would like to see. Hopefully she had not scared Pia too much with their first few sessions together and that the young woman would come by her room today.

Pia was a bit nervous, she had to admit.
OK, scratch that.
She was very nervous. Her first encounter with Kanoe had been.. It had been a lot of things. Intense, that described it the best. Sometimes, her heart beat faster just thinking about it. Pia was not sure what she wanted. She wanted to simply stay away, be safe, shield herself from the raw desire she had felt. She wanted to go there, to rekindle the passion she had experienced.
But she knew that Kanoe knew things she did not, could do things she could not, and could help her achieve what she could not do alone.

And deep down, she knew Kanoe had something, something she craved. Kanoe could point her towards what she wanted to be, what she was born to be. And this was why Pia was heading down the corridor, towards Kanoe's room.

Outwards, Pia looked mostly as normal.Hair in two buns. School uniform. But someone who knew her might see that she had put a great deal of care in her appearance. Perhaps because she believed an voluptarius should look as attractive as possible. Perhaps to please her new tutor. Perhaps to cover her nervousness. She wore make-up, something she did not always bother with. Just a slight touch, almost invisible. Her shoes were new. Slightly higher heels than usual, not attention grabbing, but nice. Thigh high stockings.
The devil was in the details. Perhaps so was the voluptarius, Pia hoped.

Right. Here it is!

Pia paused in front of the door. Three small knocks.
"Kanoe.. this is Pia!", she called out, softly.

The timid knock followed by the familiar soft voice made Kanoe look up from the writings she had found. She could not help but smile faintly to find that her precious new apprentice had not fled or at least not yet. The timing could not be better as the witch could use another person to discuss what she had found.

She rose to her feet and went to the door. Opening it, Pia would see the witch was still partially wearing her school uniform. Her blouse was completely unbuttoned, revealing the lacy black bra that held her well endowed chest in check. "I am glad you came over, Pia," said calmly, "Please come in. Would you like some water or tea?" Kanoe noticed something a bit different about Pia but she could not really place it. The young beginning mage looked as innocent and as appealing as ever so she might not have noticed the little touches conciously.

The witch locked the door behind her before getting whatever Pia asked for. "I was hoping you would come by as I have need of your expertise," she began, grabbing what she found in the headboard and setting it down on the table infront of the student, "I found these hidden away in a secret panel on my headboard. Not sure how the panel got loose but it has some very.. interesting information involving a ritual. It seems to follow some rather sensational and sexual methods and I would like to get your thoughts due to how your particular magic works."

While the other student flipped through what was there, Kanoe would start to remove her uniform. She changed right there in the room with Pia. Mainly, it was just because she held no concern about other women seeing her beautiful body and in some ways wanted them to stare. Another reason was just to get the mana flowing for the voluptarius for whatever may come next.

Pia flipped through the pages, absent-mindedly playing with an errant strand of hair, her lips pursed, typical sign of her concentrating. When she had entered, she had displayed her usual nervousness, coupled with feelings of fascination and submerged lust for the more powerful witch. She had politely accepted the offer of tea, and eagerly accepted the book, visibly proud when Kanoe admitted need of her expertise. Pia was not used to praise, and was often just embarrassed when she received too much of it. But when someone she had a solid dose of respect for acknowledged her skills, she could not help to bee pleased.

Shooting a glance at Kanoe as she changed, she blushed a little, and returned her gaze to the book. As was her habit, she jumped a bit back and forth, reading a little here and there, trying to get a bigger picture before homing in on the more interesting bits.

What Pia found was a bit too close to home for comfort. The similarities to herself were just too great. Wasn't her biggest wish to return home? It had been the reason for her occult research. She had even made deals with the creatures preying on herself in order to gain the knowledge she needed. And the loss of Stephanie's lover.. Pia could only feel for her. Her hands shook a little.

Trying to focus on the more academic parts. "Mardrona entities? Does that mean anything to you? I am drawing a blank here.. The writing is unfamiliar too, to be honest."
It was not like Pia had an encyclopaedic knowledge of human alphabets, but at least she should be able to make a guess. This was alien to her. Like it should mean something, but didn't. Like a thought never finished.

Then she came upon the part with the ritual. She blushed a little. Now she knew why Kanoe had wanted her to see this.

"I suppose.. The ritual.. My guess would be to use sexual energy to act as some sort of beacon, but I could be misinterpreting.. It seems very.. powerful. I am not sure what kind of effect it would have on the participants."

Once down to her bra and panties, the witch simply slipped on one of her flowing black robes. She gently pulled her braid free, letting the silver clasp hang down to the small of her back. The witch then took the time to prepared tea for both of them, bringing out the tray to set on the table. After pouring a cup for Pia, Kanoe did the same for herself. Sipping lightly, she sets the cup down to go grab her laptop.

"I was hoping that you knew anything about such an entity," she replied as she began to sift through files on the computer. One small benefit to submitting to Natsuki was this large database of ancient and magical texts. It would take too long to read through the several gigs worth of data so she simply did a search for Celestial of Mardrona and let the engine go to work. Of course just like doing a find with no parameters, this was going to take some time assuming anything is found at all.

"The runes are ones I am not familiar with either. It does include some phonetic translations but beyond that, I have no idea what the words actually mean. Could be anything from opening the gates of hell to making puffs of smoke. I have not read much further than the ritual so I am uncertain if this student actually succeeded or not. Spellcasting on this island is not exactly easy for beginners." she sipped her tea again before continuing, "If it is a beacon that attracts the entity and this entity is drawn by sexual acts or rituals, I am not sure if I want to trust such a being. Its bad enough that there are monsters on this island. We run the risk of bringing another onto this island if this ritual was attempted. Then again... if she succeeded, shouldn't this being already be here?"

Kanoe already had some bad experiences with summonings. The last thing she wanted was to add to the problems that were already on this island. "Does she mention anything else after the ritual? I figure such magic was similar to what you are pursuing and seeing your cheeks blush means I am correct, no?" She smirked faintly at the small tease to Pia. It was always amusing seeing the girl try to be innocent even after their long periods of passion together.

"Well, uh.. yes.. that is correct.", she said, getting a bit redder and more flustered. Kanoe's teasing was part of it, but the text did not help. Pia knew calling upon unknown entities was a good way to get into trouble. She knew that intimately. Yet there was something exciting about the thought. Using sexuality to call and command some unknown entity. Dangerous, but exciting..

Pia snapped out of it, and focused on Kanoe. She was wearing the same, dark robe. Pia remembered the shapes now hidden underneath it. Maybe she should get a silk robe herself? It looked comfortable, and she bet having smooth folds slide over her skin would feel good.. sexy. Mmm.. now she was even more hot and bothered.

SNAP OUT OF IT!

"The way I believe it works, is that most summoning rituals is like throwing out some sort of beacon, something to attract the attention of an entity and give it something to navigate by..",Pia looked at Kanoe to see if the better witch agreed.
"If that is correct, sexual mana could attract a being interested in sex.. but that can mean a lot. What happens depends on the being, I guess. The author seems very certain this.. Mardrona creature will help her. Maybe she is right, but how can she know?"

Hearing a soft tone from her laptop, Kanoe peered at the results of a few files. There was not much information but at least there were some things to read up on. In the world of magic and the unknown, it was impossible to have data on everything. "Well all I could find was that this Mardrona is rather playful and sexual being. I would not say that means it is harmless but it is safe to assume that it will have an appetite for sex like many of the monsters on this island."

She asked for the notebook again and flipped through the contents once more. "It does not say much more beyond the details of the ritual and the incantation. This could mean anything. She could be right and she was spirited off the island by this being. She could be wrong and was too embarassed to write down the results and simply graduated as normal. Or she could be very wrong and something else happened involving the being. In any case, if she did successfully summon something she probably completely forgot about writing the results down. Still not very comforting though."

She sighed softly as she set the notes down. "We both agree that this is more your field of study. I am willing to assist you if you wish to try this ritual. I know there are risks involved but that has never stopped me from making several of them in my own pursuits for power. I would feel more comfortable if there was a way to banish the being should things go wrong though. With your sexual mana, I have no doubt that something will come should we attempt this. I leave the decision up to you, Pia." She drank deeply from her tea as she hid her worries away. It had been mentioned many times about Kanoe's failings in summonings. Her usually negativity and paranoia were nagging away at her with the risks this attempt may have. But, if they were to succeed... The thought of leaving the island was a pleasant one to say the least.

"I-I don't know..", Pia began. She was idly flipping through the book, as if hoping one of the indecipherable sentences would suddenly transform and tell her if it was futile or not.
"Every time I have called upon something, there has been more to that than I expected. And every time it has come at a price.."

She paused. "There seems to be so many decisions I have come to regret.. Things I have regretted doing.. things I have regretted not doing. Decisions I have regretted not making.. decisions I did not know I needed to make.. We know so little. It is like diving into a pool in the dark, not knowing if there even is water in it. I wish this woman had included an instruction for translating this, at least."

She was talking aloud as much for her own benefit as for Kanoe's. In her year at Shokushu, there had been so much to handle. Being raped by monsters was enough to put most people of their footing, and then learning the truth about the island, and her probable fate. Pia had not only had to fight to keep her sanity, to keep afloat, but to perchance buy herself a tiny chance of surviving what came after. It took a lot of strength and courage to do that. And Pia was neither strong nor brave.

Huh? I did not read this before..

Pia read the last passage aloud.

"Well, either she did succeed.. or she was taken away like so many others. You know.. maybe we should do this? I mean.. some of the beings here, they have told me that I am to be taken away. And what happens then.. I won't survive it, I think. Avoiding that, it seems worth a risk. Besides, I won't be doing it alone. You are stronger than me."

Pia looked at Kanoe with big, hopeful eyes. She knew better than to believe that Kanoe was all powerful, but with her at her side, Pia might stand a chance. A chance. That was all Pia hoped for. A chance.

"Welcome to the world of magic, Pia," she replied, "This is a world we cannot possibly know everything about in our lifetime but still we strive to do so. There is no point in looking back on past regrets. Trial and error is the only way to learn this art unless you happen to have someone stronger teaching you."

Perhaps it was her years on the island but she had grown desensatized of the risks involved with what they are doing. Or maybe she was just desperate to succeed in something truly worthwhile. She was already enslaved to a monster and several others seemed to enjoy paying her revisits from time to time. Her situation could not get much worse she thought. She could not imagine it worst at least.

Kanoe blinked at the final passage that Pia read outloud. She was still skeptical but the other woman's hopes seemed to rise at the mention of freedom. In any case, this was an opportunity to look into the other student's odd form of mana and magic. The witch smiled faintly at the hopeful look and the praise she was given. This woman did know how to stroke her ego. "Seems you made your decision then," she said, rising to her feet, "I may be stronger but this particular ritual is more within your field of study. One of us has to be the beacon and we both have the potential to do so. I have an overabundance of mana and your body produces great amounts of mana when properly... stimulated. So which role do you wish to play, Pia?"

Her heart began to beat a bit faster in anticipation. Not only were they about to attempt a powerful ritual but the methods involved would send anyone's pulse racing. One of them would be in the nude, soaking in the juices of their own lusts while the other chanted the necessary incantations to call forth this being that could possibly help them.

Once the decision had been made, Pia could not help but grin. It felt good having the back up from someone more experienced, to not have to take all her worries herself. And that Kanoe, someone she felt a great deal of respect for, seemed to approve of her way of thinking was a great boost to her often undernourished ego. Pia felt stupid on a regular basis, getting some approval and acknowledgement was like balm to her soul.
And she had to admit she was exited. Both of the intellectual challenge of getting the ritual right with so little information, to have the chance to work with her new mentor and.. Yeah. The sex. She was definitely exited about that part.

She glanced shyly at Kanoe. "Well.. to generate the energy we need, both could work. I guess to optimize it, you could use your natural mana, and I could supply with mine, but.. We need someone in charge who has both power and control. I have neither, and when things get.. uh.. passionate I might not be able to do much. So maybe I will be the beacon, while you are in control? Does that sound reasonable?"

Pia looked at her mentor, hoping for her approval, like a student answering a tricky question posed by a professor. Now that she looked at her, Pia was even more exited. She was beginning to imagine what it must be like. She, vulnerable and exposed, Kanoe powerful and dominant, a proper sorceress in dark robes, wrapped in power. Pia's pulse was racing.

She was not surprised to hear Pia volunteering to be the offering. The dark witch was more experienced in not just magic but also in matters of bondage and dominance. Unlike the journal entry, she had a willing and perhaps eager participant for this ritual. "That is fine," she replied calmly, "Lets go ahead and get things set up. The bed would be more comfortable but it would be easier to draw the circles on something that does not shift when layed on so the floor will have to do."

Though they were both familiar with each other, it was somewhat awkward to soon be having sex just because they have to rather than because they want to. But once things start going, any unease would quickly be forgotten for her own desires and needs. The witch would begin moving some of the chairs to make room on the floor for Pia to lay down on when it comes time to get ready. Now it was just a matter of getting all the ink required to draw the necessary runes and symbols. She would step into the kitchen to get an empty bowl and set it on the table. With how much that needed to be drawn, she will be working Pia's body hard when she finally done.

With preparation as completed as it could be at the moment, there was nothing else left but to get down to the more intimate parts of the ritual. She would gently lift Pia's chin and lean in close to give the woman a soft kiss on the lips. "Now, I suppose we have to get you nice and comfortable for this," she cooed softly, wrapping her arms around her partner.