Under normal conditions, there were only two moments during the year when the spiritual and physical worlds drew close enough to travel between them.
One of those moments was today, the winter solstice.
This was the day when aspiring mages signed their familiar contracts.
However, more than just a few required items were necessary to make it possible.
"The keystone…" Azriel said with a wide grin.
"The door that connects the two worlds." He laughed as he held it in his hands.
This was his one-way ticket to the spirit world.
Azriel kept laughing until a sudden, violent cough overtook him.
He raised a hand to his mouth as he hacked, his palm staining with dark blood in the process.
"Damn it…" He muttered with a furrowed brow.
His hand trembled, his body growing weaker with each passing day, his skin turning paler and paler.
It was a gamble, but he could find a real solution there, in the realm of spiritual aberrations.
In the purple ocean, he would find what he needed.
Where the clever rabbit played with the foxes.
The foxes knew the answer.
He then pulled a small vial from his pocket, uncorked it, let a few pills fall into his palm and swallowed them dry.
The tremors eased, and some color returned to his skin.
"I need to go back…" He whispered to himself.
Then calmly returned to his home, where he began setting up a generous table for himself and his friends.
Martin, his neighbor and his late father's old friend, would soon arrive with his daughter.
'Lena should already be on her way. I'm sure they've finished preparing the portal, and so she—' His thoughts broke off when he heard footsteps approaching.
"Don't look back…" a hoarse voice said behind him, something sharp pressing into his back.
Common sense made him regret leaving the door open while living in the suburbs.
What were the odds of someone trying to rob him?
Yet that didn't worry him. If that was the case, it was the thief who should be afraid.
Many had regretted trying before, so he considered the second most likely option.
"Usually people go about this differently," he said, calmly chopping carrots.
"In a cuter way." He chuckled.
Then came some murmurs, followed by a childish bleating.
He pictured a girl about his height standing behind him with some barnyard animal, but that thought only unsettled him more.
Which one was it?
The new sister from the cathedral?
Martin's daughter, Lena?
Kara or maybe Ellie?
Then a cold hand reached for his eyes, blindfolding him.
"Who is it?" the hoarse voice asked again.
Azriel broke into a cold sweat, trying to figure out which of the many girls was playing a prank on him.
The thought that she might also be holding a knife to his back only added to his unease.
But then he exhaled, imagining the most likely answer.
"Lena… it's been a while…" he said, heart pounding against his sternum, picturing his friend's daughter.
But when he turned, a different option appeared.
"Wrong." Nelliel said with a shadowy smile.
"And who's Lena?" He swallowed hard for a moment.
"Martin's daughter, who should be on her way here… and I was just kidding, of course I knew it was you, Nell!"
She laughed, though without a trace of amusement.
"Of course you knew… you always know, don't you?"
She leaned against the table, a little goat in her arms bleating in protest at the situation.
"Of course I knew. Not many people start off by faking a robbery." He regained his composure.
"Now that you're done with your little act, help me set the table."
"I'm just preparing you." She sighed as she began helping.
"One day it'll be for real, a girl will walk through that door with a knife in her hand and ask: Azriel, my dear, which of your thousand lovers am I?
"And then you'll get it wrong… and then stab." She laughed, the goat in her arms bleating as if to validate her point.
"What a lovely story, Nelliel. And the plates? Did you set them?" She huffed at the mention.
"I'm back!" Martin shouted from the doorway, with a girl walking beside him.
"We're eager to taste your banquet, Azriel!" He laughed cheerfully, the festive mood already rubbing off on him.
"Perfect. More hands to help." Azriel said, glancing at him and at Lena by his side. A kitten hiding timidly behind her feet.
He grinned widely.
"You're going to eat my food, but first, you'll work like slaves to help me."
"W-what?" Martin stammered. "I thought—" Lena elbowed him in the ribs.
"Of course we'll help, don't worry," she said naturally, while Martin bent over clutching his stomach.
Azriel just laughed and began giving out orders to each of them.
After many hours of cooking and lively chatter, the mood settled as they all sat down at the table.
Azriel let out a deep sigh as he sat, he had worked harder than usual to prepare such a feast.
The others stared at him intently.
"Don't just look at me. The food's ready. Eat!" They broke into wide smiles before eagerly helping themselves to the pork and chicken.
The meat released a unique, delightful aroma.
The many spices had certainly done their work. The flavor was hypnotic, leaving them only wanting more.
Then Azriel coughed, drawing the attention of the hungry crowd.
"You still haven't introduced your familiars," He reminded the two girls.
Their mouths stuffed with food, looking like a pair of squirrels with bulging cheeks.
"Well?" He asked again.
"Is that really important? I think we can just call him Little Goat," Nelliel said after swallowing.
"I mean, he doesn't even have a real name, and he's not self-aware at all."
Lena beside her nodded, then cast a glance at her lap, where the kitten was curled up asleep.
The two spirit creatures were dozing peacefully alongside their masters.
"Fine, fine. Have it your way," Azriel said.
"That means we've got, let's see… one failure..." He said pointing to himself and then pointed to the girls.
"Two failures and, oh my god, three failures."Then he pointed at Martin, who was grumbling irritably.
"And one not-so-proud adult." Martin shot the girls a jealous look. "What a beautiful combo."
"You realize most people can't even get one, right? Most try for years only to fail, like our friend Martin, isn't that right, Martin?"
Martin growled in frustration.
"Yes, I tried for years and never managed a single one! Not even one! They'd all just look at me like I was some random idiot!"
"And right after, they'd demand to end the summoning." He huffed.
"You see, kids? That's what you'll turn into in the future, just like me." Azriel laughed.
"You're failures if you don't treat your familiars with proper respect."
"It's better to have none at all," Azriel said with a deep voice, "than to have one and not give it the value it deserves."