Snatching up the book swiftly, she began to turn the weathered pages. She ignored the rips that formed at the corners, how the stiff parchment shifted out of the spine at her frantic flipping. Muttering foul curses under her breath at her own absentmindedness, Mina finally landed on the page. The words were laid out before her own piercing eyes, but it was too late. A whirlwind of thick, black smoke began to churn and she felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach at the sight of ominous ruby eyes. Of course Mina didn't bother to read through the consequences of leaving a portal open, what could go wrong, or what to be wary of. There were a number of nasty, vile creatures that could have entered the mortal world on the heels of the tiny, vicious hell cat. Though the book rested in her lap, she didn't dare remove her gaze from the slowly forming figure within the summoning circle. When the billowing dark clouds dispersed and cleared away, a man clad in black stood with a cigarette in his mouth. Carefully she watched as he flicked it to the ground, stamping it out like he could most likely do to her. The power that radiated from him was so immense that the air around them felt heavier, thicker. She could hardly breathe for the time it took her to grow better accustomed to his presence. Mina didn't need a bestiary to know that the being in the circle was a Demon Lord, a realization she tried to deny and explain away with other, improbable possibilities.<br/><br/>Surely he wasn't answering her summons.<br/><br/>With a snap of his fingers, a sound that punctuated the silence surrounding them, the little hell cat vanished into the void. Mina pushed herself up to her feet, clutching the grimoire to her chest despite the pressure the threatened to make her knees buckle. An average witch or warlock might have taken longer to right themselves, but the witch was oblivious to her own power and thought nothing of her perseverance. She believed he would be furious to be summoned, to be brought into the world to be a guardian to a little witch with no real accomplishments to speak of. It was why she felt weak at the roll of laughter that escaped him. The amusement in the melody was unexpected, and yet it did nothing to ease her worries. He was going to unleash his wrath and return to the netherworld to return to his rule. Much to her own surprise, he greeted her with all the politeness of a gentleman. He even<i>bowed.</i><br/><br/>"At my service?" She asked, eyes wide and her porcelain skin paling further. "<i>My</i>service? Y-you will be my guardian? You've accepted my summons?" A more determined witch or warlock might have been bristling with excitement, proud even. Mina appeared confused and concerned, mainly over what others might think. Usually it didn't matter what other thought of her. She slept through classes, showed up late, spoke bluntly, and slacked off on assignments and projects. But<i>this</i>This was different. Her classmates would think she cheated! No one, not even the Grand Master, was capable of summoning a Demon Lord-- mainly because they possessed the power to refuse. The being in front of her appeared oddly . . . . willing.<br/><br/>"Who . . . who are you?" She asked. A more clear question would have been '<i>which</i>Demon Lord are you?' but there were so few and she didn't want to insult him by not recognizing him. About now, she was kicking herself for being on her phone during her lessons at the Academy.