…At the rooftop of the main block,
"Ok, you guys ready?" Juin called out loudly as he looked at the two teenage boys who were standing at the other end of the roof.
"Yes!" John called back after exchanging glances with Patrick. Juin had briefed them about what he planned to do. Even though John and Patrick had never tried using a talisman before, courtesy of them not being blessed with any magical abilities, they knew some of the ways to use a talisman.
Once he made sure that everyone was at their position, Juin took out the piece of wood on which he drew the diagram and gave it a long look. He then glanced at Lucifer, who was standing right behind him with his hand on his shoulder, and said, "I"m going to start."
"As I taught you," Lucifer said with a calm tone, "focus your mind on the diagram on the talisman, form an image of it, and tell yourself that you want it."
Juin placed the piece of wood on his right palm, with the diagram facing up. He then closed his eyes as he placed his left palm above the wood. He could see a vague image of the talisman in his mind. "Focus, focus, focus…" Juin mumbled under his breath, but no matter how he focused, he could not see the image clearly in his mind.
It was as if the image was running away from him. Every time he thought he saw it clearly, the image distorted and disappeared.
"Urgh…" Juin groaned as he tried over and over again.
While Juin was trying to transfer his soul energy into reality, Lucifer watched as the talisman on Juin"s hand glowed weakly. There was a white glow, and it was very subtle, but it was there, and he could see it.
Lucifer could feel the power surging through Juin"s body, but for some reason, the power was unstable.
"Perhaps it"s due to the shackles…" Lucifer thought as he tried to feel the flow of the power in Juin"s body. It was moving erratically.
"Clear your mind, and make sure that the only thing you can see is the diagram. Take a deep breath first if you are struggling," Lucifer said softly. He could see the beads of sweat rolling down Juin"s forehead, and he knew that his vessel wasn"t faking it, not like when Juin had to run or spar.
Upon hearing Lucifer"s voice in his mind, Juin shook his head as he tried all over again, and when he did so, the soft glow on the talisman was gone.
He took a couple of deep breaths before trying again. This time, he cleared out everything in his mind, until he could see nothing but white. And slowly, he imagined that there was a huge black dot in the middle of his view.
As if the black dot was a drop of ink, Juin imagined it moving slowly as it drew out the diagram, one stroke at a time. And when the diagram was completely formed, Juin opened his eyes, and for a split second, his eyes turned red before turning back to its normal color.
"I did it?" he murmured as he looked at John and Patrick, who were standing at the other end of the roof.
When he looked down at the talisman, he saw that the diagram on the piece of wood was glowing brightly in white.
"Yeah," Lucifer mumbled. "Say something."
Juin nodded and looked at the two on the other end. He then called out, "You lousy boys!"
There was no response from the two, so he tried again, "You motherf*cker peabrains who love to suck each other"s c*cks!"
"Woah!" Lucifer gasped, having not seen this side of Juin before. He then looked at Juin in approval. Lucifer had always felt Juin to be too soft-spoken, so when he heard Juin cursing like him, he felt proud as his teacher.
"Why do I feel like he"s cursing at us?" Patrick murmured as he watched Juin shout. He could see Juin"s face turning red from all the shouting.
John looked at Juin and shrugged. He then glanced at Patrick and asked nonchalantly, "You want to confront him?"
"Erm…" Patrick cleared his throat and shook his head. The hierarchy had been formed, and they were too afraid of the aura Juin exerted to actually take any actions against him; thus, they could only obey him quietly.
"Holy…" Juin gasped after shouting for a minute. He had to take a few seconds to catch his breath. "T-They really didn"t hear me! Otherwise, the-there"s no way they would b-be standing still," he stuttered as he patted his chest slightly.
He had been yelling out all the frustrations and pain he suffered in the hands of those two for the last few years, so he was pretty knackered out.
"Juin…" Lucifer called out.
"Wait!" Juin smirked and said, "Last one!"
He then looked at those two and yelled, "You two are going to be under me now and be my f*cking b*tches!"
Juin saw the changes in the expressions of those two. The previously expressionless faces were now replaced by shock and confusion. Those two exchanged glances before turning away, keeping their eyes low.
"What…" Juin mumbled as he wondered what had happened. That was when he saw Lucifer"s face, which had this "what-the-f.u.c.k" expression on it. "Why, what happened?"
"Look down at your wood," Lucifer said as he folded his arms. He then smirked and added, "The real wood."
Juin looked down at the wooden talisman in his hand and saw that the previous white glow was gone, and in its place was just a plain diagram.
"You ran out of power to maintain the talisman, and," Lucifer pointed at the two guys standing on the other end with his chin and said, "those two heard what you just said."
Juin gulped and looked at those two. He wondered if they were angry at him. If he heard someone talk like that to him, he would probably be angry as well. Oddly enough, those two were not angry, but they seemed uncomfortable.
"Hey," Juin called out, startling those two. "Come here."
Patrick suddenly stood up straight and said nervously, "Oh, I think it"s about time for me to go. We didn"t hear anything, so your talisman worked! Ok, bye!"
"Wait, I--" Juin wanted to say something, but Patrick ran off before he could even say anything. Juin watched as Patrick opened the door and ran down the stair. He then looked at John, who jumped up slightly before running off after Patrick. "What is wrong with them?"
"After what you just shouted, I would have run too…" Lucifer smirked. "Well, I wouldn"t run. I would probably just kill you for saying those kinds of things to me. You know, to protect my royal pride... But that"s me."
"What I just shouted…" Juin thought back to his words. At first, he didn"t think that there was anything wrong with it, but after more consideration, he gasped loudly. "No!" His face turned red as he yelled at the opened door, "That"s not what I meant!!! I don"t swing that way!!!"
"Keep yelling, and the whole school would know about your... habit as well…" Lucifer laughed.