The living room was steeped in a strange, shifting darkness. The only illumination came from a messy circle of ten black candles, their flames dancing erratically, casting long, monstrous shadows that clawed at the walls.

At the center of this amateurish séance stood Hana, holding a crumpled printout with a look of gleeful superiority. She cleared her throat dramatically, the sound swallowed by the oppressive silence.

"A-are you guys paying attention? We're at the good part! If you mess this up, the big, scary demon might not wanna come play!"

Just outside the salt-drawn circle (which was more of a lumpy, white smear), Rena stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, pretending to inspect her nails.

"Tch. Idiot. Demons aren't real." But her eyes darted towards every flicker of movement in the peripheral darkness, and her knuckles were white.

Leaning gracefully against the far wall, Rei adjusted her glasses, her expression utterly bored. "The incantation's syntax is a mess. It's a blend of faux-Latin and butchered Enochian. The probability of this achieving any effect is statistically zero. It's an elaborate piece of copypasta." Despite her cold analysis, her gaze was fixed on the candle flames, her own mind cataloging inconsistencies that felt... wrong.

And then there was Sakura. Kneeling politely just beside the circle, she looked every bit the doting, concerned older sister. A gentle, warming smile graced her lips. "Now, now... let's all support Hana-chan, okay? It's important to her."

But her eyes... they held a gentle, amused glint. She clasped her hands together, looking from one sister to the other. It was just so nice to have everyone gathered in the living room like this, doing something together for a change. My silly, energetic little sisters... she thought, a soft warmth spreading in her chest. I hope this little game makes you all happy.

"Okay! Here goes!" Hana declared, her voice shrill with excitement. She took a deep breath and began to chant from the script, her high-pitched voice mangling the ancient words into a string of cutesy, yet somehow unsettling, syllables. "Venite, magister obscuri! Ego accepi vos!"... or something like that.

She finished the final line with a dramatic flair, throwing the paper into the air. It fluttered down into the center of the circle.

Silence.

Rena let out a loud, derisive sigh. "See? Total waste of—"

WHOOSH!

Before she could finish, every single candle flame shot upwards, mutating from a warm orange to a brilliant, piercing violet. The temperature in the room plummeted. A bone-deep cold that had nothing to do with the air conditioner swept through the living room, and the shadows seemed to deepen, pressing in on them.

Hana’s triumphant smirk faltered, replaced by a flicker of genuine, wide-eyed shock. Rena went rigid, a tiny yelp escaping her lips. Rei pushed her glasses up, her face finally showing a sliver of emotion: intense, focused alarm.

Sakura, however, didn't flinch. Her smile widened, her pupils dilating in the violet glow. She leaned forward slightly, clasping her hands together as she watched the swirling air with breathless anticipation

The air in the very center of the circle began to shimmer, distorting like a heat haze. The space was twisting, coalescing, forming.