Chapter One

Wax

Blood is a penace and a price.

From the beginning, there has been no truer payment for wrongdoing than a piece of the physical body. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Pain for pain.

That being said, knowing that blood is the price for sin, would that mean that the act of opening a passage into another plane, another world would be a crime? And is that why blood is required? To repent for overstepping the human station? Perhaps. No one truly knows.

Things are the way they are for a reason, and the ones who ask too many questions often burn.

They always did say that Tsuna ran too hot for comfort.

He always felt a pressure in his brain when he did it, like someone was gripping the sides of his skull and squeezing with as much force as they could, trying to wring his brain out from every orifice. He felt the eyes on him, burning into his back with judging, swinish gazes, beady eyes intent on dissecting him to find his every flaw and put it on display.

"I don't know why this is necessary." Tsuna looked over to his brother, Ieyasu, who stood just a foot or so away with an inky black abomination on his shouder, rubbing its chin. "My brother has never summoned once, not once in all his fifteen years. Just because he comes from a line of prowess does not mean he has any."

It was a statement of facts, not an insult, and Tsuna let it wash over him with hardly any effect. The sting of these words had long since dulled.

The room they were standing in was circular and dark, it only by candles that smelled of mothballs. There were seats all about the room, and in each seat was a person wearing a set of dark suits and holding a clipboard. The one closest to Ieyasu spoke first with a stern, uncaring tone.

"That may be true, but as tradition stands it is required to test both siblings for summoning aptitude, especially if they are twins."

Another chimed in, this voice much younger and more pleasant.

"And besides, he may have another hidden talent that may not have shown up before. It is through this testing that we are able to truly judge any form of magical prowess."

His brother, taller, broader, and blonder than Tsuna was merely pursed his lips and stood aside, right hand going up to the creature on his shoulder to stroke its hide. He clearly did not approve, but he also did not care enough to stop Tsuna from trying. Ieyasu had already passed the test with flying colors, the summoning circle he had drawn had been perfect and so had the execution. The chances of him entering the academy were high.

Tsuna, on the other hand, continued to smudge the chalk circle, having to redraw it and redraw it again and again. His hands were shaking, and the basic beginner's circle he had drawn was no where near the complex geometrical shape Ieyasu had pulled off. Yet Tsuna still tried. He always tried, despite his terrible luck.

He finished, finally, and when he rose that circle was on the cold stone ground was nearly perfect, the best he had done.

One of the proctors made a note on their clipboard and Tsuna felt his confidence drop a little.

Trying to push it from his mind, he began the hardest part of the summoning. Words came back to him, from the days when his mother woud sit him down and tell him, quietly, the way of things that were not of this world.

"Tsuna, remember this. Words have power, you must respect those have power, you must respect things are not like you in their ways. You must respect while they may serve you, and help you, in an instant they could hurt you." Then she smiled at him, and whispered. "Respect and be kind."

Tsuna took a deep breath and spoke from within his chest.

"From far away I call you, and from far away you come."

you must respect those words.

"I hold within me the seed of the first man and the breath of the first ground."

you must respect yourself.

"You-"

He stopped, faltering, for his words were working for once, the power in him bubbling up and it frightened him and his brother as well, for he stepped back and looked at Tsuna with wide eyes and a pale face. Tsuna knew though, that as soon as the thing inside of him grew to a peak it was be forced to simmer back down, and it would hurt-

"You-"

these things are not like you in their ways. you must respect that.

you must respect, and be kind.

And then Tsuna, Tsuna of weak will and little strength, commited a taboo from which he could never recover. The effects rippled and exploded and changed everything, and yet, even in his oldest years he woud not regret his decision.

Tsuna changed the words.

"You and I together, come to me and we will walk side by side as one."

The power in him spilled over like liquid from a glass, ony this liquid bunred him, tears from his eyes sizzling on his cheeks and the flames of the candles growing so high the wax melted away like butter, thick liquid spilling into his circle and burning through the soles of his shoes. The scent of burning flesh and rubber hit his nose and Tsuna wanted to vomit and he did so, stomach churning up bile and saliva that splattered into the runes he had drawn.

Distantly, he heard his brother's voice.

"Tsuna, finish what you have started. Finish this! Finish this!"

Shakily, in pain and delirious, Tsuna pulled out his blade and cut his palm along the longest line.

"Blood for blood," he whispered hoarsely from a raw, bloody throat. "Blood for blood."

The drops of blood fell and met the wax and bile and tears and for the very first time, something happened.

A long time ago, a man once stopped his work to observe Tsuna draw a circle upon the ground. He watched as Tsuna cut away at himself to give the offering and stopped him.

"You give too much child," he chided softly as he began to stop the blood with a whispered word. He looked into Tsuna's eyes and spoke in a solemn tone.

"And if you give too much, they will take too much. Leave some for yourself, child."

The world was splitting in half, and there was screaming too, as if a mother was caught in the throes of birth. The tear started at the base of the circle and just kept going, forcing his brother to skip backwards and to the side in a panic as the floor gave way beneath his feet. Out of the corner of his eyes, which were pouring tears, he saw his father grab him and drag him into the stands.

Tsuna was in pain. His mouth was open wide and salivia spilled out of it in a rush and pooled in the circle. Tears hit the chalk and smeared his painstakingly drawn runes with a sizzle of steam. His hand bled and the pressure in his mind increased to the point where he was almost begging the bliss of unconsciousness to take him away, far away from this pain. The building was rumbling, stone dust shaking free of the ceiling and the protors were hiding beneath their desks, voices raised in alarm.

He was trapped standing, unable to sway or move even as his eyes rolled in his head.

Then, a massive claw poked through the rip with the sound of a crack of thunder, large and black and deadly enough to cut off Tsuna's head with barely a twitch. The claw itself was larger than Tsuna was and he nearly went hysterical, for the rest of the being must have been too huge to fit through the gap to begin with.

His very last sight before his body gave out on him was of a single eye, the slit pupil the size of Tsuna and the color a bright white, swiming about in a sea of black.

"I accept this bargain."

The deep voice rang in his ears, low and earth shaking, and was almost enough to make him vomit again, but instead he felt and large hand brace itself against his back, and faint burning sensation on his right wrist, and a hand over his eyes.

He fell asleep.

End Chapter One

A/N: Well, that was fun to write. Not gonna lie, I literally have no plans for this story. Characters? Plot? I know not what those are. I honestly don't even know if I will continue this, but it is nice to write a magic based AU once in awhile. Any thoughts on this? Feel free to let me know!