Lexa sat in front of the circle she'd painstaking etched into her floor.  The lost security deposit would be far worth it if this worked.  She'd found a spell in an old book, cracked leather cover and old metallic bindings displaying its age.  She'd quickly bought it, and had found a spell that had promised everything she wanted.  "An ye have Need, cast the Spell and A Being of Great Puissiance shall appear.  Wise beyond measure, skilled beyond mortal man, it shall deliver unto thee bliss and an end to thy strife.  Thy fondest wishes made Reale."

Thirty four dollars worth of candles and crystals from Amazon later, she'd found a botanical shop that had the rare herbs the spell had called for.  The spell called for them be ground and the paste applied to certain points of words in the Circle and on her body.  It didn't smell bad, more earthy and green.  Blushing as she undressed in her apartment, she spread the paste over her lower tummy, forehead, right hand,  the top of her left breast, and a streak up each inner thigh.

Raising her hand, she gripped the collection of crystals and began to wave it as the spell required.  A gentle undulation of her arm and hand as she chanted, almost like a wave.  She chanted, and after a moment, nearly dropped the crystals, eyes wide in disbelief.  A small rip in reality, a wiggle of other was forming in the middle of the Circle.  

Elated, she chanted harder, willing the Circle to widen, for this Being to come forth.  And she was rewarded, the tear widening, and a glittering green mist began to fill the Circle.  Billowing and moving, it expanded, but couldn't cross the circle, stopping as if there was glass holding it back.  It curled and moved, growing as Lexa chanted, and as she finished the spell, an exultant shout, it condensed.

Writhing gas took on the form of vines, vines took on the shape of a human, albeit 8 feet tall and muscular.  A face of pure beauty topped with two spiraling horns made of wood, it opened eyes that sparkled and glittered like jewels.  Lexa was transfixed, and then blushed as a voluptuous body made of vines, covered in bark in places, formed.  It looked around, and then gave a beatific smile as it saw Lexa kneeling there.  "Well, aren't you the most gorgeous thing ever??"

The first thing Lexa did, after goggling at this gorgeous plant-woman, was blush from hairline to her toes.  Stammering, she looked up, elated that it worked, and shocked that it worked.  “It..umm…wow.”  She blushed again, and tried not to stare.  "Ummm…what's…what's your name?"

"My….oh, darling!!!  If you summoned me, then you already know it!!  Besides, it's a bit forward to be asking my name, don't you think?  Names have Power, you know", the plant-spirit said, giggling musically.  "Hmmmm…you can call me…Ivy.  That seems like a good name, no?", she asked, smiling.  "And I think I'll call you…Adora.  Because you're Adora-ble", and then smiled at the human.

“Oh…umm…I didn’t mean it like that.  I…ummm”, Lexa said, blushing.  “Ivy is good.  So..now that you’re here, and thank you for answering my summons, ummm…what can you do for me?”

“What can…oh, darling, you are too precious!!”, Ivy tittered.  “Do you mean you went to all this trouble and you don’t even know what I can do?  Or what you want?”  She smiled, and knelt at the edge of the circle, looking at Lexa with those sparkling eyes.  “Well…I can do so many things.  I can help give you focus, I can brighten your day and turn your nights into a garden of earthly delights.  I can help you find purpose, and teach you to navigate difficult situations. And I can help you with your physics homework.”

“Wait…you can do all that?”, Lexa asked, and then cocked her head curiously.  “How do you know that I’m struggling with physics?”

“Oh, that’s the easy stuff.  I can do that, and more.  So many things, little one”, the spirit said, its eyes sparkling.  “I could speak for a month and not scratch the surface of what I can do.  As for physics….your book is open and you have at least eleven balled up sheets of scrap paper that are tossed on the floor.  Most of them missed the trashcan, so that tells me that you were throwing them in frustration.”  It grinned, and wiggled an eyebrow made of bark and ferns.

“I…ummm…yea.  That’s pretty fair”, Lexa said, a bit unnerved with how quickly Ivy had known what was going on.  “What do you want in return?  My soul?  Puppies?  A good watering?”, she asked, and then clapped her hands over her mouth, blushing, and then remembered that she was naked and squealed, pulling her knees up so that she was covered.

“What do..oh dear me”, the spirit said, smiling.  Saying something in a different flowing language that Lexa didn’t understand, it smiled.  “No need to worry about that.  I’ll take my payment, after you’re happy with my services.  And I promise you that it will be something that you’ll very happily give me.  Ok?  I swear it on my Soul and my Power.”  

Lexa shuddered as the spirits voice echoed with Something.  Some other Power, something that made the skin on her neck raise up.  “I..I understand, but I just want to know what it is.  I get that I might not have fully understood the ramifications of summoning you, but..umm..I can’t be making deals without knowing what I’d have to pay.”

Ivy nodded.  “That makes sense.  The price is actually fully enumerated as part of the summoning, with my appearance an actual and tacit approval.  Your soul is safe, I promise.  I have no interest in your soul, fear not.  And I’ll teach you that language so that you can understand what it is, ok?”  Ivy grinned.  “You may have summoned me without knowing what you were doing, but I certainly can’t have a summoner who walks around with a lack of knowledge.  I’d be the laughingstock of….well, that doesn’t matter.  Deal?  And as proof that I’m here to help you, I’ll remind you that you have class in fifty minutes, and you REALLY want to wash that stuff off before it dries.  It smells nice now, but it’s going to stop smelling nice very soon”, Ivy said with a smile.  “AND I’ll give you something to help you concentrate in class.  As a simple token of my desire to fulfill our bargain, freely offered with no thought of recompense.  Good?”

Lexa yelped as she looked up and saw the time.  “Oh fuckity fucking fuck!!!”, she yelled as she ran from the room for the shower.  Not only was she going to be late, but she was going to be late for PHYSICS!!!!  And the professor already hated her because she had a tendency to ask a lot of questions.  Or maybe because she fell asleep in his class on the first day.  Not that it was her fault, someone had filled the coffee pot with decaf accidentally, and Lexa was very much a coffee-head.

Jumping into the shower, she quickly scrubbed everything off of her, only managing to slip once.  Getting quickly dressed, she ran back into the room, hair still dripping wet.  Thank the Goddess that it was summer and hot outside, her hair would dry on the short walk from the dorms to the building she needed.  She stopped short as she saw Ivy sitting crosslegged, holding what looked like a little vial of some glowing yellow liquid.  “Umm…what is that?”, she asked, curiously.

“What I told you about.  This will help you concentrate, will give you clarity of thought, for approximately six hours.  Full, laser focus attention in a way that Einstein would have given his mustache for, and helped Alexander solve his silly ball of twine.”

“Umm..Alexander solved the Gordian Knot by slicing it in two”, Lexa said, pulling her arm into her shirt.

“Oh, is THAT what they’re teaching people now?  What nonsense.  Please tell me that you’re not silly enough to believe that twaddle”, Ivy said, waving a hand.  “As if he was that smart before me.”  Ivy grinned, her eyes twinkling, and Lexa found that she saw a facet that she hadn’t seen before, almost like there was something underneath.  Or perhaps rings moving opposite each other.  “Regardless, do you want this?”

“Umm…”, Lexa said, blushing as she suddenly blinked and realized what the time was.  “Wait…how am I supposed to get it?  You’re in the Circle, and I’m not silly enough to break it.  I’ve seen way too many horror movies for that to happen.”

Ivy grinned.  “Well then, little mageling, it’s a good thing that you’re thinking ahead.  No, your circle can be safely modified to create a “pocket” of sorts, but with a..They call it a man-catcher here.  Basically, You can’t get inside if any part of me is inside it, and vice versa.  I vow on my Power and Soul that all I say is true.  And it will take you less than two minutes to do.”

Lexa looked at the time, then the vial, twinkling and shining in the light.  “Hmmm…ok.  What do I need to do?”

“Perfect.  See these three symbols here?  They’re a linkage, but they’re linked separately to each other.  Simply take that little line there, and make it more a semicircle, than a straight line.  The symbols will still be linked, but the meaning will encompass the pocket.”

Grabbing a tool, she quickly scratched the line that Ivy had demonstrated.  Somehow, she could feel something, some shift in the world around her.  She didn't know how, but she did.  Ivy smiled at her, eyes twinkling, and Lexa smiled back.  How could she not, when Ivy seemed so happy and overjoyed to be here that her eyes sparkled?  

Ivy watched, nodding with approval.  "Oh, good girl", she breathed out, and Lexa squeaked, nearly dropping the tool.  She'd reflexively looked up, and Ivy's eyes were sparkling, warm, happy in a way she couldn't describe but felt almost swept along with it. Lexa couldn't help it, she stared and smiled herself, as Ivy smiled wider.  "Oh, good girl', she repeated as Lexa whimpered.  

Lexa snapped out of her stupor as Ivy laughed again, a musical sound that reminded her of wind chimes.  "Adorable AND a quick learner.  I think we'll have fun together, little one.   But here, take what I've offered, and get going or you're going to be late."  Lexa watched as a hand placed the glowing little vial on the ground in the little semicircle she'd carved.  She looked up again as Ivy smiled, swallowing hard as Ivy smiled at her again.  Ivy's voice made her jump as she laughed, suddenly aware again of the time.  

"I know I'm pretty, darling, but you're going to be late.  Take your vial", Ivy said.  She watched as Lexa's hand crept hesitantly into the circle, and she cleared her "throat", huffing.  "Don't move, little mageling.  Let me show you something."  

Lexa squeaked as Ivy tried reaching into the circle, nearly jerking her hand out.  But something in Ivy's voice commanded obedience, and she left her hand there.  And watched as Ivy's hand stopped short, the fingers pressing together as if coming up against an invisible wall.  "See?  You did very well, little mageling."  Emboldened, she took the vial, surprised at its warmth.  Looking at it, she popped it into her bag, and then got up, making her way to the door.