First off, artwork by  KoopusK who is awesome for various reasons, this picture among them. He has no idea how great I think this turned out, so if you see this submission KoopusK, thanks so much!

Slightly larger version - https://dl.dropbox.com/u/25320058/e.....letf4skype.jpg

Now then...an experiment in writing. Not a fan of how it turned out - probably won't try it this way again. Rushed the end just so it could be done, too, but it is what it is.

---

He hadn't been doing anything special, really. He was just minding his own business when he stumbled across the staff. Sure, it wasn't everyday that you went exploring outside the village, but hey, everyone gets bored once in awhile, right? So what if he had followed a faint hint of magic to an isolated pedestal, almost like a shrine of sorts? A staff on the pedestal? Well, he'd simply have to bring it back to the academy for everyone to study - that's the right thing to do, right?

Picking it up, the moogle immediately knew this wasn't any ordinary staff. He had been studying white magic at the academy. It might have been rare for a moogle, but he hadn't had much success with the other, more typical fields for moogles. Still, the staff gave off an aura. Not white magic, of that he could be sure....possibly black? It definitely felt like black magic...a little bit, maybe. He had only dabbled in black magic, but the moogle was pretty certain that steelped hats didn't go well with this artifact.

He pondered for a bit longer, twiddling the staff around while looking on in curiosity and awe. It was quite a relic to catch his attention from so far away. Part of him wondered how no one else had found it by now, but that thought was quickly silenced when it hit him. It wasn't the white or black magic he had studied, nor was it inherently demonic or holy in nature. It was simply...otherworldly.

...Otherworldly? Oh, that tripped something in the young moogle's mind! The only things that felt like they came from somewhere else tended to be related to summoning! Summoning...maybe that was it? There hadn't been a moogle summoner in ages. He couldn't even remember a single one in history, actually. Maybe he could be the first, he thought! He'd just test this staff out...It was something they did all the time in class. Focus a little bit of energy here, direct it to a target, and you're sure to end up with a pretty simple spell of some sort. You didn't even need to know the spell - a basic one would happen. Almost anyone could use some form of magic this way.

So he tried. Holding the staff in front of him, he closed his eyes, trying to convince the power in the weapon to prepare to be released. As expected, power began to well up in the ornament atop, acting as a beacon and an amplifier. He felt the magic strengthening, as if awakening from a long slumber. Everything was good so far, and before long he could sense the magic in the staff was at a peak.

Ready to unleash it somewhere, the moogle opened his eyes and continued what he had learned. His eyes scanned for a suitable target, and all too suddenly the moogle was gripped by panic.

...He had only cast spells on augmented dummies before - ones that were respective to targeting. Sure, he was no novice, but he wasn't very practiced, either. They focused too much on theory in his classes. Continuing his search, he found nothing.

The magic wouldn't keep forever. It was built up and needed to be unleashed. Desperately, the moogle searched for a focus for his magic. A bush, his backpack, even the pedestal itself, but nothing was working. He struggled to maintain, realizing this wasn't like white or black magic at all...it didn't want a target. It simply wanted an area to open the portal. The portal he had no idea how to open...

A moment later, the head of the staff shattered, the pent up magic scattering and trying to find a way to succeed in what the moogle could not. There wasn't quite enough power to open that gate yet, so the energy sought out the nearest source of magic available. The moogle.

The magic shot into the shocked moogle. He felt it everywhere - it went through his eyes, his forehead, his chest, even his stomach as he doubled over, trying to remain standing. The shattered staff fell from his hands as he winced with a kupo.

...Turns out summoning magic is harder than it looks.

He realized the gravity of his mistake when he felt his pom-pom slam into his forehead. It didn't hurt, but the troubling part was that it didn't bounce back up. The pom grew heavier, bit by bit, as it fused onto the moogle's forehead. He wasn't able to see or feel the trademark symbol of a moogle shift from the soothing blue it was to a dark purple, making its way to fuchsia and finally stopping at a brilliant red, all while crystallizing permanently between his eyes.

He reached a paw towards it, only now realizing his clothes had begun to collapse around him. Still, he felt the smooth, hard addition to his forehead and let out a high pitched meep. He could feel that shot of uncontrolled magic seeping towards the gem.

With the gem in place, quietly pulsing, the rest of his body quickly followed. Spreading from the ruby, a chrysoprase green coat of fur began replacing the white he had grown used to. As it crept along his face and reached the tips of his ears, they lost some of their definition, now naturally bending as they wished. Pressure built up shortly before he grew long strands of fluff behind his head, as if to counter his altered ears. The moogle's whiskers and wings alike retreated into the soft coat. The fur seemed to shimmer lightly as it spread down his torso, reshaping the moogle's lower half into proper hind legs.

Just as he was about to stumble backward, something soft caught him. He glanced behind him just in time to see his new tail burst forth, splitting into several smaller strands as it balanced the former moogle long enough for him to get his bearings.

Confused and bewildered, he poked and prodded at himself, then picked up the broken staff along with his clothes. He wasn't able to think for long, though, as he soon felt weighted down by the environment. Every moment seemed to make it harder for him to focus on what had just happened, until it was simply unbearable for him. He shook his head and let out a small cry, the clothes dropping back to the ground with the remnants of the weapon.

Instinct taking over, Carbuncle leapt into the air, twirled around several times, then vanished in a brilliant flash of ruby light, leaving only jade sparkles behind, for of course, a summon spirit can't maintain a connection to this world without the help of a summoner - It needs to remain in a realm more suitable for it until called upon.

...Well, he -did- successfully summon a spirit to this world when you think about it. Sort of.