Your Code
…
CF!Vanguard x Qualidea Code (Code concept) x LWA, with some other mentioned references in future chapters.
In which summoning magic and asking otherworldly help is not exactly uncommon.
Well, it's fantasy sol shounen (lol) card game AU (mostly vanguard, so if you know the series (G), or wondering what creatures appear (or is heard in the story, they're... the exact same thing on the wiki) - there's no description on their real form nobody's able to see them yet. Well there will always be Vanguard Corner at the end of the chapters.
A/n: Aaaaaaaaaa I'm hyped for episode 19 - I want to write about Akko saving Diana and later marrying her as per the Claíomh Solais lore, buuuuuuuuuut... Oh well, maybe later.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
And a huge HUGE thanks to TheNightstriker for the beta reader help. Seriously. If there were still mistakes, it's mine because I added stuff after it was finished being edited w
Turn 1: Meeting of Destiny
...
Atsuko Kagari hurried her steps.
She was excited.
She applied for Luna Nova, a top school for learning about the Codes.
Akko has her Code, gear shaped tattoos which appear whenever she said an incantation.
'Akko-sama, you're going to be late.' She heard a warning growl.
"I know that!" Akko retorted, quickening her pace.
Akko wore orange colored jacket and brown shorts, and she also had a pink colored backpack.
'We still wouldn't make it… in fact, we're already late…' It whispered again, making Akko grow frustrated.
"I know Chrono Tigar! I was just-"
'Why don't you perform warp?' It suggested, and Akko blinked.
How could she forget that she has that Code?
Akko has both the card, the permission and she knew the incantation. Therefore, she was able to fulfill all the condition to perform warp.
There exist very special and exclusive Code skills in the world, Warp, Dimension Leap and Time Leap. If someone were able to perform all them, they would be allowed to cross time and space – and even dimension, which is why not many were able to use this skill. The permission to use this skill can only be obtained from Zodiac Time Beast, and thank for Chrono Tigar's earlier words Akko was able to use it.
"Come forth, my Code!" Akko said, she grabbed a card from the deck case she had on the belt strapped on her waist. She knew she didn't have to keep on running, but she was nervous that she forgot to stop running.
Two yellow and one green gear shaped tattoos appeared on Akko's right cheek.
"Let's exceed the speed of Light! Code Activate! Warp Drive!" Akko yelled, gripping the card in front of her and a purplish coloured warp gate immediately appeared before her.
Akko smiled as she successfully chanted the Warp Drive Code.
"All right!" Akko yelled happily, keeping up her pace and jumped towards the portal. "To Luna Nova, go!"
Diana Cavendish is the honor student who aced all the tests and achieved the perfect score to enter Luna Nova.
It was as expected of her, since she managed to get the highest score on written exam, and the best at practical exam, using eight decks of their respective Nations to clear all practical exam.
The minimum number of practical exams needed to be passed by students to be able to enroll to Luna Nova was three, and as far as she's concerned, only two student have managed to clear all eight of the practical exams.
Diana Cavendish and another girl named Atsuko Kagari.
Diana was excited to meet Miss Kagari, whom she expected to loved magic, Codes and Vanguarding as much as she did. This excitement makes her heart beat faster, especially since she already knew how Miss Kagari looked like from viewing her profile.
But for now, there was far more important things that needed to be done.
As of now, she was delivering a speech on the opening ceremony.
Luna Nova Academy is the top and prestigious academy in Europe, no, she knew that compared to the other Academies, Luna Nova stand atop of it.
The reason was that not only was it a school to practice witchcraft, but also to hone one's Code.
Diana had loved both Code and the famed card game Vanguard since she was little, and the fact that she got to improve her skill in both areas and especially magic excited her.
In her previous school, no one was able to beat her or even gave her excitement, and she was the Ace and European's champion.
Not only did the press praised her as the best witch in history -going as far as calling her a prodigy- , but they were also excited that her Vanguard skill and Codes would bring the world into a brighter future.
"Code?" Little Diana looked up to her father in confusion.
"It's the new trend in magic, using Codes to borrow skills and power from another dimension." She heard one of her aunts scowls, obviously disliking the 'new' area of magic.
"Really, it's just that horrible that even Chariot's stupid flashy shows are way better." Her father nodded in agreement.
"…" Diana stayed quiet, she knew how much her family (sans her mother, but she was not sure about it) dislike Chariot, but they seemed to dislike Code much more. She hoped they would let her attend Chariot's show in Japan.
"Father, Mother…" She spoke up.
"What is it, Diana?" Her father spoke.
"Once we are on Japan, would it be possible if I have some time alone to spend? I want to go shopping and read in the library by myself." Diana said, half-lying.
"Of course." Her parents agreed, and Diana smiled.
She would have to convince her butler and drivers to drive her to Chariot's show later. She needed to see Chariot's show since she had never missed any of her show before.
And there's also the rumor that there would be an exclusive Chariot Trading Card Game, which she eagerly hoped she could purchase.
"You're excited right, Diana?" Diana heard a childlike giggle.
"Yeah!" Diana replied, excited. "I sure can't wait, Chrono Dran!"
Diana knew that her parents noticed that there were time where Diana was talking to herself, and they think that she was just making up imaginary friends, a thing that's normal for a child her age.
What they didn't know is the fact that she's talking to the little Time Dragon, who will govern both time and space.
Akko wondered how long she needed to keep on running since she entered the warp portal.
"Warp Drive Dragon, how long do I need to run?" She groaned, complaining to the interdimensional dragon.
"It seems like a never ending labyrinth." She continues, despite her complaints she kept on running. "Although there are no twist and turn and all we need to go is go straight." She continued, and a growl accompanied her.
"By the way, I'm not straight." Akko confessed, trying to make a pun.
"..." Warp Drive Dragon went silent, the joke totally went over the head.
Akko rolled her eyes, it was not like she was expecting him to laugh.
"It couldn't be helped, Akko-sama. This academy is surrounded by Arcturus Forest and a very powerful barrier." She heard a loud voice boomed, one Akko identifies as Warp Drive Dragon.
THUD!
"Owww!" Akko yelped as she stopped running, rubbing her reddening nose.
"What the-!?" She stared at the unidentified object that had just hit her on her face like a projectile.
Akko noticed that her Code is cancelled and groaned.
As of now she was in the middle of a creepy forest.
All because of this stupid rod.
"That's-!?" Came a surprised growl from Warp Drive Dragon.
"Do you know what it is?" Akko picked up the rod, and stared at the seven red jewels on it.
"The Claíomh Solais, The Sword of Light." Warp Drive Dragon exclaimed, as a researcher he never would have thought he would be able to see such powerful one of a kind magic artifact up close.
Claíomh Solais, also known as The Sword of Light or Seven Stars Rod (among other names), was a powerful artifact which enabled the user to use magic outside of ley lines.
"Kleevwha?" Akko wondered, she was unsure why someone would have carelessly thrown it away. "And by the way, for a so called Sword of Light, it doesn't look like a sword to me." Akko said, inspecting it closer.
"There's no blade attached to a hilt… Just some rod?" She asked in confusion.
"It has many forms, and this is one of them… Claíomh Solais is known as the type to choose the wielder." Warp Drive quipped helpfully.
"It's widely known as 'Shiny Rod' because it's previous wielder named it as such. If I'm not mistaken, Chariot du Nord or well known with her stage name Shiny Chariot-" Warp Drive Dragon went on and on about the history of Claíomh Solais, and Akko groaned.
She hoped that he would stop babbling about the history of this... Claíomh Solais.
"Warp Drive Dragon..." Akko growled, and the dragon realized that he might have gone off-track.
"Congratulations?" He stopped his brief explanation on the history of Shiny Rod to congratulate Akko as the new master of the famed Claíomh Solais.
So this goddamn thing has chosen her.
"Why me?" Akko moaned, she didn't have time to deal with a silly rod with the ability to choose their own wielder.
It's stupid.
Warp Drive Dragon shrugged, but of course Akko didn't know that he did, since she was unable to see him.
There's much better thing that Akko should focus on, after all.
"That doesn't matter, you're already late, Akko-sama!" He warned, remembering Akko's goal.
"Aw crap!" Akko said, realizing that she needs to activate the Warp Drive Code again, since she was stuck at Arcturus Forest.
She started to hate the means to go to Luna Nova, either by entering ley lines (something that Akko was unable to do since she couldn't-and didn't want to- fly using a broom) or using warp.
"Becoming a student at this academy, the most prestigious Witch Academy in all of Europe, is a great honor." Diana stated confidently, a smile gracing her lips.
She wanted to inspire her fellow students to do their best, too.
Not only in witchcraft, but also in codes.
"Not only it held tradition in high esteem, but it will also allowed a new-but widely known form of magic, also known as the "Codes" to flourish." Diana paused, expressing her likes on both traditional magic and Code equally.
Codes are different from magitech, known as modern magic.
In a sense, it's an advanced form of magic, a mix of Summoning and Ritual magic.
"I thank you for the acceptance!" Diana said, she was truly grateful to be accepted to Luna Nova.
She made a promise with a certain friend long ago that they would meet and study together at Luna Nova. However, as Diana subtly looked around when she was delivering her speech, her friend was nowhere to be found.
'She might be late.' Diana thought, and she tried to appear calm and collected. 'I saw her profile earlier, so I'm sure she will attend Luna Nova, and then we can be together."
A fear crept on her, she feared that her friend had forgotten their promise to attend Luna Nova together.
She was her first real friend, someone who enjoyed Chariot and Vanguarding passionately.
Well, Diana's love for Chariot shows had faded over time since the entertainer witch stopped her show ten years ago, making Chariot's show in Japan her very last.
Diana was glad she was able to watch it.
"As a representative for this year's new students, I swear..." Diana paused, already preparing the closing speech.
She needed to believe that her first friend would be here. And for now, she had to focus on finishing her speech.
It had to be perfect.
"We will work hard!" She finished with a confident smile.
This should be enough.
"That concludes my speech, representative for the new students, Diana Cavendish-!?" Diana's eyes widened as she saw a warp portal appear before her.
The sounds of the spinning gears made her understand that this was Code magic instead of the traditional warp magic.
'Gear Chronicle?' Diana wondered, she knew that not many was able to perform Gearchro's codes, due to the lack of resources and the means to obtain them.
Diana tried her best to remain calm and not surprised, and from the portal emerged the one only Atsuko Kagari whose profile she had read earlier.
The Japanese student looked surprised as she jumped out of the warp portal and saw another girl in front of her..
"W-watch out!" The new girl warned, but there was no time to side-step and Diana knew that using time stopping magic would cause her more trouble than letting Miss Kagari to collide with her.
Diana seemed to calculate something, and the newcomer kissed her.
It is an accidental kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.
Diana blushed.
It is true that she was really excited to meet Atsuko Kagari, but this was not exactly how she imagined their meeting would be.
Akko blinked, she was unsure what to do with her hands, and since her balance was bad, she knew she should grab something-anything to balance herself.
She grabbed the beautiful stranger that was in front of her, pulling her closer.
Diana raised an eyebrow at Akko's bold move. Akko, realizing that the stranger in front of her was directly staring, blushed harder.
'Th-that's a stupid move, Akko!' Akko chided herself. She knew it will be awkward later but she just had to deal with it now. She could hear her invisible pet tiger Chrono Tigar snickering, and Warp Drive dragon giggled uncharacteristically.
She never knew that a dragon actually could giggle before.
Diana hated to lose, and she knew that falling now would be embarrassing for her. In a split-second Diana flipped their position and Miss Kagari fell on her back, and she pinned her.
Diana broke the kiss, staring down at the flushed and slightly out of breath Kagari Atsuko.
"Akko." Diana greeted coldly, and 'Akko' looked up at the girl on top of her, blushing as she called her name.
"Y-yeah, that's me." Akko said, wondering how could this beautiful stranger know her name-especially her nick name since she was sure she had never seen her before.
Diana offered a hand to help Akko to stand, and she stood before turning toward her fellow students to finish her speech calmly, as if nothing had happened.
Akko stood awkwardly beside Diana, she looked at the floor since she was too embarrassed to look around.
It was just so strange.
The girl she just kissed pretended as if nothing happened just a few seconds ago.
'Maybe it's the norm?' Akko thought, she knew that traditions and norms were confusing things. 'Maybe it's common for her to kiss another girl?' Akko continued, sneaking a glance at the stranger, who apparently was the honor student.
Akko wondered if she was good at Vanguard and made a mental note to apologize and ask her to play Vanguard later.
The brunette believed that she could understand and befriend someone through Vanguarding.
Diana faked a cough, to ease the awkwardness that had happened just a few seconds ago and to bring everyone's attention to her speech.
"That concludes my speech, representative for the new students, Diana Cavendish!" Diana repeated, her right-hand hold Akko's left hand, who was now awkwardly standing beside her.
Everyone clapped, appreciating Diana- the honor student's speech, who was able to finish her speech calmly, despite an incident that had happened.
Akko's eyes widened as she stared at Diana in disbelief.
'She's… Diana Cavendish!?'
Diana smiled in satisfaction and walked down from the podium, still holding Akko's left hand, and the girl had no choice but to obediently follow her around.
As she followed Diana, Akko heard that the next person who would deliver a speech is Professor Chrono, a young genius brunette twin tail girl with a blonde streak. She was Luna Nova's new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher who was also an expert about Codes and the founder of another form of magic, Dragoncraft.
Diana went back to her seat and sat down.
Akko awkwardly looked around, hoping she would find an empty seat, but she found none.
"Uh…" The girl gave a pleading look to the honor student who helped her earlier. She simply smiled back and softly petting her own lap.
Akko blinked.
Did she just… signal her to sit on her lap?
That famous Diana Cavendish... invited her to sit on her lap?
Akko gulped and blushing red.
She was so lucky!
There was nowhere to sit and it's her own fault that she's late…
Plus, she had caused enough embarrassment today, and would not want to embarrass herself further by sitting on the floor (and possibly being reprimanded by the teacher).
Akko awkwardly accepted Diana's offer and sat down on the girl's lap, and felt a lot of people were staring at her. She put her backpack (with Claíomh Solais safely tucked inside) on her lap, feeling awkward.
It's not just staring, they were also whispering and glancing at her, obviously talking and gossiping about her who was now sitting down on another girl's lap.
'I hope it's over soon.' Akko wished, her face grow redder by each second.
Professor Chrono glanced at the blushing Japanese girl who had caused a ruckus earlier, and she raised an eyebrow.
She coughed, bringing everyone's attention to her speech again.
From the corner of her eyes, Chrono notices that the Japanese girl was now awkwardly sitting on the honor student's lap, and she realized that said honor student had sneaked her arms around brunette's waist.
She turned the mic off and murmured something under her breath.
"Riajuu bakuhatsushiro." She quickly murmured in Japanese as she rolled her striking odd eyes in disbelief that there were students that were obviously… being love dovey during her speech. She knew it was unprofessional, but she felt like she had to complain, even just a little. Akko somehow managed to hear it, blushing redder at the implications.
Before I started with the A/n, I'm undecided whether the second Chapter should be titled Atsuko Kagari or Diana Cavendish, since they both have different... plot. If Diana's 2nd ch then Akko's 3rd ch, and vice versa.
Diana's would focused on her past and Akko's episode would be about her... past. ... That's... surprisingly not spoiler ish orz.
A/n: And that's the end of the first chapter, I guess. Tfw when you want to spoil Diana's first friend but can't – I guess it's for next chapter. I'm sure you can guess who she is. Unless you're as dense as Akko.
Miku references.
And the title is a huge shout out to Your Name. Kind of.
... No, it's not Castlevania references (actually it sort of is?) Although I want to pull Vanguard s1 title - though later we'll be using vg g titling.
Diana's just so bold and forward I guess.
Diana's speech is from her own speech on Teri Terio's LWA manga.
Next ep would delve into Vanguard world mash up more, with Vanguard fighting/Vanguarding talk (yay)
Vanguard Corner:
I'm not really good with explanations, and in case the VG wiki's confusing, here's the general rundown of stuff being used here (minor spoiler?):
1. Unknown beings such as Warp Drive Dragon, Chrono Tigar and Chrono Dran would later be referred as "unit(s)". They're usually invisible unless properly summoned. Thus there will be no explanations on their appearance, and only identified by their voice and how they referred themselves.
2. Warp Drive is the Interdimensional Dragon, Warp Drive Dragon. Technically a huge and scary looking gold pleated armored dragon with blue backpack-esque steampunk thingy but is actually a researcher and a huge softy? Think of him like the Doctor... in dragon form. His Codes are only accessible to those who managed to fulfills all conditions. Let the user to perform warp. (Akko's prefers to use his warp to traditional magic that ate energy from ley lines – and she claims to be no good with magic).
3. Chrono Dran – White-blue little dragon with red scarf. He wears a cat ears shaped helmet. He has a wheel on his tail and feet. A very motivational but also a mischievous child who often throws childish tantrum while he's hungry. Diana has the one and only card exist in the world.
4. Chrono Tigar – Little red tiger whom Akko claims as her 'pet'. Stubborn, has a very strong sense of justice and a sore loser who hates to lose. He was not supposed to exist, and Akko obtained him through unconventional way. The one and only card that exist in the world.