Author's Notes:
Hello! This is written as a Secret Santa for Eliln as a token of our friendship started from the wretched site known as Tumblr, which then moved over to Discord where the messaging system is much better. I never expected such an angst lover behind that sweet cinnamon roll first impression. So I hope you enjoy this :]
Happy holidays!
Rated T for (not so) graphic depictions of violence, injuries, and character death. Yep. I went all out. Sorry y'all. I considered making this rated M, but maybe that's not necessary.
Leap Before You Think, Fall into the Abyss
The table rattles as Akko slams both palms onto its wooden surface. Her companion across startles at the sudden violence, but Akko pays no attention to that. Her focus is still stuck on the news replaying in her head.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WAGANDEA'S POLLEN HAS ANOTHER SIDE EFFECT?!" Akko cries.
"Akko, keep your voice down. You are attracting unwanted attention," Diana admonishes.
As she says, other witches in the library have turned their heads to look at them. The librarian herself is already out of her seat. But most likely because of Diana's presence, she hasn't moved toward them. Yet.
"Akko," Diana calls again.
Akko crosses her arms over her chest and huffs. "I don't believe you. Professor Croix never mentioned this."
"That is because I am not sure she even knows of this. I had only stumbled upon it as a brief mention in a document that I was parsing through for an unrelated research matter. In any case, sit down lest you anger the librarian any further and we are excused from the premises."
Akko crashes back into her seat, her arms dropping to her sides and her shoulders slumping in defeat. "No way… Then not only can Professor Ursula not fly anymore…"
"Her lifespan is shortened as well," Diana finishes. "It is what Wagandea's pollen is meant to do. It robs witches of what is most important to them: an aspect of their magic, as well as their time."
"There has to be something we can do though!"
"Finding a cure to the pollen for Professor Ursula has not changed. I will inform Miss Meridies of my findings once I have compiled them all together."
"Okay, okay that's a good idea. But how long is a person's life shortened?"
Diana purses her lips. "I… I am not sure."
That is not the answer that Akko expects. "You… You don't know? But you always know!"
Diana narrows her eyes. "That is not true. I may have a vast knowledge of magic, but even I have not had the experience nor the time to learn everything there is. That is impossible."
"But that means her life can end in ten years or even tomorrow!"
"No matter what the time frame is, that does not change what we must and can do. And as of now, only Miss Meridies has the necessary research for the antidote."
"But…" Akko tilts her head down to stare at her hands. "Isn't there anything else…?"
Sitting back and not being able to do anything doesn't sit right with her. Especially not when the her mentor's ailment is a consequence of her own impulsive actions many months ago.
There has to be something she can do.
But even Diana Cavendish is shaking her head. "As of now there is not. I only informed you because you demanded it of me. However, that does not change the fact that we are both not in a position to procure the cure ourselves. We can only trust Miss Meridies and whoever is aiding her at the moment."
Diana stands from her seat. She gathers her books and prepares to leave. She casts one last sympathetic glance at Akko before bidding her a good day and leaving the brunette to herself.
Nothing they can do? No, Akko won't accept that. There has to be something. Even if she has to call Professor Croix herself, Akko will find a way to help find the cure. She won't let her beloved teacher lose her life like this.
Akko may not know what to do, but the least she can do is try.
At first Akko starts by gathering any books on Wagandea that she can find at Luna Nova. When that runs out, she asks the librarian to request more from other libraries affiliated with Luna Nova. That request had to be sent twice because the first time the librarian had thought it was a joke.
Why does no one ever take her seriously?
Days pass. Akko is by no means a fast reader, nor is she familiar with magical jargon. She would have contacted Professor Croix for help, but her being in prison makes it difficult to keep a conversation going. Getting in contact with her once is already nearly impossible.
It isn't until a month later, after balancing her side research and her classes, that Akko finally finds a helpful piece of information.
"Spirit Root?" Akko leans into the book to squint at the words on the page. "'Possesses a substantial quantity of magical energy. It is capable of breathing life into inanimate objects, or revitalizing those whose spirits are weakened by ailment or curses.'" Akko leaps to her feet. "This is it!"
Akko packs up all her stuff and heads back to her room to pack for the trip. The Spirit Root can supposedly be retrieved from the Spica Forest. It's noted to be abundant with life forms both harmless and not, but is lower on the danger scale than the Arcturus Forest. So that reassures Akko a bit.
That night, once Akko is sure that Lotte and Sucy have fallen asleep, she grabs her bag and broom and sneaks out of the grounds. She makes it to the leyline terminal before a familiar voice stops her in her tracks.
"Akko, where do you think you are going?"
Akko whirls around. "Diana?! Why are you always finding me?!"
"That is not what I asked you." The blonde witch eyes the items in Akko's possession. "As the sentry on duty for tonight's patrol, I must ask you again. Where are you going?"
"Um…" Akko scratches the back of her head. "Nowhere?"
"That seems unlikely."
Akko groans. "Ugh, fine! I'm going to get something for the cure to Wagandea's pollen."
"What?" Diana stares at Akko incredulously. "At this time of night? And unsupervised? This is perhaps your worst idea to date!"
"Well I wasn't going to tell anyone because I knew they'd react just like you are now!"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous any expedition can be-?"
"I did my research, okay?" Akko reaches into her bag and pulls out a piece of paper scrawled in her near-illegible writing. "See? I even have notes. I'll be fine."
Diana takes the paper from Akko's hands. Once she's done scanning it, she turns her wide eyes back to Akko. "Akko, the Spirit Root is incredibly rare to find. That is excluding the more prominent dangers in the Spica Forest. It is second only to the dangers of the Arcturus Forest!"
"Yeah, it comes second. So it shouldn't be too bad."
Diana pinches the bridge of her nose. "Akko-"
"Nope, I'm going no matter what you say. You can't stop me."
"Do you have any idea how unreasonable you are being?" There's a growl simmering beneath Diana's tone, one Akko has never heard before. It sounds like Diana can barely keep it under control.
For a moment Akko falters. Doubts and worries surface, warning her that maybe she should listen to Diana.
But that's all gone in a second. She remembers why she has to do this.
"No," Akko states with all the conviction poured into her voice. "I'm going to help Professor Ursula no matter what. I'm part of the reason why she can't fly. And now that I know she's also dying, I'm not going to let that happen!"
"That is not your responsibility-"
"Yes it is!" Knuckles turn white as her grip tightens on her broomstick. "I didn't listen to Professor Ursula back then. I- I took advantage of her kindness and she got hurt for me! I won't stop until I've repaid her back!"
"And you acted on impulse at the time as well. Do you not see the cycle repeating itself?"
Akko shakes her head. "It's different this time. I know what I'm doing."
Diana takes a step forward. "Akko-"
Why does Diana always have to be the voice of reason? It was like this last time too. Only this time Diana's words are less callous. Even Akko can recognize the worry from her friend.
Akko knows she's being rash. But this is something Professor Croix might not be able to obtain. If so, then Akko has to try. She has to try something or she'll never forgive herself for letting her mentor die. She won't forgive herself if she lost the only woman who had believed in her and helped her ever since she stepped foot into Luna Nova.
Akko takes a deep breath and states with finality, "I'm going."
Without waiting for any more of Diana's protests, Akko whirls around and places her broom between her legs. She shouts Tia Freyre and charges into the leyline terminal.
The rapid winds in the leyline drown out Diana's last calls for her.
Green and white engulf her senses.
Her senses come back one by one. The dryness of her mouth, mixed with a bit of acidity. The scent of dew and moisture. The momentary silence that's interrupted by the occasional bird cawing. The pounding in her head and the hard earth beneath her. And then finally her eyes open, blinking a few times to clear her blurry vision enough to make out the expanse of forest surrounding her.
"This is… the Spica Forest?"
It reminds Akko a lot of the Arcturus Forest. The trees that she can see are also engraved with markings that look like pained or sorrowful facial expressions. A cold wind blows through the forest, causing Akko to shiver and wrap her arms around herself.
The only difference is that this time there isn't a cockatrice staring down at her, but a giant reptilian beast with a knife-like snout and a… scorpion's stinger as a tail?!
"Second on the list my butt!" Akko cries, leaping to her feet and grabbing her dropped belongings as the beast roars and charges forward. "You look a lot scarier than that stupid giant chicken!"
On all four, the creature moves too fast for Akko to safely mount her broom. She not only has to avoid the knife snout every time it hacks down at her, but also the deadly stinger from its tail. One glance at its sharp teeth is enough for Akko to come to the conclusion that getting caught is not an option if she wants her flesh intact. Her wand is still tied to her hip too. The most she can manage is to run for her life.
"I just want to find a stupid root! Why does this always happen?!"
"Murowa!"
Green energy hits the creature's tail before it can strike at Akko. Akko whips her head around to regard her savior floating above her on her broom.
"Diana!"
"Don't stop moving! That creature has a much stronger armor than our typical spells!"
As Diana says, the creature doesn't look perturbed by Diana's intrusion. Though it does look a little sour that its tail got shot at.
"Eh?! Then how are we supposed to beat it?!"
"I will divert its attention. These creatures cannot fly, so as long as you manage to mount your broom-" Diana's eyes widen. "Akko, behind you!"
Akko spins around, but it's too late. She manages to raise her arm just in time to block another stinger before it can strike her face. Instead, it digs into her left forearm. The second creature that moved behind Akko while she was distracted now has her in its vicinity. It raises her above its head and flings her up into the air, fully intent on either cleaving her in half with its snout or ripping her to shreds with its jaws.
Akko cries out as the stinger is ripped from her arm. She wants nothing more than to curl up in a ball and forget the agony burning centered in her arm. She knows she's falling. She knows what awaits her below is going to be an even more painful fate than what she is suffering now. But she doesn't have the energy to reach for her wand. She can't even concentrate on getting her broom between her legs, let along channel the magic needed to fly.
So she lets herself fall. The wind brushes past her. The creature below roars.
Diana's voice rings out, "AKKO!"
Warmth envelops her good hand and drags her against the pull of gravity. Akko can barely feel it against the numbing burn in her other arm. But it's there; a comfort that Akko will always recognize. Because she has been saved by this warmth time and time again.
It looks like this time as well.
Somehow, Diana's voice cuts through the haze of pain clouding Akko's mind.
"Akko! Akko! I need you to stay conscious. I cannot carry you and stay on guard at the same time!"
"Diana… it hurts…" Akko whimpers.
"I understand! But if you stay in that position, my grip will only injure you even further."
Diana falls silent. The only sounds Akko can hear are the billowing winds and her own labored breathing. Diana doesn't speak until Akko feels them descend and she's lowered to the ground.
Her cloak is immediately removed, followed by her vest. The cloth covering her left arm is ripped off, followed by a hiss from Diana.
"Is this… poison?" Diana gasps. "I may not know of what kind, but I will treat the wound itself first. It would be detrimental if it was allowed to bleed out."
She wastes no time to cast a healing spell on Akko's shoulder. It's one that Akko doesn't recognize - not that she knows any in the first place - so she just assumes that it'll do the trick.
And it does. A minute later and the pain ebbs away to a dull throb. Some clarity even returns to Akko's senses. She twitches her fingers a bit to test her arm. When she glances down, she catches a few black tendrils snaking to her hand and up to her elbow.
Diana nods at the motion. "Whatever the poison is, it doesn't appear to be immediately affecting your muscle movements. How do you feel now?"
"Tired." Akko blinks a few times. "Better than before though. Thanks Diana."
"You are due for a scolding, but this is not the time nor place for that. We need to keep moving. I would have taken us on my broom and flown us out of this forest. Except…"
Akko follows Diana's gaze to the sky. Now littering it are countless flying creatures that resemble the pterodactyl dinosaurs that she had seen in textbooks back in elementary school. Except their skin is grey and they have five eyes.
"We will have to wait for the sky to clear," Diana says as she redresses Akko as much as she can. "There is no telling where that will be. We will have to find a safe shelter to wait it out. Can you stand?"
"Yeah. I should be fine to-" But when Akko tries, her legs instantly lose all strength and she falls back onto the ground.
The world is spinning. Black dots line her vision. Her lungs constrict, forcing her breaths to be shallower and shakier. There's a ringing in her ears that is almost loud enough to drown out Diana's sudden alarm.
"Or not," Akko barely manages to wheeze out through her dry throat. "You… You did say I was poisoned."
"This is not good. We cannot simply wait for the monsters to leave. You need to have the poisoned removed from your body. But I have no way of creating the antidote without knowing what kind of poison it is, nor can I extract it without completely depleting your blood supply."
Through the haze in her head, Akko remembers a documentary she had once watched with her family on their television. It was a survival episode where the main character had been poisoned in the palm. They had no antidote, so the way they avoided death was by cutting off his own hand before the poison could spread through his entire bloodstream equally.
The black tendrils must be the path the poison is taking. In that case, Akko voices the only option she comes up with.
"How about cutting it off?" She knibbles her lip. "Before it spreads more?"
"Are you out of your mind?!"
Diana's raised voice surprises Akko enough for some clarity to return again. At this time, she gets a good look at Diana's unusually disheveled hair, her wide blue eyes, and her own shallow breaths. It doesn't look like she's injured, so Diana must really be concerned.
"I… I don't know what else to do," Akko says.
Diana takes a calming breath. "No, no that's correct. Of all the methods that is certainly a last choice we must now resort to. But are you certain, Akko? You are willingly discarding one of your limbs. Unfortunately, once it is amputated it will be nearly impossible to reattach it, even if we salvaged it and removed the poison from the limb at a later time."
"There's probably prosthetics for magic right? Besides…" She looks down at her increasingly number arm, "I don't… I don't want to die. I know I came here to save Professor Ursula, but it'd be pretty uncool if I died while doing it, right?"
"That is…" Diana sighs. "That is unfortunately true. I must warn you: I have never performed an amputation before. I will have to put you to sleep and apply a spell that switches off your pain receptors to avoid the most pain. However, this will have to be done quickly to avoid the dangers of this forest. It will not be perfect."
"Diana, at this point you're the only thing I can trust." Akko laughs lightly. "I kinda got myself into this mess, so I don't think I can even trust myself."
"In that case, I will not waste another second." Diana raises her wand over Akko. "Leave the rest to me. I will ensure your life is spared, Akko."
Akko nods, letting the sleep spell take her into darkness. She slumps forward, and then all she knows is weightlessness.
She's falling. Falling to her death after losing her footing on the giant tree of Wagandea. Falling. Falling. Falling.
Someone is screaming for her. Someone important. Someone who is willing to throw her own life away for her student. Someone Akko knows she cannot lose no matter what.
When Akko opens her eyes, it isn't herself who is falling anymore. It's the professor with blue hair and gentle eyes. No, the locks are now a fiery red. But there is no fight in that woman. There is only a final resignation to her fate.
She sends Akko one last smile, so warm and kind, before she plummets to her death below.
She cannot fly. So all she can do is fall. Fall. Fall. Fall.
And all Akko can do is scream. Scream. Scream. Scream. Scream-
"AKKO!"
"WHAT?!" Akko shouts, sitting up from her position and nearly smacks heads with the person next to her. "What ha- Ohhhh I shouldn't have moved that fast I'm so dizzy now."
Diana sighs. "You were thrashing around. Thankfully, I was able to finish the procedure before your movements became too erratic. I had thought I applied a strong enough spell to restrict your movements, but perhaps I had miscalculated."
"Procedure?"
It takes two seconds for the memories to all come back. The creatures chasing after her, the stinger embedded in her arm, Diana saving her more than once, and her choice to save her own life by having Diana cut off her arm.
And Diana seems to have succeeded, considering Akko does not see her left arm attached to her anymore.
"Oh. It's… it's really gone."
The weightlessness is strange. There's a void starting from just a little past Akko's shoulder socket. Akko knows the limb isn't there, but somehow she can still imagine herself moving her hands and twitching her fingers as if nothing is wrong.
"I did my best considering the circumstances and my lack of proper equipment. I… truly am sorry it had to fall to this."
Akko shakes her head. "All this was my fault anyway. You're not hurt though, are you?"
When Akko looks over at Diana, she hardly recognizes the usual prim and proper prodigy. Her blonde hair is even more disheveled than before. Dark black bags line the bottom of her eyes, and her skin is as white as a sheet. Her uniform cloak and vest are discarded, leaving Diana in only her white dress shirt that's stained in blood and dirt. The sleeves are still rolled up from her work before.
Diana shakes her head. "I am fine. Perhaps tired, but I am uninjured."
"How long was I passed out?"
"I am not sure. I lost track of time."
Every lack of attentiveness is starting to worry Akko. Diana normally takes everything into account. The fact that Diana doesn't even know the time means she's worked to the bone.
"You should rest, Diana. I think I'm okay now."
"That is… most likely unwise. As tempting as that sounds, there is no telling what will come for us in this forest. The only reason no stray creatures have come to find us is due to the barrier I have in place over this cavern."
Akko follows Diana's gaze to the front of the small cave they're in. She can barely make out a slight green shimmer from the barrier in question.
No wonder Diana is so tired. She's practically doing five things at once.
"So what do we do then?" Akko asks. "We can't just stay here forever."
"Are you fit to move?"
Akko tests her other arm and then tries to stand on her own. Compared to last time, she can now move without the world tilting on her.
"I'm good. Are we going to try to leave now?"
Diana rises as well. She places her hands on her knees to steady herself. She wobbles a little and has to use the nearby wall to not fall back onto her knees.
If anything, Diana looks like the unsteady one between the two of them. But there's no time for that, as Diana says. Dropping their guard even for a second will mean the end for them.
Diana walks to the edge of the cave and looks up at the sky. "It appears the creatures from before have left. We should be able to mount our brooms now."
"I, uh, dropped mine when I got hit," Akko says.
Diana nods. "You will have to ride with me. As I steer, you will have to guard us from any creatures that attempt to attack us."
Akko grins. "Just like that time we fought Professor Croix's missile, right?"
"I suppose so. Though, we no longer have the aid of the Shiny Rod."
"Leave it to me!"
The two take a moment to compose themselves and gather their wits. Akko holds her wand in her only hand left. Meanwhile, Diana has one gripping her own wand while the other keeps her broom ready by her side.
Standing by the edge of the cave, Diana turns to Akko and says, "I will be dispelling the barrier now. Once the coast is clear, we will mount and take to the skies as quickly as possible. The leyline terminal is different from the Arcturus Forest. It should still be active where I exited before."
Akko nods. "Okay. Right behind you."
Diana waves her wand, removing the invisible barrier that had protected them from the dangers of the forest. The two first hide behind the cavern wall to check for any signs of life. Finding none, Diana places her broom between her legs and lets Akko mount behind her.
"Ready," Akko says.
Diana nods. "Tia Freyre!"
Their legs lift off the ground. The broom starts to ascend toward the sky.
But before they can fly higher than the trees, an indiscernible blur crashes right into them from the side and knocks them both back to the ground. The two girls skid across the forest floor in a mess of pain and disorientation.
"What- What was that?!" Akko shouts, moving her wand up to guard.
Diana shakes her head and stands as well with her wand raised. "I don't know. I didn't see it before-"
Crash.
From the forest enters a lanky monster as tall as the trees. Its body is completely black and disproportionate with the upper much wider and bulkier than its lower. However, its legs are still toned enough for Akko go assume it has enough strength to easily surge into the air to knock targets from midair.
A misty fog emits from its white, pupil-less eyes and open maw of sharp teeth. A long tongue dangles from its open mouth. Its head is shaped like a fox with its ears situated at the top of its head. And finally, dragging on the floor are a pair of overly long arms with elongated fingers and deadly nails.
"Diana, what is that?!"
"An… an Uguai," Diana gasps. "Akko, we need to run. We cannot fight this creature. I will gather the broom. We need to run as far away as we can and take flight immediately before-"
But the monster is already moving. With a speed surprising for its size, it surges forward and raises its arm to swipe at Diana.
"Diana look out!"
Akko pushes Diana out of the way just in time. But while Diana is knocked to the ground, Akko takes the full force of the attack. Pain flares through her back as the Uguai's sharp claws slash through her unprotected body.
Akko screams. Long and loud, enough to pull Diana from her initial shock to react against the Ugai's next assault.
"Praesidio!"
Diana erects a shield just in time before the Uguai can swipe down with its other arm. Its claws impact the barrier, nearly breaking it upon impact. Diana grits her teeth to prevent any further cracks from spreading in the shield.
"Akko! AKKO! You need to stay awake! AKKO!"
Diana's desperate pleas pierce through Akko's haze of pain. As much as she wants to just lie on the ground and melt into the dirt, her survival instincts scream that she's going to only suffer more if she stays put.
And she isn't the only one in danger here.
Akko uses her one arm to push herself to her knees. Gritting her teeth against the agony burning her back, she lifts her arm and aims past Diana's shield to the Uguai's head.
"M-Murowa!"
The attack strikes true to the Uguai's face. It's head is knocked back from the force. But before its full body can tilt back, it moves one of its legs back to steady itself and right its head by snapping its neck forward. Saliva begins to drip out of its mouth, trailing down its dangling tongue.
Color drains from Akko's face. Her arm starts to shake from both fear and the pain of her injuries. "It-It didn't work?" Anger rises to battle against her panic for dominance. She raises her wand again. "No! I'm not going to-! Murowa! Murowa! MUROWA!"
But the result is the same no matter how many times Akko strikes the Uguai. It isn't that it isn't reacting to the attacks. As soon as the condensed magical energy gets close enough, its tongue will lash out against it and seemingly negate the energy.
"It's absorbing the energy?" Diana notes. "This is the worst situation!"
However, Akko's constant attacks mean that the Uguai's attention is on blocking rather than attacking against Diana's barrier. So Diana takes the opportunity to take her focus off of defense and move to the offense.
She points her wand to the ground shouts, "Tellus Muto!"
Spikes of dirt erupt from the ground, piercing into the Uguai's body from its legs, torso, and up to its chest. At least its skin isn't impervious.
Diana dispels the shield and whirls around to grab Akko by the arm.
Akko cries out in pain from the sudden movement. But Diana doesn't have the luxury to be nice right now.
"Akko, we need to run. The spikes will keep it in place for now. But we need to-!"
Movement catches both of their attention. Despite being held in place by Diana's spell, its head is still free to move around. Its tongue whips side to side in a lazy swing, then suddenly elongates and lashes toward the two witches.
Diana reacts on instinct and pulls up a barrier in front of them. One spike divides into five. The five prongs easily shatter the shield and pierce through Diana's chest.
Diana's hold on Akko loosens, dropping her to the ground. Akko can only stare up in horror.
"Di-Diana?"
"G-Guh!" Blood dribbles down her chin, droplets staining the dirt of the forest. Her wide eyes gape at the protrusion in her chest. Frozen from terror or pain, Diana won't be able to do anything against her fate.
Like the fingers of a human, the Uguai's tongue wraps around Diana's heart and rips it from her chest. Diana's body falls to the ground as it retracts its tongue back.
Blood pours out of the open wound, further drenching the earth with red. Akko barely notices it spreading as she locks her gaze with Diana's. Permanently frozen in terror.
(Diana is- Diana is- Diana is-)
"Ah- Ah- AHHHHHHHHH?!"
"Sheeh sheeh sheeh…"
A strange sound tears Akko's gaze away from Diana to the Uguai. It's still dangling Diana's heart with its tongue. But it's mouth looks like it's pulled up into a smirk. And that laugh just now…
"Ah- Ah- Ahhhhhhh?"
Akko's mouth drops open. "You… Are you making fun of me?!"
"Sheeh sheeh…" It tilts its head and lifts Diana's heart over its mouth. In one movement, it crushes the heart and lets the blood drip down into its mouth.
"YOUUUUU!" Akko raises her wand at the monster. But her movements are restricted by another flare of pain from her back, causing her to cry out in pain.
The Uguai continues to laugh. Once it's done with its meal, it turns its attention back to Akko and prepares to strike again. With Akko in that state, she won't be able to move freely and dodge for long.
Just as the Uguai readies to lash its tongue out, a red blur suddenly strikes from behind. The human-sized projectile rams directly onto its spine, using the Uguai's restrained position to completely break the bones in its back.
A flash of red hair. Akko recognizes this person as one who seems to always come to her rescue just as much as Diana does.
"Professor Ursula!"
Without waiting for the Uguai to fall, Ursula runs toward Akko and readies them both on her broom. She takes out a vial and downs it in one gulp.
"Tia Freyre!" Ursula casts.
Akko grabs onto her professor to stop herself from falling. She can't keep a strong grip because of the lacerations on her back, but it's good enough for now.
"Wait, Professor Ursula you can fly?!"
"I'll explain at another time! We need to get you a healer!"
"But wait!" Akko tries to turn her head back, but the pain in her back prevents her from even moving her neck. "Professor Ursula, Diana-!"
"I can't carry you both and escape!" Ursula grits her teeth and takes off into the sky. "I can't! I'm sorry!"
Ursula directs them toward the leyline terminal. She repeats her apologies to Akko like a mantra.
She says it so often that Akko's hearing starts to dull. Eventually, the repeated words become more like a lullaby that draws her to sleep.
They're through the leyline now. Professor Ursula has got her. Even if Diana isn't with them, Akko can at least relax for now.
And so she lets herself fall into darkness once more.
She's falling. Falling to her death after the missile had knocked her off of the broom. Falling. Falling. Falling.
Someone is screaming for her. Someone important. Someone who is willing to throw her own life away for her friend. Someone who has become important to Akko after all their trials together.
When Akko opens her eyes, she is still falling but the distance no longer increases. Instead, she watches as the girl with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes is assaulted repeated by that demonic missile over and over again.
No, why is her hair stained red? Why are her eyes bloodshot? Why is there no fight in that girl? There is only a final resignation to her fate.
She sends Akko one last smile, so warm and kind, before the missile breaks that tiny girl like nothing. Muscle, bone, skin- all of that is compressed to nothing.
She cannot fight. All she can do is be crushed. Crushed. Crushed. Crushed.
And all Akko can do is scream. Scream. Scream. Scream. Scream…
"I'll put it simply." Lukić turns to the other witches in the room to give her diagnosis. "This girl is going to suffer. She has been poisoned. Or rather, cursed is probably the better description. Her blood is contaminated by the poison of a Mushussu's stinger. It doesn't inflict instant death. Instead, it tortures its prey with eternal sleep and has them suffer through cycles of nightmares for the rest of their pitiful lives."
"That's… that's horrible!" Lotte cries. "There has to be a way to cure this!"
"There is. But the poison has seeped past the bloodstream and into the girl's nervous system. If her missing arm is an indication, she must have tried to amputate it to prevent the poison from spreading. Or perhaps Diana was the one who thought of that. You mentioned she was with her?"
Ursula nods. "I couldn't bring her back with me. Diana is…"
Lukić's frown deepens. "I can guess her fate. That forest isn't kind, especially to the inexperienced. The Kagari girl I understand. But for Diana to also?" Lukić sighs. "In any case, that only served to prevent a majority of the poison from spreading. However, some of it already bypassed the amputated area and spread throughout her body. And because it wasn't diagnosed immediately it's completely diffused into her nervous system as well. It's been too long. No antidote will remove it fully now."
Ursula shakes her head. "Even so, we have to try! At this rate the better fate would be death!"
"Contact that Meridies of yours. She may be able to help now that her side project has to be terminated."
Ursula starts. "What?"
"You took that potion I gave you twice, didn't you? Once to fly to the forest, and another to get yourself and Kagari out. I told you before- that potion is designed to convert your own life energy into magical energy to replace your inability to fly. I'd estimate that you're down to about a month. With so little time left, there's no point in that cure for Wagandea's pollen."
Ursula clenches her fists by her side. But Lukić has a point. So she makes the obvious decision to discard her own needs for Akko.
"I'll tell Croix right now. Professor Lukić, can you also do what you can to save Akko?"
"She's still my student. I'll do what I can, but don't expect much."
Most of the professors file out of the room, leaving only Akko's closest companions to watch their unconscious friend.
"This idiot. She's sleeping like any other day. Hard to tell that there's any nightmares," Amanda says.
"It's what Professor Lukić said," Lotte says. "We just have to hope they can find a way to pull Akko from this."
Not knowing what else to say, the group sits and watches in silence.
Red. There's so much red. In her boots, on her clothes, seeped into her hair, pouring out of Diana's chest. Mixed with the remnants of Professor Ursula's body. Falling from Lotte's eyes. Staining Sucy's teeth. Dried upon every surface of Amanda's mangled body. And-
It's everywhere.
Falling. Falling. She's still falling.
Crushed. Crushed. Everyone she loves is dead.
Dead. Dead. Dead. And it's all her fault.
(Please.)
Tears mix with the blood.
(Please. Please make it stop.)
She continues to fall.
In the dead of night, when there is no one in the infirmary but that one comatose student, a certain witch sneaks inside and finds the one occupied bed. She doesn't pull up one of the uncomfortable chairs to sit down. She remains standing by her friend's side.
"You always were a heavy sleeper, Akko."
As expected, nothing of the girl changes. So Sucy continues to speak.
"Professor Ursula passed away today. She didn't commit suicide or anything. She just couldn't wake up. Her breathing stopped. Lukić thinks her diagnosis was wrong, but she's also wondering if there was something else affecting her lifespan. Everything's just a mess. No one ever brought back Diana's body either. That forest you guys went into is so bad even I wouldn't think of setting foot in it without help. So they probably aren't planning to retrieve her body."
Once again, no response.
"Everlasting Nightmares. It's what people officially call this fate. A relative of mine was struck by a Mushussu before. Even though they were able to administer the cure in time, that guy was never the same. He kept rambling on and on about how everyone was going to die anyway, and that he didn't want to see that happening anymore. So he ended up jumping from the roof of his house."
Sucy reaches into her cloak and pulls out a small cylinder-shaped item with a green fluid inside.
"You've been sleeping for five days. That's five days longer than that relative. You've probably suffered through so much that you won't be the same even if you manage to wake up.
The liquid in the syringe glints in the small sliver of moonlight that creeps into the room from the half-open curtains.
"Everyone misses you, but there's no point if our Akko isn't going to come back anyway. And there's no guaranteed that they'll be able to find a cure."
Sucy turns over Akko's arm so that her vein is easily accessible. She places the tip against Akko's skin.
"It's been a long five days. This is the last time you'll get to be my test subject."
The needle pokes through skin and the liquid enters Akko's bloodstream.
Sucy stands over Akko and watches as the steady rise and fall of her chest begins to diminish. Slowly, until Akko falls still.
"Good night, Akko."
She tells herself that the thing trailing down her cheek is sweat, and not tears.
Bad Ending.
.
.
.
Omake
"Wha- Th- This- This is-!" Akko grabs the crystal ball, storms to the window, throws it open, and chucks the offending item out of the room. "THAT'S THE MOST HORRIBLE STORY I'VE EVER READ!"
Lotte's shoulders slump from losing another crystal ball to Akko's tirade. She'll have to buy a replacement again.
"Well, this author does have a habit of writing angst," Sucy remarks. "It's written well at least. I can tell she really wanted to make you, Diana, and Professor Ursula suffer."
"You're the one who killed Akko in the end," Amanda points out.
"Hey, I was the one who ended her suffering."
Akko stomps back to their gathered group consisting of the red, blue, and green teams all in the red team's tiny room. "This is going too far! I was so sad in the end that I was crying to be killed!"
"Aww, Akko. But it was enjoyable to read!" Jasminka fishes into her bag of chips and holds out a chip. "Want a piece?"
Akko swipes the offered chip. "Thanks Jasminka. I think I need to eat a whole cake to feel better after reading that. And it's supposed to be a present?! What kind of evil person-?!"
"My question is why I am the one to suffer injury in every one of their stories. Even the ones that are designated to be light hearted," Diana says.
"Yeah! Like why is Diana pretty much always in pain?!" Hannah shouts.
"Wasn't it enough that Diana died once already?!" Barbara adds.
"Apparently not. There are a lot of ways that people can be killed."
To everyone's horror, it wasn't Sucy who said it but Lotte. And in such a lighthearted way too.
Amanda backs up in horror. "You're… pretty scary, Lotte."
"Hm? Is that weird? I guess this author's ideas are pretty creative, but they say that they take a lot of inspiration from other stories."
"Oh yeah? And which one's this from?" Akko asks.
Lotte blinks. "Actually… I think this one they came up with all on their own."
Screams echo from the red team's room. Horror, indignation, anger, disbelief; all of that is laced together on this silent night.
Happy holidays!
Author's Notes:
Wow that was. Actually really depressing. I'm surprised I wrote this. Um. That's actually a little too angsty even for me. This is a straight up tragedy.
The Uguai does not exist. The name is random and I came up with it based on whatever nonsense I could think of at the moment. Its appearance also wasn't really inspired by anything other than what I think would be scary af LOL
However, I did model the Mushussu based on the monster of the same name from the game Fate/Grand Order. I don't think they inflict the same damage though haha. The Everlasting Nightmares was just something I came up with.
Anyway, happy holidays Eliln! I didn't kill everyone, but I killed the ones that mattered, right? XD
Fun Fact:
This is actually my third draft. I had two other ideas before this that I wasn't satisfied with. 'It's not sad enough!' I said. And then I came up with this. Jfc I think I need to go watch something happy for a bit.