Diana always seemed like the kind of person whose confidence never wavered, no matter the situation. She had that kind of elegance about her. Today, she still had that elegance, but it was more like a swan; serene and calm on the outside, yet absolutely flapping underneath. Lotte was beyond panicking; tears streaming down her face, Amanda went into shock; her face pale white, and Sucy (being Sucy) at least appeared a little less happy than usual. Akko's body laid catatonic before them. She went over to give Akko a less panicked examination.
Okay Diana, she told herself. Deep breaths, don't panic. Diana closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. She gave herself a moment to gather her thoughts and compose herself. Now, let's assess the situation. Akko isn't dead. There's a pulse. It's faint, but it's there. So, what's wrong with her? It's like she's unconscious, but it's not quite right. Her eyes are dull, again not just unconscious, but like something is missing.
She looked off to her left and noticed the book laying there; it was moving, albeit slightly, as though it was taking a nap. She went over and gently picked it up, making sure to comfort it while doing so; books do not like being mishandled. It purred gently in her arms, or possibly growled, it's hard to tell with books, but it wasn't attacking her which is a good sign. A general rule of thumb is that the more aggressive the book is, the more powerful the contents tend to be, and this one had a real chip on its shoulder, or hardback cover in this case.
She lightly flicked through its pages till she came across the page Amanda found. "Maxicadia," she said to herself and looked back at the unconscious body of Akko. "If the spell goes wrong it can push the soul out of the body". That line sent a red hot flush of panic from her brain and sent ripples through her skin. She looked around at her friends. Lotte was still shouting hysterics at and shaking an unconscious Akko, Amanda was still frozen in a near enough catatonic state of shock, and Sucy was poking Akko with a stick. They were right to panic (Amanda and Lotte anyway).
She continued through the book carefully; the tome was so old each page felt as though it had a fair chance of turning to dust. One page was even ripped out completely. "So theres massive amplified power, um… possibly explosions, goodness I wish Amanda would read on before casting any spells, in the event of any resultant explosion -oh yes here we are- please wait for the soul and body to expel any additional energy it may have collected." A refreshing cool wave of relief and catharsis flooded over Dianna. This is not permanent, she isn't dead, we can fix this. She leapt over to Amanda and tried to shake her back to reality. "Amanda! Listen! She's not gone. She isn't dead."
This seemed to resonate with her.
"S-she's not?" Amanda managed.
"No we just have to wait. She'll be back."
A moment passed and she snapped back to reality.
"Well great!" Amanda exclaimed with more enthusiasm than she initially intended. "We just have to keep her safe until she comes back. Any idea on how long?"
Diana quickly flicked through the book.
"It doesn't say," Diana said as she place the book carefully into her bag.
"Great. So any point between now and the end of time."
"I doubt it will be that long, but we need to prepare just in case. We need to get her somewhere safe and out the way of the teachers. If they find her, they'll know what's wrong, they'll know what you did, and they'll know how you did it."
"Ok I get it," Amanda said and took a moment to think. "We'll get her back to her room, pretend she's sick. That'll at least keep them off our back for a while till we think of something better."
"Right now I think it would be best if we explain this to Lotte. She look a little distraught."
"Ah right, good idea."
After consoling a distraught Lotte and taking the stick away from Sucy, they set their plan into motion.
"So," Lotte said, wiping some scuffs from her glasses. "How are we going to get Akko back inside without anyone noticing?"
"We can't use anything magical," Diana interjected. "The teachers would notice any spells we cast, and we have to make this look like she is naturally ill."
"Alright, I've got an idea," Amanda added, popping out of a deep thought. "Have any of you seen Weekend at Bernies?"
"A very long time ago, I don't remember much of it. Sorry." Lotte meekly mentioned.
"I don't watch TV," said Diana.
"What's a Bernie?" Sucy added unhelpfully.
Not a problem, Amanda thought to herself. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses, which she always has on herself, no matter the time of day or year, and slid them on Akko's unconscious face. She then placed Akko limp arm onto her shoulder, the hoisted her up into a almost standing motion. She gave Diana a nodding gesture to the other side of Akko, which she interpreted correctly and hoisted Akko up in a symmetrical fashion.
The facade was complete. Akko looked like an unconscious body limply hanging in-between two high school girls while wearing sunglasses.
"This will not work," Diana said bluntly.
"Well, till you come up with a better idea, this'll have to do."
