Heyas! There's a Hurricane knock-knock-knock'n at my door here in Miami where we didn't HAVE to evacuate (but it was a heavy recommendation - difficult when you have doctors in your family who're on call at local hospital). Thought i would post this first part of a probably continuous trend of one shots before Irma screws South Florida over. (Currently 2:30 am on Sat and this bitch is back at cat 5 and giving Northern Cuba hell!)
To all Florida folks, stay safe in or out of state. This ain't like Andrew over 20 years ago and nothing like Wilma over 10 years later. Irma is a beast and I hope ya'll come out of this alright!
If you got power/internet to spare, here's the first part of a possible multiple chapter ficlet within this collection. Might be a recurring trend too.
Thanks for the Kudos and comments btw! I'm glad you're enjoying this as much as I am!
Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.
When Finneran made her lesson plans nowadays, she always made sure there was an extra buffer of time to correct errors. She also made sure to have her usual spell lessons followed up with the nullification incantation required to cancel its effects. If her class ran a few minutes later than what she estimated, then she had also prepped her following lectures to anticipate the schedule changes. Back in the day none of this was actually necessary and the older witch was very punctual with both her class start and end times.
However, that was before she met Atsuko "Akko" Kagari.
All it took was this one, young witch-in-training to completely and utterly destroy the natural order of her scheduling. With how often this occurred, Finneran was tempted to call out the young brunette for doing it on purpose. How could she believe someone can mess up on a near daily basis? It had to be improbable. Yet Akko proved that thought wrong every time.
So as any other day in their practical spell casting class, Finneran was prepared for whatever hazard the Japanese witch could conjure up. The day's spell was a simple summons - calling an object from a previous location into their current presence. An easy task (albeit involving a lot more variables and theory if one deciphered how the actual spell worked) but nonetheless challenging for her average students.
She had specifically instructed that no item larger than one of their lesson tomes was allowed to be summoned and absolutely no live creatures. The students so far had followed the instructions as well as they could.
She witnessed the summoning of a plume from her own desk, a flower from the school greenhouse, a small sealed bottle of purple liquid, a single dirty sock (miss O'Neal was quite ecstatic she found her lost laundry), and a first edition novel from an infamous series. With her gradebook in hand she marked each student based on success of the summon and control of the spell. So far, everyone had managed the spell with little to no difficulty and she allowed herself a moment to feel proud of the competency each young witch displayed.
That pride shifted ever so slightly when she looked down at the final student marked to present.
"Miss Kagari."
The witch in question stepped forward and Finneran took a deep breath as she mentally prepared herself for anything. She was glad the class had naturally come to an unspoken agreement of always having Akko present last. In this way she could be sure she had graded everyone without having any witch cheat past their demonstration because the class had to be cut short or canceled.
"Remember, just one item. Smaller than a book and no animals. FOCUS on the image of what you want to summon and once you are completely sure you've grasped it, say the incantation and allow the magic to flow through."
Akko nodded as she gripped her wand tightly and held it up in front of her. Finneran watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath as she concentrated. She observed the girl closely - from the way she held her wand to her straightened-back posture. She was slightly impressed by the level of seriousness she was taking to succeed in the task. But as her internal clock ticked, the older professor became aware of a couple of things.
Akko had been concentrating for over 2 minutes -
And a lot of magic had been pooling around her.
Alarmed, Finneran opened her mouth to call out to her but her exclamation was swallowed up by the young witch's passionate cry as she practically roared the incantation and swung her wand down.
The following sound was a mix of an explosion and a crash as a cloud of smoke filled the front of the room.
Finneran grabbed her wand in the blink of an eye and commanded the windows of the class to open. She nodded to Diana who had reacted as well and began clearing the fumes out. With a breath and sigh into fresh air she looked down to check her overly dedicated and troublesome student for injuries. Despite a messy appearance, Akko was no less worse for wear other than the coughing fit from being in the epicenter of the blast.
"Is everyone alright?"
A chorus of affirmations reached her from the rest of the class while the Japanese witch merely nodded. With a nod, she raised her gradebook to mark her student's score (or lack of) and readied herself to lecture her.
"Miss Kagari," she spoke firmly as she looked at the wincing girl before her. "While your pronunciation has greatly improved, you pushed too much magic into the spell which is likely what caused the combustion in the first place. It is possible that anything you have summoned - that is, if you were successful - is no longer in an acceptable condition."
The last part seemed to startle her.
"EH?! B-but then that means my card-"
A sudden groan and cough from the front of the class froze students and teacher to their spot.
"Ugh…"
Finneran's head snapped towards her teacher's stand, or what was left of it, was. Her eyes widened as a body rose from the rubble, standard Luna Nova robes recognizable despite the wood shavings and dust covering it. Slowly they picked themselves out of the furniture ruins and stood, only to collapse onto all fours in front of Akko. Though the robe's hood covered their head, the cloth definitely did not have enough padding to save them from the impact against the stand.
It was Akko who shook herself out of her stupor the fastest and dropped to her knees before them.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"
Akko's hands gripped the girl's shoulders who used her support to push herself up into a sitting position. Another gasp and groan escaped her as her head lolled back from dizziness. Finneran blinked back her own surprise to lean down and assist her student.
"Easy there, don't jostle her too much else-"
Her words died on the tip of her tongue as the hood fell from the young girl's head.
Bright, crimson locks framed fair-skin and a pair of hazy, but shining red orbs gazed up at her from under a slightly messy fringe. Those same eyes narrowed in confusion and curiosity as their owner attempted to process their current predicament.
"P-Professor… Finneran?"
The voice was light but strained and terribly familiar, causing goosebumps to rise on the older witch. She forced herself to take a deep breath only to tense as the girl's face suddenly paled and she swayed.
"Ohhhh… I don't feel good…"
And just like her students before her, Finneran summoned a paper bag right as a young Chariot du Nord tilted forward and heaved.
When it came to surprises, Akko was always full of them. Whether messing something up incredibly or accomplishing a task totally unexpected of her, the brunette had a record for leaving most of her peers speechless. As Diana and the rest of the class plus the same rambunctious, Japanese witch stared at the young teen version of her magical idol, the heiress was pretty sure this set the bar for shock factor… Or more like cleared it a hundred times over. Because there was definitely no way Shiny Chariot (or the girl who would become said performer) was casually sitting in their classroom nursing a headache and sipping some water to make up for her sickness earlier.
And there was no way that Atsuko Kagari wasn't losing her mind about it.
Or perhaps she's thoroughly lost it already and has emotionally dismissed herself from the current reality.
Diana observed her normally hyperactive classmate with a cautious gaze. It was like watching a ticking time bomb with how the young witch simply stood there... silently watching without a trace of emotion on her. It was horribly unnerving and judging from the sounds of the rest of the class shifting behind her, she was not alone in her sentiments.
A sigh from their time-traveling visitor had her eyes snapping back to the young redhead. Chariot had finished her cup and was looking around the classroom in awe and mild apprehension. After her arrival, Finneran had quickly canceled the rest of her classes and gone straight to the Headmistress to report the latest incident. After all, this occurrence in particular had drastic results should it be handled incorrectly. Diana knew some of the consequences involved and as she was charged with the class until the professor's return, she kept a both eyes on the young idol and her fan.
"So um, Diana right?"
The blonde witch tensed ever so slightly and nodded to the redhead.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask what year this is exactly?"
"You may ask. But I am not at liberty to provide an answer due to the risks."
"Oh… well uh… I guess that makes sense then."
The redhead glanced around at the other girls, Akko in particular before lighting up as an idea came to her.
"May I ask what month and day it is?"
Diana paused, thoughtful as she considered the request.
"Month I cannot give, but it is a Thursday."
Chariot hummed in thought.
"So it's not Monday."
The blonde raised a brow in curiosity and confusion.
"You were pulled here from a Monday?"
"Oh no! It was Thursday as well." Chariot giggled. "I just hoped it wasn't Monday because the cafeteria makes too many potato dishes on Monday."
There was an awkward pause in the classroom from the sheer randomness. Diana could only blink in disbelief as the redhead seemed to be in much better spirits.
"I see." She gave the gleeful witch an odd look. "You… Don't seem to be at all bothered about being pulled through time."
Chariot hummed thoughtfully before shooting the class a beaming grin.
"Of course not! This is amazing and the witch who pulled this off must be too!"
There was a strong side-eye from the class as Akko shrunk back a bit. (An odd reaction but a reaction nonetheless).
"And-"
The heiress turned back to the redhead.
"I totally did not miss spaghetti day!"
Ursula had been grabbing some books from the library (and glaring at Croix as she returned a few) when she received a summons to the Headmistress's office. A common occurrence since she took up mentoring Luna Nova's infamous mischief-maker, she was already re-arranging her to do list to make extra time to review the spell or potion Akko messed up. When she arrived to find the full Luna Nova teaching staff minus a certain purple-haired witch, she immediately realized something was more amiss than she anticipated. She was so momentarily stunned that she didn't notice the final staff member walk in behind her until her breath was practically on her neck. She had to restrain a squeal and jump when she spoke.
"My apologies for my tardiness, I was finishing some business in the library."
(She tried to glare back in response to Croix's innocent but fake smile, but the blush on her cheeks wasn't helping her case.)
The Headmistress merely nodded before turning and addressing the rest of the staff. She gave a very brief but vague explanation about a summoning blunder Akko had caused before motioning to Finneran to provide a more detailed explanation of the incident. Ursula felt a chunk of dread fill her chest as the older professor went into detail how the Japanese witch was putting a lot more magic and thought into her spell than was necessary. The blue-haired professor shook slightly from nerves as she continued to explain how her pupil had somehow managed to actually summon an individual from the grasp of time itself.
"So she actually summoned a witch from the past?"
"Not just any witch Professor Croix."
"Oh?"
Ursula felt nauseous as she made eye contact with the Headmistress who's eyes spoke volumes and allowed her to piece together just exactly what Akko had done.
"Yes. As a matter of fact, a 16 year old Chariot du Nord is currently present in my classroom."
Oh no.
The meeting with the teachers only last a few minutes more as Finneran detailed their next few steps to reverse the summons and send the young Chariot back to her appropriate time. Unfortunately, preparations for such a particular reverse summons would take a minimum of two days as they needed to gather enough magical essence and materials to create the counter spell as well as clean up any time-alterations she may cause. They also went over giving the redhead an obliviate potion to erase all memories of this event (to which Ursula gave a startled yelp but otherwise did not reject the idea).
When the meeting concluded and each teacher went their separate ways, Holbrooke asked for both Finneran and Ursula to remain. The older brunette stared seriously but quizzically at her younger coworker as she fidgeted in place. The bluenette's face was pale and the anxiety was clear from her expression. She did not fully understand why the bespectacled witch was vividly panicking but she assumed it was a reaction to her pupil's emotional state now that her idol was present.
The Headmistress cleared her throat and looked at the younger professor who gripped her wand a little tighter.
"Professor Ursula."
"Y-yes ma'am!"
"How do you feel?"
"I… erm… that is I-"
Finneran scoffed and watched as the bluenette squeaked and ducked her head.
"Headmistress, we need to begin preparations. We cannot waste a moment to-"
"Anne."
The brunette paused, startled at the use of her first name but understanding the seriousness in the tone. Turning to look at the elder witch she noted the firm expression she wore.
"This has everything to do with our current predicament."
Holbrooke turned back to the younger professor who was looking anxiously away, biting her bottom lip. Her expression softened as she addressed the bluenette.
"We will have to make this exception. I hope you understand."
Ursula looked up, eyes glancing at Finneran who continued observing them with general inquisitiveness. She took a deep breath and straightened her back, a visible shift in her demeanor as her expression sharpened and she nodded.
"I understand."
The Headmistress nodded once more before turning back to the brunette professor.
"Finneran, you will need to assist Professor Ursula during these next few days. It is imperative our young time traveler does not interact directly with her. Should she do so may result in dire consequences."
The older professor's brows furrowed.
"Why would that be an issue? If I understand the mechanics correctly, it is only through an encounter with her present self that could cause a problem with our timeline."
Finneran motioned with her hand.
"And Chariot du Nord has not been seen or heard from in at least a decade."
"That's not true."
The older witch's brows raised as she turned to the bluenette.
"Are you saying you've been in contact with Miss du Nord?"
Ursula sighed as she raised her hand to her face and gripped her glasses.
"No… But," she removed the spectacles and stared firmly at the older woman. Finneran held back a gasp, eyes widening as she witnessed deep, blue strands burn away into a familiar, bright crimson. Ruby red eyes sharpened with a dulled but infamous spark she recalled seeing years ago.
"I am Chariot du Nord."
As soon as the teacher's congregation ended, Croix had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from laughing out loud. So not only had Akko managed to screw up another spell but she even managed to mess with the timeline in the process.
Talk about impressively disastrous.
The tech witch smirked to herself as she thought about how this event could keep the present Chariot out of her business even if only for a little while. The older version of her past "friend" would be limited to areas far from her past self. So of course Croix would seek out the youth to keep the older scarce. If it was a Chariot that already knew her, then the easier it would be to keep her attention.
Thus Croix found herself standing in the doorway of Finneran's class, now empty of all but three young witches. Her gaze zero'd in on the redhead that had been fidgeting in her seat.
"Professor Croix!"
The tech witch tensed as Akko's shout had Chariot swiveling around to face her.
Shining rubies met gleaming emeralds and Croix had to suppress a shiver at the sudden nostalgic warmth that filled her chest. The younger witch stared at her wide eyed from shock but as the moment passed, the older woman felt her heart doing somersaults as a smile grew on the teen's face. There was a mild burning she was desperately fighting on her cheeks.
No no no you were not this cute back then!
Croix had to salvage her persona as much as she could. Wetting her lips, she forced one of her casual smiles in the redhead's direction.
"My my Akko. When Finneran said you-OOF!"
"CROIX!"
And just like that, it felt like all the air left her lungs.
"Ch-chariot!"
The smaller redhead squeezed and nuzzled into her chest.
"Croix! You're so tall and pretty and an adult now!"
She pulled back to grin up at the flustered witch.
"Hey so that means I'm in the future right? That's so cool!"
The redhead turned to the other pair of witches in the class with a teasing grin.
"Is she a good teacher? I bet she is, right?"
The tech witch was pretty sure she was rivaling her cape at this point. She covered her face with a hand trying hard not to feel as embarrassed and flustered as she was, but with the young Chariot doting and admiring her… She was definitely struggling. Croix was not as acclimated to this kind of exuberance anymore.
By the Nine Old Witches, give me strength.
The older witch paused as she felt soft, warm hands grip her own free one. Lowering the one on her face, Croix looked down to see the tender expression on the teen witch. Again, she felt her heart jump into her throat and steal away her breath as those caring crimson eyes met her own.
"I'm glad you're here. I was really worried that I would be completely alone."
Please don't…
Chariot beamed contentedly at her.
"I knew I could always count on you to be there for me, Croix!"
The tech witch's legs felt weak but a weight settled on her.
If only you knew… then you would treat me with the caution your guilty heart bears.
A giggle left the younger's lips making the older woman's brows raise.
"You know, my heart believed I would be alright." She clutched the front of her robes, over where the powerful organ would reside. "Because a believing heart is my magic. Just like you said!"
THUD
Both witches snapped their attention towards the sudden sound only to blink in confusion and surprise. Sprawled out on the floor a few feet away was an unconscious brunette and fretting over her body was an uncharacteristically unnerved heiress. Croix could only sigh in relief as Chariot finally pulled away from her to go check on her.
Even like this, she's incredibly effective at getting Chariot's attention.
Meanwhile, Diana Cavendish was torn between deeply sighing in exasperation or performing the very uncharacteristic act of facepalming.
It took her that long to register this.
She shook her head as she and the teenage Chariot worked together to lift the fallen witch's body.
Indeed you are full of the oddest surprises Akko.
This is the part where Diana and every teacher at Luna Nova (Finneran in particular) just take a vacathion to avoid the incoming shitstorms. *whispers* like Irma.
- Yes it took Akko THAT LONG to process the fact that Shiny Chariot was there in the flesh. Like maybe she would freak in the moment but I wanted to take the " is loading" approach. Her mind was running a diagnostic and troubleshooting picked up too many errors to run successfully.
- I like to imagine Chariot before the rod and responsibilities got pleasure from the simple things in life and really loved her friends. Older Croix is gonna have one helluva ride with this one if she isn't defeated by her adorableness.
- Finneran is very tired. She has 2 mischief makers now and an incognito witch to deal with. Pray for her sanity to return intact.
- I like to believe Holbrooke knew the whole series Ursula was Chariot cuz she told her. Finneran also wasn't particularly surprised near the series end when they confront Croix and her. But I wanted a dramatic reveal.
- This whole summoning idea was what initially inspired this whole one shot collection. I didn't want to just write one time travel thing but like interdimensional interactions or something. This one may have multiple parts since the whole plot i had in mind would make the chapter stupidly long or I may leave it up to your discretion as to what shenanigans Lil Chariot gets into in the future. I'm leaning more towards the first option tho.
- This chapter's RIP is for the teacher's stand.
- Kudos to Amanda for using a lesson as an excuse to find her missing sock.
- This was not beta'd.
Stay safe everyone!