Diana stared at the growing crowd gathering over where Professor Chariot was.
Since the 1333rd Broom Relay race was but a week away, most students who were planning on entering were starting to form strategies and plans in order to win the cup. And of course, since most of the students entering were first years and most likely have no experiences in broom racing at all, they were looking for teachers and veterans who had won the race and are questioning how they won their trophies.
The first witch who everyone looked for advice was Professor Chariot du Nord, who was rumored to have won the race before.
And it was basically what any sensible witch would do. Someone who's as amazing with a broom and had loads more experience as Professor Chariot could have plenty of tips to give, maybe even some secrets to what she'd done to achieve it.
After all, who wouldn't follow an advice of a veteran witch with years of professional flying on her sleeves?
Diana, that's who.
The heiress turned back and went to the opposite direction where Professor Chariot's swarm of fans were, followed quickly by Hannah and Barbara, who were glancing back and forth from their leader to the other students who were gathering to other end of the hallway.
"Hey, uh, Diana, isn't Professor Chariot back over there?" Barbara whispered and Diana flashed a grin at her.
"What, and ask for advice and do exactly what she did in her race?" Diana turned a hallway and they were now passing by the glassed panel of pictures of witches who won the race over the past 100 years. From the very old black and white picture of the first team who had their photograph up to the previous year, where Betsy Goldenburg's team was holding the golden cup. "Not a chance," answered Diana.
The blue team paused to where the trophy and medals were displayed, looking up in wonder as the polished gold and bronze reflected their faces.
"Hmm… While I know you're an excellent flyer yourself Diana," said Hannah, "Don't you think it's a bit arrogant for us to enter without having some guides? This isn't like middle school, you know."
Crossing her arms, Barbara added, "It's different from those 300-meter glides,"
"But is it so different from our adventures in my family forest, though?" countered Diana with a smirk. She turned to them with a wide smile. "Come on guys! We're three good witches who have top-notch experience with our brooms! Others are great too but I'll just know we'll win the cup this year!"
"Well…" Hannah hummed, remembering their many excursions into the forest with their brooms. It earned them plenty of experience of course, having to fly and dodge away magical creatures from every angle, more than whatever their family or school has ever offered them.
But Hannah and Barbara weren't half of what Diana is made of. She came from a pure bloodline of witches. She ventured more forests. Has more experience with brooms than half the teachers do. Knows how to control and guide them, no matter its age and type of magic it engages. She can make flying through thick forests as easy as gliding through an open field.
So it wasn't surprising to see Diana have so much confidence. In fact, she was practically favored by the people of Blaytonbury and the academy to win this year, to no one's surprise. Hannah and Barbara were confident as well, knowing when they hand the ring to Diana, it was already a sure first place for them.
However, this was Luna Nova. So they'd rather be prepared than to act like the Broom Relay was taken lightly.
"Okay then," nodded Barbara and Hannah agreed with a hum. Diana grinned broadly and widely, and the blue team swiftly stalked out of the hallway and to the dorms, already thinking up of a secure plan in order to win that cup.
Akko glowered at her feet, unbelieving that her practices with the broom that the school provided were fruitless. She kicked the grass, sending a few leaves a good one or two inch away from her and Lotte looked at her with a mien of boredom.
"Tell me again why we're even behind the laboratories, Akko?" asked the Fin.
"One," started Akko, "Because I need to practice. Two, I can't practice in broad daylight as I know we'll be mocked again. And three," she continued, "I'd rather not risk of a fight happening with your and my temper combined. So better train in the dark instead of training with a bunch posies hovering over us," she told her teammates adamantly, crossing her arms and glaring at her broom severely, like she was condemning it. She added suddenly, "I thought you already knew that, Lotte."
"Sorry," Lotte mumbles, not sorry at all and returns to her book.
Since her complete (and literal) dive at the first flying lesson about three days ago, Akko had been running in and out of their dorm to practice in order to fly properly like a 'witch'. Sucy and Lotte don't mind, it gives them something to do outside of studying and playing card games in their dorm but what was annoying was the constant screaming of the same spell over and over.
Their usual spot to practice broom flying was somewhere in the school yard of the building near the function halls, which is to say quite parallel to the entrance of Luna Nova, where almost barely a few witches go. However, in the past few days, more and more witches with brooms have been hogging space for themselves, leaving Akko and Lotte quite in a tirade. After enduring two hours of other team's taunts and insults, the red team retreated and found themselves behind the laboratory buildings, where they were confined and away from the obnoxious others.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers." Sucy commented as she studied a mushroom she plucked from somewhere.
Akko, sighing through her nose, readjusted her witch hat again and mounted her broom. "Alright…" she said to no one. Then, pouring all of her heart out, she shouted, "TIA FREYRE!" and kicked off the ground.
Only to land back. She cried again, louder this time and kicked off the ground more violently, only for the same thing to happen.
It became a vicious cycle of shouting, kicking the ground, landing back, glare a bit at the broom, and shouting again. This was what Akko had been enduring for the last week and it irked her that all of her practices had never once shown improvement, no matter how carefully studied her teammates performing it or pouring herself off a book.
It was as if she had no magic herself, which is downright PROPOSTEROUS!
If she didn't have a trace of magic then kindly explain the deal with the Shiny Rod then! It activated to her wills twice now, both from Arcturus Forest and under the Jennifer Tree so who's to lie she doesn't have anything magical in her?
Maybe Lotte but she's a different matter altogether.
Feeling her voice turning hoarse, she steps off of her broom and heard Sucy from behind her. "Tired?"
Grumbling, Akko nodded. "Slightly," she looked over her broom and stared at it. "What is wrong with this broom? Do you guys think this is broken?" she asked and turned to them.
They shrugged and Lotte stood up from her spot. "I think the better question is," she said. "Why are people suddenly out and practicing their flying? Now of all times?"
This time, the other two shrugged. Then a familiar voice said from their left, "I think it's because of the Broom Relay race coming next Saturday."
The red team turned and found Amanda and Jasminka standing at the end of the building, holding their respective brooms.
"Amanda! Jasminka!" Akko cried, surprised at the green team's arrival at their spot. "How did you know we were here?"
Jasminka munched on a pear and said, "It was rather hard to miss the shouting."
At her answer, Akko blinked and the statement sunk into her. She avoided their gaze and flushed. "I… I see," she cleared her throat. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sucy and Lotte giving little grins of amusement at her direction. She needed to change the subject fast. "Anyway," Akko said quickly, "You said something about a race, Amanda?"
"Yes," the redhead nodded and walked over to their spot. "Luna Nova's annual broom race. It's like a Swedish race of sorts. Teams that enter will fly on their brooms with a bronze ring acting as a baton, passing it to one another."
"A relay?" Akko repeated, widening her eyes.
"Ohhh, I completely forgot about that," Sucy said from where she was standing. "The 1333rd Broom Relay race."
Akko turned to her with a look of shock. "You know about it, Sucy?"
Sucy sheepishly avoided her gaze. "Well, I heard some of our classmates talk about it this morning but I didn't really care…" She turned to the green team leader. "Isn't it coming this week, Amanda?"
She nodded and beamed. "Yes! That's why Jasminka and I were looking for a place to train. Do you guys mind sharing some space?"
"Oh, we don't," said Akko. "But I'd like some more insight on this relay."
"Like I told you, it's a broom flying relay," said Amanda. "The first witch starts off with a 200 meter glide, holding the ring before passing it to the other witch, who goes twice the distance. The final witch will have to fly more than thrice of the second witch's distance."
Akko did the math. "Wait, that's more than a kilometer. Isn't our sports ground a little smaller than that?"
Then the brunette saw her mushroom roommate's grin. "Keke… Who said the race was going to happen on the sports ground, Akko?"
With a swift kick to the base, the broom stood up straight and stopped almost a foot above the ground. Diana huffed and stepped down swiftly. She looked over to Barbara with the timer.
"How was that?"
"5.02 seconds…" the dark-haired fanatic whispered with wide eyes. "And that was an eighty-foot drop!"
Diana grinned and saddled on her broom that she led afloat. "Nice!" she cried and suddenly heard applause.
The blue team turned behind them and saw quite a few witches had stared at their spot in the courtyard. A girl with red hair with a pair of dark-skinned girls behind her gaped, Avery's team were whistling encouragements ("You go, Diana!") and, a few teachers who came around to see the students who were training gave affirming nods at Diana's direction.
With a bright smile, she waved back for a bit before Barbara threw a hand over her shoulder. "This year will be our year, Diana! No doubt about it!"
"Yep!" Hannah came strolling over them, probably finished helping out the other teams' practice. "With Diana on our side, there's no way we can't win first place." She said with an air of confidence.
Diana flushed a bit and scratched her head. "Aw shucks, guys, you're making me blush…" she muttered and then turned to Barbara. "C'mon, enough about me! Give me that timer and let's see your eighty-foot drop!"
Akko stared at her map that she laid out what was supposed to be the entire track for the race.
Since Luna Nova wasn't a prized academy for nothing, it was no surprise for them to elevate what would be a standard broom race to a sophisticated one that could even make older witches grit their teeth.
The first track was a simple plain that starts some half a mile away from the New Moon Tower, where the first flyers, or leg flyers, would stand before the gun shots. However, Amanda had told her that the starting point would be at least fifty feet off the ground and gliding up above fifty feet would cause some problems to witches who only ever flew above twenty.
The higher the witch is, the more magic does her broom consume. So magical endurance and speed was what the first track was all about, and speed, especially, was of the essence.
The next course, the course that the second flyer would fly through, was more complex. It didn't involve endurance but agility. Dodging tree trunks, branches and overgrown roots while trying to stay inside the line; you have to have a keen sense of direction and navigation. The course would be traditionally either tracked around the interior of the forest but travelling outside was just as hard. Then there are the witches who will be hogging the limited spaces.
The final course was perhaps the hardest of all.
The anchor flyer would begin thirty stories of the New Moon Tower and follow the surreal track of old ruins, elevated hills and an even thicker part of the forest. You either fly above all the obstacles and slow down or fly near the ground but endure and dodge everything that comes. When out of the obstacle course, the anchor flyer would have to fly all the way back to the sports ground and have a final lap around it before finishing.
First prize would earn the team the gold and bronze Broom Relay cup, an extra prize from a mystery teacher ("I heard the faculty would draw ballots to see who'll be giving each year," added Lotte) and, of course, bragging rights. Second would be some sort of ribbon. Third would have nothing but a nice place in the shadows of the first place.
If Luna Nova hasn't already made a trait of monocracy, this race would surely beget it.
Akko stared at her piece of parchment, laying down all the notes Amanda had told her about the race.
She placed her hand on her chin, contemplating about the sophisticated setting of the race before she heard Lotte behind her.
"Well, we can't really bother with it," said Lotte as she peered over her shoulder to look at the map. "I mean, most of the team participants will just be a bunch of babies who want to show people that they can ride a broom. Like, all witches can ride a broom! Well, except maybe you," Akko glared. "But really, what's so great about able to fly some ways above twenty feet and dodging a few trees!?"
For a moment, Akko stares at her before stands up, picking her paper with her and says, "I suppose you're right, Lotte."
Because what she said was true, really. Despite Akko's fondness with races, as expected from a girl who devoted her club time to sports, she thinks the thing would be but a waste of time.
It was a broom race that only richer, more experienced witches would only enter. It's not about practicing your skills; sure, Jasminka added that Professor Nelson will add bonus points to whoever participates, but even then, it's just a bunch of kids gloating about their skills with a broom and how they could control it better than you.
Lotte shrugs and Amanda chirps from where she was gliding around her broom, twenty, maybe thirty feet above them. "You know, rumors been floating around the school lately."
"Rumors?" Akko echoes, looking up to her. Then she scoffs and turns away, not wanting to be involved with it. "Just ignore them, Amanda."
"But it involves about Professor Chariot though,"
At the name, Akko perks up almost instantly. Lotte and Sucy rolled their eyes at the sight. "Professor Chariot?" the brunette parrots again.
Amanda nodded. "Yep. From what I heard, Professor Chariot was a winner of this race nearly a decade ago."
Akko gasped silently. "Is that why so many of our classmates have been going to her lately?" she asked.
"Ohhh…" drawled Lotte with a bored look. "That would be why Astronomy lessons have been like flying lessons lately."
"Professor Chariot…" Akko whispered dreamily and the four other witches swore they saw real stars forming in her eyes. The brunette shook out of her stupor. "Did she really win it?!"
Amanda shrugged in her place. "Maybe. It's just a rumor but her tips have certainly given others improvements."
"Of course they would improve! She's Shiny Chariot, after all!"
Sucy sighed. "You're hopeless with the Professor, Akko,"
"No, I'm not!" Akko countered and then dashed off. "I'll make sure to make her notice me so I won't be hopeless," she shouted over her shoulder. "Stay put here guys! I'll be back in a moment!"
And with that, the remnants of the green and red team stared at Akko's leaving figure before she turned and disappeared.
Lotte turned to Amanda. "You just had to add Professor Chariot in this, did you?"
"I was kind of hoping for that reaction, honestly."
"God…" groaned Lotte. "I still can't believe you put us up for the race."
"Well, it was a two against one, Lotte."
"Professor Lukic said she had an extra prize for the winners! I'll bet you ten pounds it must be something of a rare ingredient… Maybe a sea dragon's tail… or a griffin's beak… Oh! Maybe a brain matter of a mermaid!"
What could be rolling inside Sucy's head right now, Akko didn't know and certainly didn't want to. But here they were, at the back of the laboratories at 9 AM in the morning with brooms on their shoulders, waiting for the green team to make appearance so their training will begin.
When Akko pulled out the red team's entry for the race, Amanda had offered Akko some tutoring on riding a broom and in exchange for that, Akko would have to tutor Amanda on several subjects. The brunette realized that their pact wouldn't hurt and accepted it without much to argue.
However, she was still miffed on why the redhead wanted tutoring anyway. Since they shared quite a number of classes together, Akko knew that Amanda was one of the smarter witches in their batch. A's and B's on both performance tasks and written works, so there was ultimately no need for Akko's guidance. However, she insisted so here they were.
"Good morning, red team!"
Speak of the devil.
Akko turned to Amanda. "Good morning to you too, green team." She greeted out to the trio who, similar to them, were dressed in their purple robes with brooms hanging by their hands.
Akko noticed Constanze's broom. She modified it… somewhat. Where the colored sash of their team was replaced with a propeller and along of the base's sides were iron mufflers and the small engine Akko realized Constanze constructed during their Magictronics class.
"You modified your broom, Cons?" Lotte asked as Constanze showed it to them, pride flashing against her eyes.
She nodded happily. The German mounted it and with a swift kick to a lever connected to the engine, the mufflers roared to life and she took off. The red team gazed curiously as Amanda smiled at where Constanze was gliding in the air.
"Amazing…" Sucy whispered.
Akko turned to Amanda. "When did she customize it?"
"Yesterday," Amanda replied and shrugged. "Been working on it for tomorrow's race. She's not really in it to win though… More like an experiment."
"And she's going to use it?" Akko cocked a brow. "Is that fair?"
"Most of us are using our own brooms and others have already made some spells on it. Of course, Professor Nelson is there to overlook if they're cheating but what Cosntanze did is passable." Amanda replied. She showed her broom. "Everyone is using their own brooms. I'm using the one I had since middle school. Jasminka is using the school's provided broom."
"So it's okay for student to use whatever broom they like?" Akko widened her eyes. "They can even customize it?"
"It's fine as long as it doesn't violate the rules of hurting other witches. But what's important is the speed and agility of a broom," Amanda said and squinted. "The richer teams bought new ones."
Akko scoffs. "As if a new broom is going to make them win,"
Amanda smirked at her. "You know, that's what Diana said this morning in Linguistics,"
Akko side-eyed the girl. "And that connects to this conversation how…?"
Amanda shrugged. "Nothing, but I just wanted to tell you that she's using the school-provided broom."
Somehow, for a stupid reason, that made Akko scowl. She doesn't know why but it just does. But really, imagine being so confident and arrogant that you're just going to use some old broom that came from the school. However, Akko did see what Diana can do with a broom. They were all the same class and Akko can admit Diana was rather… capable with it. Not that she's going to say that out loud.
"Okay, enough chit-chat," Akko said. "Let's start."
Per usual, Amanda and Akko would be off to one side, trying to the get the latter kick off her broom at least a foot off the ground. The four remaining witches would practice themselves on passing the baton to one another without it falling off, as Amanda explained that if the baton fails to be given to the next witch, immediate disqualification.
Constanze and Sucy floated themselves about a hundred meters away from Jasminka and Lotte, floating thirty off the ground. Lotte, after confirming they were far away enough, gave a nod to Amanda, who had the timer on her hands. Akko was yet again screaming the flying spell on the side while the redhead was on her broom, afloat.
"Alright… Go!"
The little technician and potion master took off, both starting at the same pace before Constanze kicked the lever again and she boosted off at neck-breaking speed. Sucy gasped and started for it but her broom was a paper plane compared to the German's jet of a broom.
However, something happened as Cosntanze was fifteen, maybe ten meters away from Jasminka, who already had her free hand out to take the ring. The engine groaned and mufflers puffed out coughs of smoke, already out of magic. The sound made the German turn behind her with a gasp and suddenly, the broom jerked away.
Constanze feared she would fall as her broom started to dip down but the engine was faulty. Another jerk and magic puffed out of the mufflers again, too much, in fact, that the broom shot itself like a bullet to… Lotte.
"GUHAH!" the Fin cried as she was slammed off of her broom with Constanze following her, their brooms colliding to one another.
Amanda sat gaping and—
BAM!
CRASH!
"Oh!" Akko gasped and ran towards where Amanda, Lotte and Constanze were as a pile on the ground. "Oh my God, are you three fine, did any of you hit your head!?"
Sucy let out of small croak from where she floating on her broom and Jasminka landed back to the ground to pull them away from one another.
The three witches groaned and Lotte sat up. "Ugh… No… We didn't hit anything. We're okay," she said as she ran a hand through her hair, clearly disoriented from their twenty-foot fall.
Akko sighed through her nose and went over to Amanda who had the unfortunate cause to have her back hit the ground first. She held out her hand. "Let me help you there,"
"Thanks…" Amanda croaked and took it. Akko felt some splinters had planted on her palm. As she helped her up, Akko then saw what Amanda had crashed on.
There, in three pieces, was Amanda's broom, broken.
"Well… All I can advise you guys is to either rent another broom or use the school's," Professor Nelson said. "This one can't obviously be fixed in time for the race tomorrow, Miss O'Neill. Today's a Friday so you can go out of town to rent one today if you really don't want to use what we offer."
Amanda sighed and the green and red team went out of the Flight teacher's office glumly. "Guess I'll have to go now…"
"Uh, sorry again, Amanda…" Lotte whispered, unable to look the redhead in the eye.
Constanze was no different. "Really sorry." Her Stanbot beeped.
Amanda turned back to the two and Akko wondered if she would get angry right then but she only smiled.
She placed a hand on Lotte's shoulder calmly. "Please don't worry about it, Lotte," said Amanda. "It was an accident. Constanze's broom was a prototype so we couldn't have prepared ourselves."
Lotte puffed out her cheeks. "There's at least something I could do…"
"Well, if you know a shop where they can fix a broom in a blink of an eye, that would be fine," Amanda laughed. "Obviously, broom repair shops are so rare now…"
Akko saw Lotte's eyes lit up behind their glasses. "Oh, I know a good shop!" she exclaimed.
"You do?" Sucy asked.
Lotte nodded. "Yep. That's where my broom is currently fixed. It's broken because a certain someone," Akko saw Lotte's eyes flit towards her and the brunette turned away. "Thought it was a good idea to go to Arcturus forest. So it's in there now. But they just called me yesterday that my broom is ready. They're fast enough; your broom can be fixed there in less than a week!"
"Really?" At the offer, Amanda smiled, even a bit. "Well, okay then. I can leave my broom there."
"Excellent!" Lotte said. "I'll accompany you there,"
They heard a beeping noise and Amanda turned to where Standbot was standing. "Coming too! Coming too!" It cried.
Amanda shook her head with a laugh. "Conz, you have to work on your broom. Didn't you say you have to fix it and prepare it for the race tomorrow?" Constanze looked unconvinced, still obviously guilty about destroying Amanda's broom. "Come on, you want to show to people about your new broom, right? Bet that'll make people see your new boosters!"
Constanze looked up, and, contemplating a bit, nodded, though not too enthusiastically.
"Okay. Me and Lotte and are going to Blytonbury to get mine fixed and find a new one. See you," With that, the two turned their heels but Akko stopped them.
"Wait!" They turned back. Akko realized she was going to sound silly. "Er, uh… You guys are going to a broom repair shop…"
Lotte looked at her with a smirk. "You wanna come?"
Akko looked away. "Yes."
"So, this is it?" Akko asked, looking up at the little black café with little plastic skeletons and witch-related ornaments displayed beyond the windows. Above the door was a sign that said 'Last Wednesday Society'.
If the design of the café didn't already make Akko think it was a shop for bogus witches, the name definitely did.
The brunette stared. Not that she was disappointed… But she was obviously not taken by the café's charm either. Akko should've expected this, considering this was Lotte's recommendation but she suppose to one's their own. Lotte nodded and Amanda barely shrugged in her cloak and they went in without much thought about the café's design. Akko trailed after them.
Passing through the strangely-designed door, a ding rung from above their heads and they went inside the poorly lit café. It was troublingly the most organized mess of a café that Akko has ever stepped into.
Around the shelves were a myriad of miscellaneous ornaments that Akko doesn't recognize. Large, skeletal parts hung from the ceilings with pictures among the empty sides of the walls that weren't already filled with shelves. A human-scaled skeleton with bat wings popping out of its shoulder blades was standing right next to a… coffin?
Akko looked away quickly and followed Amanda, who too was looking around the café. But instead of going pale, she looked rather fine.
"Hm? Welcome!" The witches turned to the red counter and found a man with a goatee sitting behind it with a clipboard in his hands. Despite his fit structure, he had sunken skin with greasy hair and heavy eye bags. Couldn't blame him, if Akko was the one who worked here, she too would have the same figure by then. He widened his eyes when they landed on Lotte. "Oh, hey Lotte!"
"Wassup!" Lotte returned the greeting with a grin and she walked over to him.
He leans over the counter. "You're picking up your broom today?" he asked.
Lotte nods and gives him a piece of yellow paper. "Yep! Tomorrow's the big race and we're in it."
He looked surprised. "You're entering?"
"Well, they forced me into this," She threw her thumb back to Amanda and Akko. They fidgeted. "So yeah, we're kind of entering."
"Oh, yeah?" He looked over at them. "You two look capable enough. Best of luck. I'm going at the back to retrieve your broom. Wait here."
When he disappeared to a door, Akko walked around the café. She walked over to the nearest line of shelves and looked over of the jars of different designs, Amanda following. Trapped in them were all different sorts of faeries and critters. Some Akko recognized from her books but most she was unable to distinguish.
She turned to the next shelf. A massive jawline with the teeth still intact; a skull that looked like a unicorn's; a potion the shape of a star that Akko was sure was expired; old goblets, and more and more antiques that she couldn't put her finger on.
"So… Where's the café?" Amanda asked.
Lotte pointed behind them and they turned to see a table with a single chair right beside battle swords and axes. And propped up against the wall was a dusty stool table.
"Not quite what I was imagining," Akko said. Amanda chuckled beside her though she knew she was disappointed, too.
Akko looked around the café and walked off. The man returned with Lotte's broom and Amanda presented hers, which made him widen his eyes. As the others made business, Akko ventured further into the shop and one item caught her eye.
Propped up five long shelves away from the counter, was a red broom with an arrow-like head and long feathers for its brush in a glass casing. It was long, but enough for one witch only. The red wood was so polished through that it reflected more than the glass. The brush was clean of dust.
Beautiful.
But somehow, its appearance made Akko think of the broom as familiar, feeling like she recognized it from a book somewhere…
Then it hit her. "Shooting Star?"
Though it was a whisper, the name seemed to catch the others' attention. Amanda went over to her as she gave the remaining pieces of her broom to the clerk. "Whoa," She breathed and looked over at it. "Is this the real Shooting Star?"
Lotte came up from behind them. "Seems so. I didn't see this here before so I guess it's new," She looked around and pointed somewhere above them. "Look."
The two turned and saw in a case a page of a newspaper that might be at least a hundred years old. The article involved was the broom in front of them and regarding one of its achievements.
"So it is!" Amanda exclaimed. Her eyes travelled back to the broom. "I heard the Shooting Star is a very valuable broom. Its wood was crafted from an ancient dragon tree near a super volcano centuries ago, with its feathers plucked very delicately, seven from different creatures; phoenixes, immortal griffins, sky dragons, and many others."
"It doesn't even need magic," added Lotte. "Legend has it that its own being is powerful enough to create its own source of energy which is why it constantly travels on its own without the aid of a Philosopher's Stone."
"So… No one has really ridden it?" Akko asked, turning to them with brows raised.
"Very few," They all flinched and turned around to see the clerk standing behind them with his hands on his hips. "The Shooting Star is as free as it is powerful. Rumor was two hundred and fifty years ago, a witch had ridden it all across the Atlantic Ocean without a Philosopher's Stone on 'er. Says it's so fast, it's like a shooting star. Hence, it's name."
Amanda gasped, "The entire Atlantic Ocean?"
"It's not a legendary broom for nothing," He winked and Amanda turned back to the broom, obviously in awe.
"And you guys captured it?" Akko asked and squinted at the broom, not quite buying its appearance here, considering how highly the others were talking about it. "Without any struggle? Seems…" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Like a scam."
"Hey," the store clerk said, irked. But as Akko sees his reflection on the glass, she realized his tone didn't really match the look on his face. He looked rather… evasive.
"Wait a second…" Lotte said very randomly, putting a finger on her chin. "Wasn't there news about the Shooting Star declared missing five years ago?"
Amanda and Akko turned to her, aghast. "What?" Amanda asked eyes wide. "Shooting Star, missing?"
"Oh," The man whispered. He looked around the store, as if there was anyone eavesdropping them, then turned to them. "Well… there was that. But it's been a long time since, Lotte. Though there are still no sightings of it, people are just letting it go."
"Wait, can you kindly explain why it was even missing in the first place?" Akko cut in, looking at the man then at Lotte.
"Hmm… How to say this…" The man scratched his greasy head. "You see, the Shooting Star is fast. Like fast fast. Has powerful endurance and its own mind. Can fly for decades without a break. But it's never disappeared.
"Since it flies nearly every continent a day, the magic society can't track it down to its definite path. But it's always seen either floating or flying in the sky by a witness. Always have been. However, a year before its official disappearance, a month came by without anybody seeing it. The ministry began to look for it but it never seems to appear anymore. Then they just made it official but people shrugged it off."
Akko stared, furrowing her brows at the profound information. "So… It disappeared? Just like that? Wiped away from the surface of earth?"
"Yep. And, here's the funny thing, actually," He said, avoiding her piercing gaze. "Since its disappearance, people have been declaring and faking that they've seen it. Even made some stuff to prove that they even 'captured' it. Some said that it was literally on their doorstep and took it to the officials. But as all comes, most of 'em were fake." He said with an air of finality. "So there you have it. Why the Shooting Star was declared missing."
The witches stared, burrowing their brows, taken aback at the broom's past. Amanda turned to the Shooting Star.
"So… this isn't really the real thing?" she asked.
Akko thinks that revealing an item's past wouldn't be a good way to attract customers but she doesn't say. However, she felt her hands beginning to inch to touch the broom's casing but she caught herself. Maybe if this wasn't even the real thing... It was childish but somehow, she felt herself going as excited as Amanda about it.
The man mysteriously said, "Depends on you if you think it's real."
Akko dismissed her thoughts and hardened her face. "Where did you guys even get a broom as renowned as the Shooting Star, anyway?" she asked because she was sure a magic-item shop as run-down as this wouldn't have the money to the original Shooting Star, missing or no. Unless… "Did you capture it?"
"Er, no," The man answered and leaned on the counter. "My boss won it in an auction last week when somebody at the local pub had showed it upfront. Says it appeared suddenly at the nearby forest grounds, just… sitting there," He said, not quite convinced as well. But then he resumed his smile. "But what's done's done. The broom is just here for sight-seeing and rent, nothing more."
Amanda perked up at the word 'rent'. "You guys are going to lend the Shooting Star!?" she asked, stunned.
The man shrugged. "Yeah, it's one of rental brooms now," He studied her. "You want to test it?"
Amanda nodded. "Please!"
The red team turned to each other, unsure before shrugging. The clerk collected the broom from the case and went out to the back of the store where a small, clear yard was, obviously for test flyers. Akko took out her Leyline Router, the magic device Professor Croix invented that could pick up magic from the leylines, and turned it on. She nodded to Amanda's direction, indicating that their magic was up.
Mounting the broom, Amanda yelled, "Tia Freyre!" and floated off the ground effortlessly. She widened her eyes, amazed before her expression turned to a more excited one. The other three clapped their hands at the flawless kick-off before Amanda flew higher and higher.
Once she was twenty feet in the air, the clerk cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, are you good up there!?"
Her excited grin was enough of an answer. Nodding, she glided downwards before somersaulting. Before she was a foot on the ground, she pulled the broom's arrow-like head and it stood upright, finishing her test flight.
Once she was back on the ground, she looked at the broom with stars in her eyes. "This broom is amazing!" she cried. "It's so smooth and nimble!" she turned to them. "Did you see how fast it answered me when I landed back there!? Like, it read my mind on what I was about to do!"
Amanda had turned into a fanatic as she kept reviewing about the Shooting Star in her hands. Of course, neither Akko nor Lotte had the heart to tell her that Amanda had did exactly what she had done with her previous broom before so they remained quiet, not wanting to end their friend's excitement.
"Alright, O'Neill, stop buffing yourself up," Lotte stepped forward. "I wanna take a nab at it!"
Amanda happily lent the Shooting Star to Lotte and the Fin had done quite similarly to Amanda. She glided through the air with a few tricks but in Akko's opinion, the broom acted no more than what the standard Luna Nova broom acted. Only its designs were different.
When they left the store with two new brooms in hand, the three of them mounted on their brooms and flew ahead to the Leyline Terminal, Amanda on the Shooting Star while the red team shared on Lotte's.
"You know," started Lotte as Akko grabbed on her waist. "The broom was pretty normal. When I rode it, it felt exactly like what my broom does."
"So you noticed it too?" Akko asked, angling her head to see Lotte's face.
She nodded. "Yeah. I don't think you were wrong about the Shooting Star being a scam," she said. "I love that store but even I know that they often show up with bogus stuff. What he said about the Shooting Star's auction was true, my pops was there, but its reason for appearing…" she trailed off, looking up to the sky with her brows knitted together.
Akko nodded in agreement. "Indeed, seems quite off," She said and remained silent for a while but when her eyes met Amanda's figure, the edges of her lips curled upwards. "But at least Amanda finally has a broom for tomorrow's race."
And as if on cue, Amanda shifted and she slowed down to keep in pace with them, swiftly gliding to their right, and said, "Hey guys! I can actually believe my team can win tomorrow!" with a bright smile.
The red team returned the smile back. "You betcha'!" Lotte encouraged and Akko gave a nod, agreeing with Lotte's statement. At their words, Amanda grinned and accelerated and not too long, she was already yards ahead of them.
While Akko couldn't care of Amanda's rental broom, she was positive that Amanda would be at the top ten. In fact, Akko wanted to Amanda to win, anybody in fact, as long as it's not Diana. After all, Amanda could almost match her skills with the broom, if she wasn't already, and Diana… Well, she couldn't just stand her.
However, if there was anything better than Amanda surpassing her… She supposes it's selfish, but Akko wanted her own team to win.
But with their circumstances now and her less than nothing skills with her broom, chances of beating Amanda, much less Diana, was slim to none. Lotte couldn't match their speed and Sucy just wasn't the flying type so Akko didn't want to pressure them. After all, she already forced them into the race but winning?
As Akko saddled comfortably behind Lotte, she looks down over the hill where the Leyline Terminal was perched and sees about a dozen Luna Nova students hanging around with their brooms, presumably training for the race tomorrow.
As the three entered Luna Nova, Lotte and Amanda swiftly dodged the other broom-riders in the air and stepped down once they were in one of the verandahs of Luna Nova. They went their separate ways and once Lotte and Akko arrived at their dorms, they knocked it open gently, honestly tired from their excursion today.
"Hey, we're back," Lotte called out and slowly peeled off her cloak.
Akko did the same and as she unbuttoned, Sucy looked up from her beakers and pestle. "Welcome back! You guys are just in time," she said, her voice full of excitement.
Akko perked up and sat on her bed, amused at Sucy's rare change of tone. "What's up?"
Sucy grinned and what she next couldn't have been something Akko had anticipated.
With her unnerving teeth flashing, she said, "I've finally formed a plan on winning tomorrow's race."
B's notes:
And, that's it for part one. The last chapter was a tad too long so I had to cut them in case you guys get too sick of looking at the word count. Even then, this chap is quite long too but I think you guys might tolerate it, considering my slow updates.
Hope you like this chapter though!
Until then!
