Akko Kagari and the Seven Stars

Chapter Ten: Halloween

Akko and Diana were being very cautious around one another when they saw each other in the dining room for breakfast the next morning. The thought of who may have tipped off Elma and their close encounter with the polar bear last night was still weighing on their minds. Akko sat at a table on the opposite side of the dining room with her usual group of friends, which now seemed to include Sucy, whose little brush with death seemed to make Akko more appealing to the morbid witch. She filled everyone in about the package that seemed to have moved from the Department of Demi-Humans to Luna Nova, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Amanda.

"Or both," chimed in Jasminka.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about three feet long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Akko had considered asking Blair about what the package may be, based on the way she reacted to the news of the object being taken out of vault one-nine-one, but she also kept her lips sealed whereas the item was concerned and most likely would have been a wasted effort.

Though the both of them were still on edge after what happened, Akko had thought it would be a good idea to at least inform Diana what she thought was lying underneath the trapdoor. Though Akko would never admit it out loud, Diana was perhaps the smartest witch in Luna Nova. If anyone could figure it out, it was her. Unfortunately, Diana seemed as clueless as the rest of them and if she did have even the slightest inkling as to what it was, she was keeping it to herself.

"MAIL CALL!"

As the students in charge of delivering mail zoomed into the dining room as usual, Akko had perked hopefully and looked up. She had been expecting a package for a while now and she hoped today would be when it arrived. Her prayers were answered when she saw Wangari – Amanda's friend a couple years ahead of them – flew overhead and dropped a thick, square package right in front of her, knocking her bacon on the floor. Wangari had hardly moved away when another witch zoomed overhead and dropped a letter on top of the package.

Akko ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PACKAGE AT THE TABLE
It contains your new Chariot Racing uniform, but I don't
want everybody knowing you're on the team or they'll
all talk about you receiving special treatment. Amelia
O'Neill will meet you tonight on the racing field at seven
o'clock for your first training session.

Professor Ursula Callistis

Akko had difficulty hiding her glee as she handed the note to Lotte to read.

"Your uniform finally came in!" Lotte squealed excitedly. "Akko, you have to try it on!"

"We should probably go back to the dorms before people get suspicious," suggested Sucy.

They left the dining room quickly, wanting to unwrap the uniform in private before their first class, but halfway across the foyer someone stuck their leg out and tripped Akko. She hit the flagstone with her face and her package went flying out of her hands. Akko winced and looked up as Hannah and Barbara suddenly seized her package and ripped off the wrapping.

"That's a Chariot Racing uniform," Hannah sneered, waving it around roughly. "Wow, Akko, just when we think you couldn't be any more pathetic, you always surprise us."

"You actually think you could be a Chariot Racer?" Barbara said with a mocking laugh. "You can't even ride a broom properly. You have about as much chance of racing as Shiny Chariot being popular."

Akko gritted her teeth as Jasminka and Constanze helped her up, but surprisingly it was Lotte who stepped up.

"Shows what you know," she said firmly. "Akko rode the Shooting Star and you can bet she's going to be an amazing racer! And what about you two, huh? I bet you couldn't even go faster than twenty miles, not that either of you would do it without begging Diana for permission."

Hannah and Barbara looked like they had been smacked across the face; they probably weren't expecting someone as timid as Lotte to backtalk them.

"You think you can talk down to us, you four-eyed wallflower?" Hannah snapped. "Your presence is so weak, you might as well be made of air. No one ever bothers to give you a second glance because you're so plain and simple and completely unattractive – "

"You better shut your goddamn mouth or I – " Amanda started, furiously rolling up her sleeve ready for a fistfight.

Before Amanda could go through with her threat, Diana appeared in between them as if she suddenly popped out of thin air.

"What is going on here?" said Diana, glaring evenly at both parties.

"Hey, Diana, check this out," said Barbara, pointing to the uniform. "Akko thinks she's a Chariot Racer. Pathetic, right?"

"Oh yes, I thought I heard Amelia O'Neill talking about a new player on their team," said Diana. She carefully took the uniform from Hannah's hands, folded it neatly, and handed it to Akko without trouble. "I suppose after taming the Shooting Star, it seems only natural that they would wish to bend the rules for special circumstances. Though I can't say I approve of them turning a blind eye to such an obvious violation of Luna Nova's regulations."

"You're not gonna have a problem with this, are you?" asked Akko.

"It is not my place to question the teacher's judgment," said Diana calmly. "Though if the school is willing to bend the rules for you, I hope you live up to their expectations. Do not disappoint me, Akko. Come along, Hannah, Barbara."

Akko and the others headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at the look of horror on Hannah and Barbara's faces.

Akko had a lot of trouble keeping her mind on her lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where her new uniform was lying on her bed, probably being used as a cushion by Blair, or straying off to the racing field where she's be learning to play that night. She bolted her dinner down that evening without noticing what she was eating, and then rushed upstairs with her friends where they found Blair – in human form – taking an iron to her uniform.

"Just thought I'd smooth it out for you before you went to practice," said Blair as she switched off the iron. "You always want to make a good first impression. I remember how obsessed Chariot used to get with her uniform – always steamed it every night before a big game. All right, here you go, put it on."

Akko practically tore off her tunic and slipped on her new Chariot Racer uniform with glee. The material was made of a smooth, bright-red fabric that clung to her body like a second skin for aerodynamic efficiency, had a hood sown on the nape to block out rain or snow, and included a pair of red tinted goggles to keep the wind or anything else out of her eyes. Her name was written on the back in gold thread above a large number "5". Akko couldn't deny it – she looked good.

As seven o'clock drew closer, Akko stopped by to pick up Shooting Star from Elma's office and the both of them set off in the dusk toward the racing field. She'd never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. A wide athletics track took up more than half of the stadium from the outer edge, but it had no separating lanes. There were also metal poles with lights on them on the inside of the track, but Akko couldn't tell what their function was.

Too eager to fly again to wait for Amelia, Akko mounted Shooting Star and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling - she swung around the edges of the track three times and swerved in between the stands. The Shooting Star turned wherever she wanted at her lightest touch.

"Hey, Akko, come down!"

Amelia O'Neill had arrived with a stop watch around her neck and a giant golden ring around her wrist. Akko and Shooting Star landed next to her.

"Very nice," said Amelia, her eyes glinting. "I can see what Holbrooke meant...you two are a well-oiled machine - or at least one of Professor Croix's machines. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

She marched over to one of the metal poles and turned back to Akko and Shooting Star.

"Right," said Amelia. "Now, Chariot Races are easy enough to understand, even if it's not so easy to play. Up to ten teams can play at a time, but since Luna Nova only has five houses, it's limited to five teams. And each team has five players."

"Five teams, five players, got it," Akko repeated.

"Now you see this ring," said Amelia, holding up the golden ring on her wrist. "This is what I guess you would call a baton. The main objective of each player is to perform one lap around the track and then pass it on to the next player in your team. The game ends when all five members of your team have successfully crossed the finish line with their ring."

"So it's like a relay race," said Akko. "Sounds simple enough."

"Heh, you would think that," said Amelia amusingly. "Kid, you haven't seen anything yet."

Amelia raised her hand over her head and snapped her fingers so that the noise echoed across the empty field. Suddenly, the lights on the metal poles began to flash with warning sirens. A transparent screen popped up in the middle of the field and was flipping through hundreds of random words so fast that Akko started to go cross-eyed. The screen finally stopped on "Geyser" and Akko heard a strong rumbling from the track. When she looked over, she saw the once smooth surface starting to rise and mold into new shapes. And after a few seconds, the track had become a cragged terrain with holes spewing steam and water.

"Whoa!" shouted Akko, starry-eyed.

"This is what makes Chariot Races so interesting," said Amelia. "The track changes for each lap and the terrain is chosen at random. Sometimes you get a geyser field, sometimes a lava zone, and there's even this anti-gravity zone that really messes with your sense of direction. You have to really be on your toes if you don't wanna get knocked out of the sky."

"Those look kinda dangerous," said Akko as one of the geysers blasted off. "Has anyone ever died playing Chariot Races?"

"Never at Luna Nova," Amelia reassured her. "We've had a couple of broken bones, but nothing worse than that. Anyway, besides being fast and avoiding obstacles, the main thing you have to understand is that Chariot Races run on a point system. You could be in first place, but it won't make a difference if the other team has more points than you."

"Okay, so how do you get points?" asked Akko.

"Well, the easiest way is to finish your lap, which is worth one hundred points. Players are allowed to use magic during a Chariot Race - with some restrictions, obviously. If you attack another player with a spell, your team gets fifty points for each successful hit. But the drawback is that you can also lose fifty points if someone else hits you in return. There are also hidden targets throughout the track that you can hit with spells or secret rings to add to your collection, which will give you twenty-five points for each one. Theoretically, you could cross the finish line last and still win if you've found enough."

"Um, I'm not very good with magic," Akko admitted nervously. "Really, the only classes I'm good at are the ones that don't use magic."

"Well, you're the anchor, so you don't have to worry too much," said Amelia lightly. "The anchor is the last racer for each team, but is arguably the most valuable. You see, the first anchor to cross the finish line earns their team a full three hundred points while the others receive a normal one hundred, which means they almost always win. That's why anchors get attacked so much.

"Now, I told you about how to get points, but there are also hundreds of ways to lose points, too. The biggest one is dropping the ring and letting it hit the ground. That loses a whopping one hundred points, which essentially means you wasted your lap. If you lose all your rings, your team is automatically disqualified. I also told you that you can lose points when you are hit by another player's spell, and there are other fouls you could do like physical assault, flying off the track, crash into objects or stealing another player's rings. There are, like, a billion rules that you can break and each one deducts points differently depending on the ref. There are games where even profession teams lose all their points and fall into the negatives, so watch out for that.

"Well, that's it - any questions?"

"Why is it called Chariot Races?" asked Akko, raising her hand like she was in class. "Shine Chariot used to be a racer, right? Did they name it after her?"

"No, no, of course not," Amelia laughed heartily. "Chariot Races has been a sport played by witches since Roman times, back when they raced with actual chariots. They didn't fly back then and they didn't switch to brooms until the flight spell was invented in the 1800s. The fact that Chariot Du Nord was named the way she was is pure coincidence."

"But Shiny Chariot did play, right?" asked Akko eagerly.

"She was the best racer Polaris ever had," said Amelia, staring off into space wistfully. "How I wish I could have been on her team back in the day... But that's then, and this is now. And now is the time to be practicing. I wanna see what you and the Shooting Star are capable of and what you need work on. We won't use the alternate tracks until we have the whole team here."

Akko mounted Shooting Star again and spent the past half hour circling the track with Amelia timing them with her stopwatch. After the first lap, Shooting Star went faster and faster until Akko lost her grip and went flying into the stands. Amelia made a note to work on Akko's grip and Shooting Star's self-control. Soon, night fell upon them and they couldn't carry on.

"That Chariot Cup will have our name on it this year," said Amelia happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than my oldest sister Aurora, and she could have played for New York if she hadn't gone off to Wakanda to save mother nature."

"Aurora is the other one that got into Luna Nova, right?" said Akko. "Amanda said she has six sisters, but only three of you got into Luna Nova. How come?"

"Luna Nova is a very prestigious private school," said Amelia. "Even though all seven of us are witches, only three of us were ever invited - don't know why though. Aurora was the oldest and the first one admitted. Alexia ended up going to a different school, but now she runs her own designer dress band that you see idols wear, especially at Starlight Academy. I'm the third oldest and in my fifth year here. Angela is in her third year and Alicia is in her second year at the sanctum sanctorum, but Alicia's twin, Alyssa, skipped magic school and went straight to M.I.T. And then there's Amanda, who you already know."

"So...all of you have names that begin and end with 'A'?" asked Akko, blinking owlishly

"Our mom has a weird sense of humor," Amelia admitted

Perhaps it was because she was now so busy, what with Chariot Race practice three evenings a week on top of all her homework, but Akko could hardly believe it when she realized that she'd already been at Luna Nova two months. The castle was starting to feel like a second home, though she did miss her parents dearly and took every opportunity to call them and tell them how she was...mostly managing in her classes. Her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the Polaris dormitory thanks to Blair's unique pumpkin magic (she was always more festive and active this time of year, and now Akko understood why). Even better, Professor Akane announced in Charms that she thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen her make her feline familiar, Kenny, zoom around the classroom. Professor Akane put the class into pairs to practice. While Lotte and Sucy had been paired up together and Amanda worked with Jasminka, Akko had ended up sitting at the same table with Diana. It was hard to tell whether Akko or Diana was angrier about this. Akko hated being shown up and Diana hated anything that would affect her grades badly.

"The Telekinesis Charm is very effective in that it doesn't need an incantation to cast," said Professor Akane, casually sitting cross-legged on top of a pile of books as usual. "All you need is a focusing point – namely your wands – and the intent to move an object to your will. Be sure to keep your mind focused only on your target and not let yourself get distracted. I remember one time when Makoto was little she was practicing her telekinesis spell when she got distracted by the sprinklers and – "

"You don't need to tell them that!" yelped Makoto Kowata.

It was very difficult for some. It came as no surprise that Lotte and Sucy managed to catch on quick, but Amanda and Jasminka kept poking and prodding their feather with no results. Consttanze probably would have turned her gadget into a fan to raise the feather, but she still hadn't come back from Professor Croix's workshop since last night. Meanwhile, Akko was smacking the feather with her wand in frustration until she somehow managed to set it on fire.

"You're doing it wrong," Diana snapped at her when Professor Akane supplied them with another feather. "You can't just fling your wand around and expect it to work like that. It requires patience and focus."

"If you think you're so smart, why don't you give it a go?" Akko snarled.

Diana straightened up in her seat, looking perfectly poised as usual, flicked her wand and gently tapped the feather. Immediately, the feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, nicely done!" shouted Professor Akane, clapping. "Look everyone, Diana's doing it! Guess that's what you can expect from a Cavendish!"

Akko was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.

"Oh, look at me, I pretty miss perfect Cavendish," said gave a nasally imitation of Diana to her group of friends as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "Ugh, I just can't stand her! She always has to try to make me feel like a loser."

"I'm not apologizing for my academic success, if that's what you're thinking."

Akko flipped around. Diana was standing right behind her with a hand on her hip and her eyes narrowed on Akko with clear signs disapproval.

"Instead of wasting your time complaining and goofing off," Diana snapped, "perhaps you should prioritize your time into bettering yourself. If you don't want me to constantly overshadow you, then make it your goal to overcome me. Don't criticize the efforts of others when you yourself have not given everything."

Diana flipped her hair in a way that always made Akko's stomach feel uncomfortable and turned away from the Polaris students, marching off to her next class without looking back.

"I think Diana was giving you advice," said Lotte. "You know, in her own way."

Akko absolutely did not want to admit that she was right, least of all Diana. It wasn't like she wasn't trying, she just wasn't as good as everyone else when it came to using magic. Of course, Diana would just say she was making excuses – and Akko had been thinking a lot about Diana today. But she quickly pushed the pretty blonde girl out of her mind when they returned to the dorm and got ready for the Luna Nova annual costume party. Akko had been looking forward to this ever since she learned that Luna Nova even had a costume party. She spent weeks ('she' being Lotte) sowing her costume together until she made an exact replica of Shiny Chariot's stage costume.

After putting on her costume, she went down to meet her friends waiting for her in the common room already in their own costumes. Amanda was going as a RAF fighter pilot, Jasminka dressed up as a pastry chef (no one was really surprised), Sucy somehow found a suit that made her look like a giant mushroom, Constanze was wearing a stereotypical lab coat and gloves, and Lotte explained that her costume was made to match the exact clothes of the protagonist of her favorite book series, Night Fall. They were just about to leave when –

"Akko, you forgot your necklace!"

Blair had just come down from the dormitories in her human form, dressed as a sexy cat girl (of course) and was dangling Akko's jeweled necklace in one hand.

"Thanks, Blair," said Akko in relief as she took the jewelry. "I can't believe I almost forgot it."

"I've noticed that you always wear that necklace, even in classes," said Lotte. "Is it something special, Akko?"

"Yeah, I've had it since I was born," said Akko, adjusting the string around her neck. "It's the only clue I have about my past. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and dad, but I wouldn't mind knowing where I came from."

"Yeah, yeah, sappy origin stories and all that," said Amanda rudely. "C'mon, I wanna get down there before they run out of cider."

They practically ran all the way down to the ground floor and entered the Great Hall, where they were taken in by the decorations and the festive atmosphere.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. Everyone was dressed in a variety of unique and colorful costumes from maids and idols to knights and demons – Akko swore she saw a ghost sliding through the walls, but it turned out to be a student using a transparency spell. Tables of food and drink were lined up along the side, as it was at the start-of-term banquet.

Akko was just helping herself to a baked potato when she noticed Hannah and Barbara walking through the crowd, but Diana was missing from their usual trio.

"Hey, where's Diana?" Akko asked them when they passed the table.

"Well, unlike some uncultured pretenders," said Hannah, sneering at her Shiny Chariot costume, "Diana takes her education very seriously."

"She's in the library studying for next month's exams," added Barbara. "That's what makes Diana so amazing, unlike you, Akko."

"Just get out of here!" snapped Akko.

Hannah and Barbara walked away, howling with mocking laughter.

"I can't believe Diana would miss the Halloween feast," said Lotte.

"Well, that's what you would expect from the best students in the school," said Sucy dryly.

Akko stabbed her baked potato with her fork, but did not eat it, her mood having gone sour. But she didn't have to dwell on it for long when Professor Croix came sprinting into the dining room, her cape hanging off her shoulder and worry etched on her face. Everyone stared as she reached Professor Holbrooke's seat, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Minotaur – there's a minotaur in the dungeons – I don't know how it got in, but it's running loose! We need to clear everyone out!"

There was a brief moment of stunned silence shared between everyone – and then they all flew into a wild panic. It took several green firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Holbrooke's staff to bring silence once more.

"Heads of Houses," she rumbled, "lead your students back to their dormitories immediately!"

Ursula jumped up sharply.

"Everyone, follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the minotaur if you do as you are told! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, please no shoving!"

"How did a minotaur get in?" Jasminka asked with concern as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, their species is supposed to have a lousy sense of direction – that's why they avoid mazes," said Sucy. "Maybe Mxyz let it in for a Halloween joke."

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way their way through a crowd of confused Twilight students, Akko suddenly grabbed Lotte's arm.

"I've just thought of something – Diana."

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the minotaur."

They all stopped in the middle of the stairs. Amanda bit her lip.

"Oh, all right," she snapped. "But the princess owes us big for this."

Ducking down, they joined the Twilights going the other way, slipped down a deserted corridor, and hurried off towards the library. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Ursula!" hissed Lotte, pulling Akko behind a large stone griffin.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Ursula but Croix. She crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's she doing?" Sucy whispered. "Why isn't she down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers. She's the one who saw the minotaur."

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Akko.

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Croix's fading footsteps. Constanze fiddled with her gadget, which had somehow turned into a sonar, and made a series of hand motions.

"Constanze says that Croix's headed for the third floor," Amanda translated. "What's she doing going up there?"

"Who cares? We've made it to the library," said Akko.

They were standing outside the double doors and Akko grabbed both handles when she heard something coming from inside. Curious, she pressed her ear against the wooden paneling and could faintly hear a muffled voice from inside. It was Diana. She could only faintly make out the words ("Makmur Mikmur Mektoral!")

"Diana's casting a spell," said Akko. "She must be in trouble!"

"Or she could just be practicing some advance magic to show off in class," said Sucy pointedly.

"Whatever, let's just get in there and split before the minotaur comes!" Amanda hissed.

Amanda had a point, Akko realized. With no time for subtlety, she lifted her foot and kicked the double doors wide open before rushing in.

Akko froze; her jaw dropped dramatically and her eyes were practically popping. The rest of her friends shared similar expressions at what they saw inside. Standing in the middle of the library, waving her wand freely through the air, showering herself in magical stars, was Diana Cavendish dressed in a perfect replica of Shiny Chariot's stage costume, just like Akko's.

It looked like Diana had been in the middle of dancing under her shower of magical stars when Akko's group suddenly barged in and Diana stopped in her tracks as if she had just been petrified by a gorgon.

No one spoke or moved for the longest time, at least not until Constanze took a quick pic of Diana with her gadget. The pretty blonde girl squeaked, ducking behind one of the desks to conceal everything from the neck down, though clearly red in the face.

"T-T-This isn't what you think!" Diana squeaked. It was the first time Akko ever saw Diana embarrassed; her chest felt fluttery for some reason. "I – I was just – "

"Playing Shiny Chariot?" said Jasminka politely.

"After all that talk about Shiny Chariot being an embarrassment to witches," said Sucy with a smug grin, "it turns out that you're actually a closet Chariot fan yourself."

"I am not!" squealed Diana.

"Oh, my god, this is the happiest day of my life," said Amanda gleefully. "I am so gonna blackmail you with this."

"You will get nothing from me!" Diana snapped. Then without warning, Akko bounds across the room, leaps on top of the desk, and clutches Diana's hands with her own. "A-Akko, what are you – "

"Diana, this is so wonderful!" said Akko with stars in her eyes. "I knew you didn't really mean all that bad stuff you said about Shiny Chariot! This is great! Now we can talk about Chariot stuff together? Did you collect her special trading cards? I have all of them except for the ultra-premium rare 'A Believe Heart is your Magic' card. Those are super expensive! Hey, you're rich, do you have one? Can I see it some time?"

"Get your hands off of me!" yelped Diana, ripping her hands away. "Fine, you may have caught me, but there is no way anyone will ever believe a word you say, so you better keep it to yourself! If I hear about this from anyone, I will curse you all!"

"I've never seen the great Diana Cavendish so flustered before," said Sucy with a wicked grin. "It makes me want to tease her more."

"You…you…ugh!" groaned Diana, stamping her feet and walking toward the doors. "I don't have to take this!"

"Wait, Diana, there's something we need to warn you about!" yelped Akko, remembering why they came here in the first place.

"I don't want to hear it from you, Atsuko Kagari," said Diana coldly.

She opens the library doors a small crack, but then closes then quickly. She slowly turns back to the Polaris students with her back pressed against the doors.

"There's a minotaur loose in the castle, isn't there?" asked Diana softly.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" said Lotte curiously.

Diana didn't have a chance to respond before the door exploded inwards, sending her flying and landing on top of Akko, throwing them both off the desk and onto the floor. Akko groaned from the throbbing pain in the back of her head, but quickly forgot about it when she realized that Diana was lying on top of her. Their faces were so close to each other's and they were looking into each other's eyes – Akko felt like her entire face was on fire. Thankfully, Diana pushed off of her and Akko's heart started to calm down. Once she took a moment to collect herself, Akko pulled herself up to her feet and peeked over the desk next to Diana.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, it's arms and head covered in murky, matted fur stained red in some parts while its mid-region was a dull, granite gray, and its legs bended backwards and ended in chipped hooves, and a furry, snouted face with one broke horn. It was holding an iron pipe that looked like it had been ripped out from the walls of the castle plumbing.

The minotaur breathed heavily – thick, hot air exhaling from its snout - as it peered around the library for its pray. It looked at Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka, who were huddled on one side, then turned to Lotte, who was ducking behind the cool and collected Sucy, and then it spotted Akko and Diana peering over the desk. It waggled its long ears, making up its rage-fueled mind, and charged at Akko and Diana.

It plowed through the rows of desks and bookshelves with its head bowed, charging with its one horn first. Diana grabbed Akko by the shoulder and pulled her out of the way just as the minotaur smashed through the desk they were hiding behind, showering them in wooden splinters. Diana pushed Akko behind her arm protectively as she drew her wand, but the minotaur was surprisingly quick and slapped the wand out of her hand, sending it flying across the library. The minotaur raised the pipe overhead and swung down, but Jasminka suddenly stepped in between them and caught the weapon with her bare hands, not showing the slightest bit of strain and she pushed back against it.

"Whoa!" cried Akko in awe. "Go, Jasminka!"

The minotaur tried pushing it weight against the pipe, but Jasminka was not budging – she was surprisingly strong. Then a green laser shoots off from the side and blinds the minotaur's left eye. All heads turn to Constanze, who had converted her gadget into a magical shotgun. The tiny mute unloaded multiple rounds at the minotaur's face, forcing the beast to shield itself behind its free hand. It didn't notice that Amanda was running along the top of the bookshelves until the crazy American bounded off and landed on top of the minotaur's head, clinging to its one horn. The minotaur howled angrily as Amanda started kicking any part of the monster's face that her long legs could reach.

"Get your hands off them, you damn, dirty cow!" shouted Amanda.

Unfortunately, the minotaur reached up, caught Amanda by her ankle, and threw her off. She flew towards Diana and Akko, but Diana quickly sidestepped out of the way, leaving the two friends to collide with one another. Both girls hit the ground with mutual groans of discomfort, but the string of Akko's necklace snapped in the collision and rolled across the library's polished floor with a clatter.

The minotaur's ears perked at the noise and it raised its head, spying the tiny green jewel. It was as if a switch had been flipped inside the monster's head that it no longer found any interest in attacking young witches; rather it completely ignored them and stomped heavily towards the necklace with its beefy fingers stretched out to grab it. It was just inches away when Lotte suddenly slid across the floor and grabbed the necklace along the way. The minotaur blinked and looked at Lotte, who was running as fast as her legs could carry her. The minotaur threw back its head and howled furiously before charging at Lotte's backside.

"Why is it chasing Lotte?" Jasminka asked curiously.

"It wants the necklace," Diana concluded immediately.

"I didn't know monsters liked to accessorize," said Amanda.

"Would somebody please help me?" squealed Lotte.

She turned the corner around the non-fictional section just before the minotaur steamrolled by and smashed its way through the Astronomy section. The minotaur doubled back and resumed chasing Lotte down the rows of bookshelves. Lotte was just passing the necromancy section when Sucy suddenly slid in the minotaur's path, her expression quite neutral as it stared up at the minotaur's fuming, furry face. The minotaur howled and started raising its pipe –

"Excuse me, Mr. Cow," Sucy called it causally as the minotaur leaned forward so that its snout was only inches from her face. "Open wide."

The minotaur howled in Sucy's face, which she used as an opportunity to reach inside the head of her mushroom costume and pulled out a bottle of venomous-green liquid. Without any hesitation or restraint, she dumped the entire bottle into the minotaur's mouth. The minotaur snapped its mouth shut and its eyes stretched wider than they already were. Then the great beast dropped to the floor, howling in agony, as its flesh began to ripple and bubble like a pot of boiling water. All of its fur fell off in one sweep, its horn snapped all on its own, and its skin started hissing before chunks of it started to rip and tear –

Akko rushed to the nearest waste basket and vomited up her entire dinner.

When the…gruesome scene was over with, all that remained was a puddle of melted flesh, graying fur, and shockingly clean bones. Everyone was hesitant to approach, especially with Sucy cackling like a psychopath.

"I guess it was a little too strong," said Sucy with a toothy grin.

"Sucy, you are both awesome…and terrifying," said Amanda hesitantly.

"That was…disturbing," said Lotte, slowly walking over to Akko and holding out her necklace. "Here you go. I managed to keep it safe."

"Thanks a bunch, Lotte," said Akko, accepting the jewel gratefully. "But why did it suddenly start going after my necklace?"

While they were busy contemplating that, Constanze saw something glinting amidst the pool of deceased minotaur remains. The tiny magic-engineer waded through the murky puddle of flesh, much to the disgust of her friends, and reached down to pick up whatever it was. She cleaned the object with her sleeve, stared at it for a moment, then held it up for the rest to see. It was a tiny machine that resembled a silver spider with a red light that had a deep crack in the middle.

"What's that you found, Constanze?" asked Amanda. Constanze responded with a series of hand signals that only Amanda seemed to understand. "What? That's one of Professor Croix's magitronic devices? Are you sure?"

Constanze only nodded in response.

"Why did that minotaur have one of Professor Croix's magitronic devices?" asked Lotte curiously.

"Well, she was the last one to see the minotaur," said Sucy bluntly. "And we did see her running towards the third floor while the rest of the teachers went to the dungeons. And the only thing we know that's on the third floor is whatever that giant polar bear is guarding. Maybe Professor Croix let the minotaur in so that she could get whatever is it underneath that trap door."

"We're talking about a teacher here!" snapped Diana. "She wouldn't do that!"

Akko wasn't so sure. It did make a whole lot of sense considering Professor Croix was the only one who knew how magitronics worked and there was the fact that Blair held a grudge against the lavender-haired professor. But she always seemed so nice to Akko. She wouldn't do something so deceitful…right?

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the seven of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the minotaur's roars. A moment later, Professor Finnelan had come bursting into the library, closely followed by Croix, with Ursula bringing up the rear. Ursula took one look at the pool of minotaur guts all over the floor and Constanze's tunic, rushed for the same waste basket as Akko, and added to the pile.

Croix bent over the minotaur gore. Professor Finnelan was looking at the Polaris students. Akko was accustomed to seeing Finnelan angry at her, especially after word reached her that she hadn't been expelled. Any hopes of winning fifty points for Polaris faded quickly from Akko's mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor Finnelan, with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Croix had been examining the minotaur remains as if she was looking for something, which did not ease Akko's suspicions of her, but her concerns were more pressing with Finnelan

Then a small voice called out to her.

"Please, Professor Finnelan – they were looking for me."

"Diana!"

Diana stepped forward with her hands folded, seemingly forgetting she was still in her Shiny Chariot costume.

"I was preoccupied with studying that I didn't hear the warning or notice it was creeping upon me until it was already here. Akko and her friends came to warn me. If they hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead. Everyone was distracting it and Manbavaran killed it with a potion – don't ask me what it was. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Akko and her friends stared at Diana with their jaws practically reaching the floor. While most of her story was true, they all knew that Diana would have probably handled the situation a lot better if they hadn't distracted her. They weren't going to mention that little fact, of course.

"Well – in that case…" said Professor Finnelan, staring at the Polaris group like they had offended her in some way. "I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a fully-grown minotaur and live to tell the tale. You each win Polaris five points for saving Diana. Heavens knows we would be lost without her. The headmistress will be informed of this. If none of you are hurt, I would strongly suggest you all return to your dormitories. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

They hurried out of the library and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of minotaur guts, quite apart from anything else.

"We totally should have gotten more than thirty points," Amanda complained. "We killed a minotaur for god's sake."

"I think we should be grateful that we even made it out alive," said Lotte.

"Shouldn't we tell the teachers about that thing we found?" said Jasminka.

"With Professor Croix standing then, unlikely," said Diana. "I still don't believe that Professor Croix was behind it all, but if there is a chance she was involved, we don't want her finding out what we know."

They reached the fork in the hall that lead to the Polaris dorms in the north tower and the Lunar dorms in the south.

"Well, this is where we depart," said Diana. She walked down the corridor a few paces, but then turned around and said, "Akko, I just wanted to say…thanks for coming after me. I honestly didn't think you cared."

"I'll admit I'm a little jealous of you, Diana," said Akko, "but I still think you're a great person. Especially now that I know you're a Shiny Chariot fan too!"

"NOT – A – SINGLE – WORD!" Diana seethed and hurried off to the Lunar dorms.

But from that moment on, Akko and Diana became good friends even if others couldn't quite see it. Diana still overshadowed Akko and constantly made remarks on how she could improve herself, and Akko would always get into some kind of mischief and find many different ways to make Diana want to pull her hair out, but none of it was done out of spite any more. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and slaying a twelve-foot minotaur is one of them.

I never liked Quidditch because it always seemed like a game where only the seeker matter - everyone else seemed pointless by comparison. There is only one instance in the entire series where the Seeker catching the snitch doesn't win them the game. In Chariot Racing, everyone has an even role and actually requires the entire team to play a part instead of just putting everything on one person.

Also, I could resist recreating Sucy's famous scene from the original OVA.

Next chapter: Chariot Race