A/N: Hello everyone! This here is a requested fic from longcatislong of Ao3. Longcat wanted a fic that featured a headless horseman AU, with Sucy as the horseman, so I decided to go nuts with the idea. But before we begin, one of my lovely commentors made some FANART! YAY! Thanks to YurImperial for making Sucy and Amanda in their tuxes from chapter 34, make sure you click the link so you can see it yourself.
phantasticphilosophy. tumblr post/ 174150369317/ i-recently-started-reading-a-great-little-witch
DarkyLoneWolf: I think for the vampire AU, I'll stick with Akko as a human, and the two just ditching their roles for whatever makes them happy, since they both seem miserable in your original prompt.
Aliffiphonelinux95: Well, in this AU, all of Akko's magic was stolen, so unfortunately, she can't be taught by Sucy. But as I go into more detail in another comment response, I am thinking about expanding on this idea in it's own contained story someday.
Some Random Dude: Gay space rocks should stay gay space rocks. Stop making them humans in coffee shops and high schools! It's one of the best shows about aliens on Earth, and how even after lifetimes among us, they're not well integrated and are still confused about our society, and those AUs always take something away from it because of that.
I love me some Jirou and Momo fics, but those seem to only ever pop up in AUs and chatfics as well. But if you want an amazing AU, look up PitViperofDoom's "Yesterday upon the stair." Which is an AU where Midoriya does have a quirk. He sees dead people. It's one of my current favorites.
TheHybridGryph: I might actually expand on this as it's own series in the future, where I can go into more detail about the lives of everyone in that AU. What Ursula is doing, if magic was saved or not by someone else finding the Shiny Rod, If Lotte ever had different roommates. I also wanted to expand on the chapter I put up, maybe have a little more time for Sucy and Akko to get to know each other, while slipping in a little of Akko's issues about not knowing any real magic, since I think the relationship was a little rushed in my last chapter.
Rumors had begun to spread in the little town of Blytonbury of a nameless terror, one that filled the hearts of men and women everywhere. A shambling corpse that stalked the night, with no head to speak of. Some said that it had a jack o' lantern in place of it's missing skull, and that it used the soulless, empty carved sockets to steal the souls of nearby travelers.
But rumors were just rumors, was what Akko Kagari believed. After all, who had heard of a headless monster before? How would it eat if it didn't have a mouth? Silly rumors! And so the fearless girl had left her friends house for the night despite their desperate protests that she stay there for the night, determined to make her way back to her own home, which she shared with a girl named Lotte, a fellow foreigner, and her best friend.
The people here were so superstitious! It was like being around her grandma back in Japan all over again! But still... she felt a tingle down her spine as she walked down the dark, narrow streets. She felt the hairs on her neck stand up as the wind howled being her, and every time she glanced back, she felt like she was seeing something dart back behind a building or a tree.
This town sure was creepy at night!
She was nearing her home now, so she could put this whole spooky mess behind her, when she turned back around and bumped right into a still figure. "I'm sorry, it's just so dark out, and I didn't see you there!" She apologized, and sent a smile to whoever was in front of her, only for the smile to run away fast.
In front of her was an imposing figure, shrowded in a cloak of darkness. A pumkin head with a slashed out smile on it's face and empty triangular eyes glared at her, and Akko knew what it truly meant to feel fear.
"AAAAAH!" She screamed, giving the headless figure a shove, knocking them off their feet, and sending the jack o' lantern head off, and rolling away. To her horror, the person truly did lack a head, and with stiff movements, tried to find it's pumpkin head that had rolled away. Akko took this time to run, screaming from the fiend, not even sure where she was heading, just knowing that she had to get away from that THING.
Before she knew it, she was on the outskirts of town, and heading into the forest of Arcturus. Her fight or flight instincts still guiding her, she ran, too scared to look behind her to see if that thing was still chasing her, and not knowing that there was a large lump on one of the tree roots at her feet, which made her fall headfirst into a large bush.
"Finally, someone found me!" A sardonic voice cried out. "It took you guys long enough!"
Feeling less afraid knowing there was someone else around to keep her safe, Akko pushed herself off the ground to meet her rescuer, only for her mouth to fall open in a silent cry of fear.
"What's that look for? Never seen a talking head before?"
Akko promptly fainted, as the head of a girl without a body let out a sigh, and tried to blow some of the violet hair that was in her face out of the way. "This blows!"
"Hey! HEY! Wake up!" Akko could feel herself rousing groggily from her sleep. Was her bed always this uncomfortable?
"Five more minutes, Lotte." She mumbled, only to let out a yelp when she felt something bite her nose. "Ouch!" She sat up, suddenly alert, remembering just what had happened and and how scared she'd been.
"Hey, you! Down here!" Looking near where her head just lay, Akko nearly fainted again at the site of a talking head. "Have you seen my body around?"
"Y-your body?" Oh no, was this some evil spirit or demon? Was she going to be the next person to lose her head?
"Yeah, it's oh, about yay tall." The head didn't move, because it didn't have any actual hands to give the approximate height of her body, and judging by how the headless woman gave a toothy grin, Akko assumed this was her attempt at a joke. "Heh, sorry, a little disembodied humor. If it's not obvious, I've been sorta alone her for a while."
"Y-you're not going to curse me, or anything, are you?"
"What? No, no, But seriously, have you seen my body? I kinda need it, it's useless without me. Tell you what, if you do me this as a favor, I'll do something for you. I'm pretty good with magic(it's sorta how I ended up in this situation), so I can get you a lot of things a mortal girl like you probably wouldn't be able to get. What do you say?"
Well, Akko did always want to learn magic herself... If this girl was a witch, maybe she could be Akko's teacher! "Okay, you have a deal!"
The girl looked at Akko expectedly, before asking, "Well, we made a deal. Aren't we going to shake on it?" Okay, that one got Akko, who laughed. She could tell dark humor like this was something this girl was good at.
"I'm Akko, Akko Kagari!" She greeted, carefully lifting the disembodied head up off the ground.
"Sucy Manbavaran." She head greeted.
The two walked back to town, Akko holding the head in her rms as she walked, where Sucy looked quite relaxed nestling against Akko's chest.
"So, what has my body been up too?" Sucy asked, looking up at Akko.
"It's been going crazy! It's been terrorizing the town for weeks, everyone is afraid to go out at night!"
Sucy grinned, "Well, sounds like it's been being productive. It's probably searching for me, but it doesn't exactly have a brain right now, so it's kinda dumb."
"It's been wearing a pumpkin as a replacement." Akko let her know.
"A pumpkin? Eh, without me, it's got poor taste in gourdes." The violet witch gazed around, taking in the sights she hadn't been able to see while her head lay on the ground.
"How are you even alive right now?" Akko asked. "I mean, sure, magic, but you've been out there alone for weeks, shouldn't you have starved?"
"I rolled around and ate mushrooms off the forest floor." Sucy attempted to shrug of Akko's worries, but didn't have the shoulders to do so. "And I could drink from the stream I was next to. It just takes a lot of work to go anywhere. And my mouth has tasted like dirt from having to use my tongue to roll myself around."
"Ew!" Akko's face crumpled in disgust. "I didn't need to know that part."
Sucy smirked, "Then next time, don't ask."
Akko was glad it was still dark out. She didn't want to see the looks of horror over her carrying what looked to be a freshly disembodied head with her. And with Sucy's body running about, the chances of her running into anyone was slim. But that didn't stop hr from being a bit paranoid. In her worry about being caught, she'd ended up pressing Sucy's head tightly against her chest.
"Hey, stop squeezing me so tight." Sucy grumbled. "Your boobs aren't big and soft enough for that!"
Akko's face flushed as she loosened her hold, trying not to be offended by the other girls comments about her breasts. They were just fine the way they were!
When they arrived to Akko's house that she shared with Lotte, the two girls quietly slipped inside, careful to not make any noise in case Lotte was asleep. Akko didn't want to explain why she was harboring the head of a witch, at least, not at this hour.
Making her way to the linen closet, she quickly opened it up, and shoved Sucy's head inside. "Hey, what's the big deal!" Sucy hissed.
"It's just for the rest of the night!" Akko assured, "I need to sleep, it's still so late! You can use the spare sheets in here as your own bed, and get some sleep too. Just try to stay quiet, I don't want my roommate to find out about you."
"I bet you say that to all the girls you sneak into your home." Sucy snickered, making Akko stammer out a denial and close the door on the head, before marching indignantly to her own bed.
Lotte's morning was as bright and cheery as it usually was. She woke to the sun shining in on her through the window, put on her glasses, and stretched, getting the feeling of sleep out from her bones.
She got dressed, choosing a cute enough outfit to try and catch the eye of that cute girl she'd seen around town lately, with the red hair. Maybe today was the day she'd get over her bashfulness enough to spark up a conversation?
As she prepared breakfast for herself and her housemate, Akko, who from the sound of the snoring was still asleep, She couldn't help but hum a nice tune. Today was going to be amazing, she just knew it!
Going over the mental list of chores she needed to get done before work. She needed to eat, the floors could use a little sweeping, but it was Akko's turn, and... ah, she needed to change the sheets on her bed, the ones she'd used last night needed a washing.
Finishing up the eggs and bacon, she set them on two plates, and placed them onto the table, before making her way to Akko's door and giving it a knock. "Akko? Wake up, it's time for breakfast."
The sound of Akko waking up and falling out of her bed greeted the Finnish girl's ears, as she continued to hum her little song to herself, heading back to her own room to change the sheets while the food cooled.
She pried to old ones off, throwing them into a basket with some other clothes that needed washing. Then, she lifted the basket up, and headed back into the hallway, to find some new sheets in the linen closet.
She opened it up and reached inside, but was topped by a voice. "It's rude to not knock, you know. … Hey, is that bacon I smell?"
Akko groggily dressed herself, trying to be quick so she could feed her half starved belly. After all that running last night, and then the long trek back to her home from the forest, she'd worked up an even bigger appetite than usual!
"AAAAH!"
Akko dropped the shirt she was holding and rushed out of her room when she heard Lotte yell in fright. "What's going on?" She yelled, looking for the problem and ready to leap to her friends aid.
"Oh, hi Akko." Sucy's monotone voice echoed from the closet, and Lotte came into view, wielding a broom and looking ready to bat at Sucy's head. "Think you can keep your friend from killing me? She really didn't want to share that bacon."
"Akko, there is a talking HEAD in our linen closet, and it knows your name!" Lotte gripped the broom so tightly her knuckles began to to turn white. "Why does the head lady know your name?!"
"You know, if this is how your roommate reacts to you bringing home a girl, I can see why you wanted to keep me a secret. Nice look, by the way."
Akko looked down at herself, and realized she wasn't wearing a shirt, and covered herself in embarrassment. "I told you, it's not like that!" She yelled at the bodiless girl. Then, turning to Lotte.
"Uh, well, you know that creepy thing everyone is afraid of? Well, it's Sucy, uh, the head's, body, and she needs to find it again, and if I do that she'll reward me! B-but I'm still mostly doing it out of the goodness of my heart, of course!" Akko lied on the last part.
Lotte fidgeted, still not letting go of the broom. "Today started out so good too..." She mumbled, still trying not to have a panic attack.
Lotte stared at Sucy's head in morbid fascination as Akko helped feed her. "Where exactly does all that food go?" She asked, poking Sucy's head with her finger, which irritated the witch enough to take a snap at Lotte's appendage with her teeth.
"To my body. We were magically separated, but we're still sorta connected." Sucy rolled her head over, showing that he head wasn't so much cut off, as it looked more like she'd just been born without the body. No blood, or gruesome cut marks on her neck, just flesh that looked like it'd always been there.
"Sucy, don't roll over like that, I'm trying to feed you." Akko lightly scolded, rolling Sucy's head back up and offering the girl another slice of her bacon. Sucy greedily snatched it up.
"You know, these taste so good compared to uncooked, unseasoned mushrooms." The girl spoke with her mouth full, and swallowed. "Ah, nothing beats being hand fed by a pair of cute girls. Hey, Akko, bacon me again." She opened her mouth wide, making a blushing and grimacing Akko once again shove a piece of meat into Sucy's mouth.
"At this rate, there won't be any left for me." the girl pouted.
"Why does your body only seem to come out at night?" Lotte asked, tossing Akko a piece of her own bacon to sate her. "I mean, no ones seen it during the day."
"My body is an idiot without me, sorta like Akko over here. And it can't exactly see. So it probably thinks that it's night right now, and day when it's up and looking for me. I'd be ashamed of it, if it wasn't creeping everyone out. My body must be having a blast right about now." Sucy cackled.
"I guess we'll just have to wait until nightfall to find your body then, huh?" Akko mulled.
"As long as you keep feeding me delicious food, I don't care how long I have to wait to get my body back." Sucy said as she chewed.
Night has come, and Sucy had been able to enjoy three full home cooked meals in that time, and was happier than a clam that she would be getting her body back. Once again, the streets were completely empty as Akko, now joined by Lotte, looked around, trying to find any signs of the witches body.
"I don't get it, I ran into your body almost instantly, why isn't it here now?" Akko complained after they had been searching for over an hour.
"It must have just been luck last time." Lotte patted Akko on the back. "we'll find her body soon enough."
"Guys." Sucy called for their attention, looking up at Akko, who once again craddled her in her arms. "I think we're close, I feel... kinda funny?"
"Are you sure you're not just feeling sick from all the food you stole from me?" Akko glared, but Sucy ignored her.
"Over there!" Sucy yelled suddenly, making both girls jump in surprise, and glance over to where Sucy was looking. They could see a shadow run by, and the sounds of footsteps clattering on the ground. "Well, don't just stand there, after it!" Sucy barked, finally making Akko and Lotte run.
The chase took them all through town, weaving through buildings and parks, where they could visibly see that the figure they were chasing was in fact wearing a big pumpkin on top of it's head. It was actually sort of funny, now that Akko knew it was just Sucy's body, the figure they chased after seemed a lot less intimidating and a lot more silly.
"Why is your body running from us?" Lotte asked, panting heavily as they ran.
"Beats me. It might not know it's me. It's a brainless idiot, remember?" Sucy yelled back, before looking up at Akko. "You're faster than Lotte, and I'm just slowing you down, toss me over and tackle that bitch!" Sucy ordered.
Akko carefully threw Sucy's head, which Lotte barely caught before she hit the ground, and continued the chase. Without Sucy's head weighing her down, she could sprint much faster, and was easily gaining in the witch's body. Just as Sucy's body was slowing down to turn a corner, Akko jumped and plowed headfirst into it, where they fell into a heap, the carved pumpkin head rolling away as Akko pined her new friends body to the floor. "Lotte, hurry, I got it!"
Lotte raced behind, and quickly plopped Sucy's head into her body, where it then fused quickly and cleanly at the neck. As soon as her head touched her body, the figure under Akko's weight ceased fighting to escape. "You can let me go now." Sucy panted, tired now that she was reattached to a body that had just ran a marathon.
Akko rolled off, while Lotte helped them both to their feet. "We did it!" The ginger girl cheered happily.
"Yes you did." The witch laughed, and hugged herself. "It feels so good to have arms again! Now," She turned to Akko. "I do believe I owe you whatever it is that you wanted."
Akko opened her mouth to request magic lessons, when her jaw dropped. With her head back on,Akko wasn't sure how she'd ever found Sucy's body terrifying. She was thin, and gorgeous, with her hair falling onto her shoulders and drawing attention to her neckline. And without the oddity of lacking a body, Sucy's face looked beautiful as well, leaving Akko completely bewitched.
"Well?" Sucy asked again.
"I want you to stay with me!" Akko blurted out, and then clamped her hands over her mouth.
Sucy raised an eyebrow as Lotte blushed at her friends request. "That was... decidedly forward." Sucy grinned, taking a seductive and cocky stance. "Not that I'm not intrigued, but what made you ask for that?"
"I want to learn magic! I-I meant to say I wanted you to stay so you can be my teacher!" Akko insisted, trying to save face.
Sucy didn't buy it for a second, but shrugged, a motion that felt so good to be able to do again. "I suppose I can do that. I do owe you." She linked arms with Akko, pulling her in the direction her house was in. "I do like giving Private lessons, So we should get started."
Akko tried to insist that wasn't what she'd meant, but kept stumbling over her words until she gave up, while Lotte trailed behind the two, wondering where her reward for helping out was.
A/N: I'm sorry this came out a little late again, but I do have a legit excuse! My Grandpa hasn't been doing so well these past few days. He's 93, really old, and fell down a few days ago, and since then has had issues with his memory. I help take care of him, on top of my job, and on top of my writing. He seems to be improving lately, so I should be able to update more frequently.
You know, if Dark Souls Remastered hadn't just come out, and I wasn't going to spend all my free time platinuming that on my PS4. It's the only Souls game I haven't completed 100 percent, so I need to get onto that.
As For Sucy's character, I kinda made her a bit goofier than usual, because she's been isolated in the wilderness for a few weeks, and that'd make anyone a little unhinged. I think she's just really glad to have someone to talk to after so much time. I also kept the time period for this a bit vague. I couldn't decide between modern, or if I should go old school horse and carriage days, so I settled for leaving it up to the reader.