"I'd like to get back to the point," Diana said, "if we could?"
She gave the library a quick once-over, her eyes lingering on the sight of Akko propped up in one of the chairs, sleeping peacefully with her head resting against Hannah, who herself had fallen asleep about two minutes into her sobbing spree.
"The library is full of books with old legends and spells, we might be able to find a clue about what happened to Akko, or even a full counterspell if we're lucky."
"What, just looking at old books until we find something about an age spell?" Amanda snorted. "Booooriiiing."
"Boring or not, it's the best lead we have so far." Diana stalked over to one of the bookcases lining the walls. She thumbed the spines for a moment before selecting a particularly thick green-blue one. Flicking out and waving her wand, she floated out the book from the shelf and in front of Amanda. "Start reading, please."
Amanda took the floating book with both hands before blowing a short raspberry.
"I just wish we knew what we were looking for," Barbara said as she tugged at some ancient tome bound in leather, "you girls didn't find anything in the potions room?"
Diana stiffened.
"No…" She drew out her words, not wanting to respond too quickly or too slowly. "We didn't find anything that…would cause Akko's transformation…right, Sucy?"
"Nope," Sucy responded in a voice a bit less monotone than usual, "nothing…about Akko's transformation."
Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"Okay…" She said. "What about you, Jas? Find anything on your wacky misadventure with Akko?"
"Other than the names of a few fairies I need to apologize to later?" Jasminka sighed. "Nothing."
She held up a small piece of paper.
"We did find the onyx wood, though, so we were able to finish the spell on the paper."
"Ooh," Sucy cooed, "let me see."
She politely snatched the paper out of Jasminka's hand and gave it a good stare.
The paper itself was old and brown and dull, but a visible pattern had emerged in a myriad of colors. Swirly bits connected to jagged angles, which pointed inwards and outwards and in many directions at once. Like someone had managed to tie-dye ice crystals and shattered glass.
"I have no idea how to read this." She concluded.
"Naturally." Diana tossed her hair back as she came up behind Sucy. "The kit is well over a century old, none of us would have the knowledge of how to read such a thing."
Lotte took a quick glance at the paper.
"It's quite pretty, at least." She said. "Lots of colors."
"Oh yes," Diana nodded, "I especially like the way the yellow bleeds into the blue near the center pattern."
Sucy rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, casually tossing the paper out of her hand. Jasminka expertly grabbed the paper out of the air and stuffed it gently in her pocket.
"In any case," Diana continued, "the important part is that we all do our part to investigate what has happened. I know it's not 'exciting', but not everything in life involves saving the world."
"Even if we do that often." Amanda smirked.
"Even if," Diana said as she picked out a book of her own, "read please."
And they did so, silently, for a few moments, only occasionally getting up to pick up a new book or put an old one away.
And Amanda hated it. Every boring second of it. Which is why she was immensely grateful when a loud creak sounded throughout the library.
One of the bookshelves seldom used by students rumbled and moaned, pulling itself backwards and slid to the side, revealing a low-arched wooden door.
"What." Barbara managed, fighting back the utter confusion.
The wooden door creaked open just a smidge, enough to allow two teachers to walk out.
"Headmistress Holbrooke!" Lotte noted. "Professor Finnelan!"
"Ah," the headmistress gave a polite nod, "hello students. How goes your search?"
"Not well, headmistress." Diana sighed. "Unfortunately."
The two teachers exited the hidden passage, which promptly shut itself—both door and bookcase—with a soft click and a loud creak. The pair stopped at the table near the group, and Holbrooke smiled down at the sleeping child.
"Ah yes," she said, "but at least she appears to have had her fill of fun toda—"
She paused.
"Why is…miss England also passed out in a library chair?"
"It's better to not dwell on that, trust me." Diana said, closing her book. "Would it be too much to ask if the Horologium room had been tampered with?"
The headmistress sighed.
"I'm afraid not," she said, "professor Char—Ursula's seals have remained intact, and the clock shows no signs of tampering, magical manipulation, or anything other than normal use."
"If anything," Finnelan sighed, "it's running smoother than before."
The group mulled this over.
"W-well," Lotte said, "at least this rules out time travel!"
"I appreciate your optimism, miss Jansson." Holbrooke gave a soft smile, before frowning again. "I was hoping to resolve this quickly, or at least without forcing too many staff members off of their duties to help with the issue, but at this rate we'll have to start searching the archives and campus at random for the magical artefact that caused this."
"That could take ages." Diana said, frowning.
"Indeed." Finnelan said, before mumbling under her breath. "Though luckily most of the teachers here fear parental lawsuits slightly more than they fear a bit of elbow grease…"
"I'm sure it'll all work out," Amanda said, "Akko probably just cheesed off some angry spirit in one of the magic mirrors or something utterly cliché like that."
Holbrooke gave that sentence a bit of thought, looking somewhat bemused.
"There's a possibility I hadn't considered…" She mused a bit. "Anne, have Ursula gather and inspect all the magic mirrors we have available, on the off-chance that this is nothing more than a malignant spirit casting a powerful glamour."
"Do you really think a mirror turned Akko into a child?" Barbara raised an eyebrow. "It sounds a bit…powerful…for a simple mirror."
"Mirrors have always been powerful magical tools, even when magic was fading away; people often talk of their power to show the truth in ourselves, but many forget of how easily mirrors can lie or trick us." Holbrooke explained wistfully. "Now, after everything that happened with the Grand Triskellion and the resurgence of magic, I believe anything may be possible."
"I'll tell Ursula to start taking every mirror she can find into the auditorium," Finnelan said, "we can go through them there."
"Thank you, Anne." Holbrooke smiled. "And as for you girls, I will send notice to your teachers that you'll be continuing to help miss Kagari for the foreseeable future. You're excused from any classes you wish."
Amanda gave a fist pump as the two teachers walked to the door leading out of the room.
"If you find anything, do not hesitate to tell us." She smiled and gave another polite nod. "Take care, girls."
And with that, the pair left.
Barbara paused, turning things over in her mind.
"Is anyone going to tell me what the whole deal is with the moving bookcase and time travel bit," she said, "or am I going to just be kept in the dark on everything?"
"Oh, I hope professor Ursula can find something to help." Lotte moaned lightly.
"Kept in the dark it is. As usual."
"Like I said," Amanda chuckled, "I'm sure it'll work out. Akko probably just did something…y'know, Akko-like. Like touching a big glowing rune thingy, or setting a sacred tree on fire, or something."
"And if things don't work out?" Diana raised an eyebrow.
"Amanda does have a point…" Jasminka said. "We can try to fix the problem, we just have to figure out what went wrong? People do not just age backwards for no reason, after all."
"Probably." Sucy said, rolling her eyes. "Let's get back to work, I'd rather things worked out before dinner, not after."
"That would be best." Diana said, pausing a moment to think. "And would someone wake Hannah, please?"
Hannah simply snored lightly and turned over in her sleep, dreaming of nothing particularly important.