Red Coven's dorm
No dreams about Shiny Chariot this time (it was instead about potatoes and cabbages), but Akko woke up early anyway because today is her first ever Saturday in Luna Nova, and she is excited about finally being able to leave the academy campus and explore Blytonbury.
The first thing Akko noticed when she woke up is Sucy massaging her neck while complaining about how it was sore - apparently having spent the whole night sleeping at the desk - and reminding herself that she should wear a gas mask next time she experiments with anything that induces sleep. Akko is of course confused why the pale Filipino would say that, though the lab equipment at the desk that wasn't packed up narrows down the possible answers.
Lotte, on the other hand, appears to be packing up a shopping bag and is wearing what looked like a Red Riding Hood costume.
"Lotte, what are you doing?" Akko asked out of curiosity.
"I'm preparing for the NightCon in the town." Lotte answered without looking away from what she is doing.
"NightCon?" Akko wondered out loud what Lotte meant.
"Does it have something to do with the Nightfall thing you mentioned last night?" Sucy also wondered out loud.
Lotte momentarily looked away from her shopping bag. "Don't you guys know what Nightfall is?"
"No..." Sucy answered indifferently.
"Sounds familiar, but I don't know..." Akko answered apologetically.
"HOW COULD YOU?!" Lotte suddenly exclaimed loudly, her voice an assault on Akko and Sucy's ears. "Nightfall is the third most popular franchise in the world! It started as a novel published in 1872, and it was loved enough that the author, a witch called Annabel Creme, wrote a sequel, and another, and another...365 sequels have been published ever since!
"That...is a long runner..." Sucy commented.
"What is it about, anyway?" Akko asked.
"Nightfall is about a schoolteacher called Belle, who meets a handsome man called Edgar. Edgar reveals one day that he's actually a vampire, but Belle says she doesn't mind. And later, Edgar's rival, a werewolf called Arthur, shows up, and everything goes downhill from there..." Lotte described. "But while the first book is just a straight up fantasy romance, it started to explore all sorts of genre including but not limited to: mystery, thriller, action, sci-fi, espionage, and more!"
Akko and Sucy both blinked in reaction.
"But Nightfall didn't limit itself to being a series of novels! It also got adapted into theater plays, musicals, movies, TV series, graphic novels, and even video games!" Lotte continued. "And new contents are still being released every year, with Volume 366 of the novels being unveiled at Nightcon today!"
Akko and Sucy then turned to each other in reaction to what they just heard.
"I wouldn't touch this...abomination of a franchise...with a ten kilometer pole..." Sucy remarked.
Akko responded with a silent nod.
"What has the concept of fiction become..." Shiny Rod muttered upon hearing Lotte's description of Nightfall.
...
Luna Nova campus entrance
As expected, almost every student in Luna Nova have gathered at the campus entrance, waiting for Headmistress Holbrooke to open the main gate. Some are still wearing their Luna Nova uniforms, while others have changed into casual clothes.
The headmistress has a speech to give before she would open the gate and let everyone out. And just like the matriculation ceremony, she has a lot of things to say in her speech (thankfully it isn't nearly as long as the last one).
"...And so, with all that in mind, have a happy weekend, ladies." Headmistress Holbrooke finished her 30 minutes speech. Then with a gentle tap of her staff on the ground, the main gate opened behind her, revealing a Leyline Tunnel that leads out of Luna Nova and into Blytonbury.
"Now remember, everyone!" Professor Nelson, who stood beside Headmistress Holbrooke, reminded, punctuating her sentences like a military drill sergeant. "Don't do anything stupid in the town, and be back by 5 PM, or else you're getting detentions!"
All the students stood where they are, and those who are already in the process of crossing the gate on their flying brooms stopped mid-tracks.
"From Finneran!" Professor Nelson clarified.
The students stay paused for a few more seconds before continuing on their way.
"Everyone looked like they were desperate to step out of campus." Akko, having decided to leave Shiny Rod behind in the dorm, commented on the number of students that are leaving campus grounds for the day.
"After being stuck here for five days, most of us would." Lotte explained. "Though a handful do prefer to stay on campus for their own reason."
"Well, I just wanted to go explore the town and maybe meet my parents one last time before they go back to Japan." Akko said. "What about you, Sucy?"
"I'm just going to look for mushrooms and poisonous bugs in town." Sucy answered nonchalantly.
Akko didn't comment on that. She has already gotten used to the pale Filipino's nonchalant attitude and fondness for foul-smelling things. She looked around to see if there's anyone else nearby that she recognizes, catching glimpse of the Purple Coven flying past on their brooms.
"So I'll 'F' Hemsworth, marry Evans, and kill Pratt." Mary told her coven mates in a conversation, apparently about the actors of movies that she watched.
"Why do you want to 'kill Pratt'?" Avery asked her friend. "Was it because of what he did in Infinity War?"
"Personally, I'll marry all three of them~" Blair says as she...appeared to start daydreaming about something...
Akko looked away from the Purple Coven after that. Whatever Blair is daydreaming about, Akko wished she could cast a memory erasing spell on herself to erase the imagery...
"Is there anyone else in Luna Nova who likes Nightfall?" Akko, diverting her attention from the Purple Coven, asked Lotte.
Lotte touched her chin. "Nobody..." She said. "At least, as far as I kn-"
The Finnish girl stopped mid-sentence all of a sudden, as she took several steps back and worriedly held her broom upright in front of her, as if trying to hide behind it.
Akko knew right away what is coming upon seeing Lotte's behavior...
"Hey, Little Lotte~" Came Hannah's voice in a mocking tone.
"Going to the Nightcon, I see~?" Barbara joined her friend in the mocking.
"Don't you two have something else to do?" Akko, annoyed by the mere thought of those two from the Blue Coven, asked as she turned to face them.
"We are~" "That's why we dressed for the occasion~" Hannah and Barbara said, the latter finishing the former's sentence.
Indeed, the two Blue Coven girls are dressed in fancy, really expensive-looking clothes, most notably the pink cardigans.
"What is with that get up?" Akko asked, cringing at just how much bling the two are showing off.
"Well, today's a Saturday," "And in Saturdays, we wear pink~" Hannah and Barbara casually answered, then let out the kind of laugh that spoiled rich girls usually makes.
Akko pouted, as she held back the urge to just up and punch the snooty duo.
"Where is Diana, anyway?" Akko brought up. "Don't you two like to hang out with her?"
As soon as Diana's name is mentioned, Hannah and Barbara's expressions both went sour.
"Don't you dare speak about her!" Hannah attacked.
"Especially not after what you did yesterday!" Barbara reminded.
Akko herself went sour upon being reminded that. I need to have a talk with Shiny Rod when I come back... She reminded herself.
"Did someone inquire about my presence?" Diana asked as she suddenly appeared, and joined Hannah and Barbara. She is still in her Luna Nova uniform.
"Oh, nothing." Hannah told Diana.
"We're just saying hi to the Red Coven." Barbara added.
Diana eyed how Lotte behaved at the moment, specifically how her arrival at the scene caused the Finnish girl to take several steps back out of fear of something.
"Really?" Diana asked in an interrogative way. She appeared to not have bought what her coven mates just told her.
The heiress then looked at Akko, which quickly turned into a glare for reasons that Akko can tell right away.
Akko also noticed that Diana's left hand, which is her dominant hand, is barely moving at all, as though it has gone numb.
"I'm so sorry about what Shiny Rod did to you..." Akko apologized to Diana. "I wasn't expecting her to react that way to you. I swear..."
Diana continued to glare at Akko for a few more seconds, massaging her numb left hand with her right, before breaking off the glare. "I suppose it is normal for an item to behave like its dumb own-"
"Whassup, Cabbage!" Greeted Amanda loudly as she along with Constanze and Jasminka approached the Red and Blue Covens on their brooms.
Jasminka sat side-saddle on her broom (which isn't that unusual for a witch) while eating out of a bag of potato crisps. Constanze, on the other hand, sat on something that looks less like a broom and more like a futuristic hoverbike (complete with a holographic interface in place of a normal bike's dashboard) built around a broom.
Diana turned her attention to Amanda. "Don't. Call. Me. That." She said while gritting her teeth. "And what is that indecent outfit you are wearing?!"
"Oh, this?" Amanda gestured at the clothes. she is wearing right now, which consisted of an unzipped black bomber jacket over a t-shirt that is small enough to leave her midriff exposed, along with a pair of ripped jeans. "It's the latest trend in the US. You should go give it a try, princess."
Diana didn't reply. She just furrowed her eyebrows before turning away.
"Hannah, Barbara, you two do what you want in the town." Diana told her coven mates. "I have some things to do there..."
Saying that, the heiress then mounted on her broom, and flew off, disappearing into the Leyline Tunnel.
"Hey, Cabbage!" Amanda called out to Diana, not expecting a reply due to how far the heiress has already gone. "What's with the British accent? I thought you were Scottish!"
"Who cares if Diana's Scottish?" Hannah scoffed.
"If she wants to speak with a British accent, it's her choice!" Barbara also scoffed.
"We should stop wasting our time with these losers, Barbs!" Hannah told her friend.
"Yeah, right!" Barbara agreed.
With that, the duo mounted their brooms and took off.
"Oh, by the way, Kagari..." Barbara suddenly directed at Akko. "vous êtes un morceau de merde, vous le savez?" She told her something in French.
Akko raised her eyebrows upon hearing that. "What did you say?"
Barbara leaned close to Hannah. "Hannah, tu veux bien traduire ce que je viens de dire pour ces ordures ?" She asked a question in a sarcastic tone.
"Désolé, mais c'est trop vulgaire pour moi." Hannah answered, also in a sarcastic tone.
The Blue Coven duo then let out another "spoiled rich girl" laugh after saying what they just said.
Akko glanced at Lotte who is still too overcome by her fear of Hannah and Barbara to do anything, then at Sucy who just shrugged.
"Forget them. Let's go, guys." Akko told her friends as she dragged Lotte toward the Leyline Tunnel, with Sucy following right behind. The three of them then mounted on their brooms.
"That's right, losers~" "Run like you should~" Hannah and Barbara mocked the Red Coven at where they stood.
Just before entering the Leyline Tunnel, Akko turned around on her barely-off-the-ground flying broom, with a smirk on her face.
"By the way, I did understand what you two just said..." She told Hannah and Barbara smugly. "C'est peut-être pour ça que vous devriez manger tout droit sorti des toilettes." The Japanese girl verbally retaliated in a surprisingly fluent French. "On se voit des crétins plus tard."
With that, the Red Coven departed from Luna Nova as they entered the Leyline Tunnel.
Hannah and Barbara stood where they are, frozen stiff by the fact that their bilingual insult against Akko backfired so horribly.
"Translation: eat shit, bitches!" Amanda mocked the duo just before she and her coven mates also departed from the scene.
Hannah and Barbara remained frozen where they stood. Meanwhile, Chloe who had overheard the entire conversation between the Red, Blue and Green Covens rolled on the ground, laughing loudly at what she just witnessed, while her coven mates gave Hannah and Barbara a shrug each.
...
Inside the Leyline Tunnel...
"Say, Akko..." Sucy asked the Japanese girl out of curiosity. "I didn't know you spoke French..."
"That's because I wanted to meet Shiny Chariot in person one day, and surprise her by showing just how much of a Chariot fan I am." Akko answered.
Hannah and Barbara, get rekt!
Okay, so I was not able to post this chapter before 2020 begins. Well, that sucks for me in a personal way...
Hmm, I wonder what Diana was doing that led to her left hand getting numb... Speaking of which, Diana being left-handed is just a random thought that I have. It does not foreshadow anything about the plot or her background, so you can just ignore it.
Also, you'd probably laugh your asses off if you understand what Hannah, Barbara, and Akko said in French. Admittedly they might not be grammatically correct, since I don't speak a lick of French either...
With that, I'd like to say this:
HAPPY 2020!
"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic."
Afterwords end here.
NOTE: This chapter is first posted on AO3 on January 1st, 2020. I just so happened to be able to access Fanfiction Dot Net again for some reason, so I figured I might as well get this chapter posted before I lose access again.