Andrew sighed, sitting down in the large armchair of his father's office. His associate and him had been conversing for some time now on what to do with it all the debacle over a simple argument over a football match final score.
It had first started out as a simple discussion, before blowing completely out of proportion, with riots of all sorts breaking out downtown, in public parks and everywhere you looked someone was fighting.
They wanted to settle it as a country, to show them what was right. What would that solve? All it would do was prove that they were in fact as divided as it seemed, that there was no real way to peace. The man had left, much more distant towards Andrew due to his previous fight with his son at school, going so far as to call him childish.
And as his father shot his words down, Andrew couldn't find it in him to argue back, his mouth felt stiff, "You need to learn Andrew, that there's always the right way to fix something. And we're coming closer to reaching the right one."
"Yes, father. I understand," Andrew said curtly, leaving the room without another word.
'I couldn't say anything to him...I just stood by and listened, like I always do. I wonder if either one of them would have stepped in, and told my father something different, that he was wrong?'
He didn't know.
Turning back over to the seat beside him, Andrew spotted the purple hat lying there, not quite sure what to do with it. His staring was stopped by a bang on a window, crouched on the side was an owl, tilting its head towards the boy.
That was right, he was already looking into that.
Kenji stirred the mixture in his hand, watching it swirl and change color within the flask. He wasn't all too sure what he was even making but after yesterday's events he didn't care, crafting potions was something he'd been doing since the first couple of weeks he'd been staying at Luna Nova, to the point that even Sucy was asking him for advice.
Akko was close to awakening all of the seven words, with that came the World Altering Magic and on top of that was an even larger slew of problems. Croix was one of the major problems, who for some reason didn't seem suspicious to Akko in the slightest, despite his pestering and clear reasoning as to why she was. Ursula was just as suspicious, but for completely different reasons.
She seemed off about the seven words and Shiny Rod altogether, not to mention what he'd seen when she and he had gone to rescue Akko from Croix. Was it just the effect of the magic she was using? Or was her hair just naturally red?
What he needed to figure out most was what he was planning to do, if the crystal meant to be his power source back home supposedly belonged with the Shiny Rod, then what would happen if Akko revived them all? Would it stay the same or rejoin with its counterpart? And if he used it to get back home, would it take away power from it?
There was also the slight problem with how it even became broken off from the Shiny Rod, which seemed to be an unbreakable wand, to begin with. That and the person who had been in this world before him had both returned home and planned for the crystal to be placed at the fountain.
He needed something to focus all of those jumbled thoughts together, all of the questions that he had no idea the answers to.
'Should I talk to Akko about it? Nah, not right now...she's got enough on her plate...we all do.'
Suddenly, a knock came on his door. He'd assumed it to be Sucy or Lotte, he'd taken the mauve-haired girl's flasks and had told Lotte he'd been wanting to borrow that fourth installment of the Nightfall series so it could've been her dropping it off.
Instead, when he gently placed both potions down onto their displays he opened the door to see Diana there, seeming to be looking for someone, "Diana? You need something?" He questioned tilting his head.
Unaware of him, Diana flushed red a little, on the account that she find his head swaying to the side somewhat cute, "O-Oh...I was wondering if Akko was here. Lotte told me that she went out and I figured this might be where she went.."
Kenji felt somewhat embarrassed by that, is that what everyone else was thinking when they couldn't find Akko? That she was in his room, 'Praise be to the rumors...'
He hadn't even kissed Akko yet, let alone...anything else.
"No, she's not here. If you're gonna check anywhere then it should probably be with Miss Ursula, I think they're both talking about the seven words again, seeing as there is only one left she needs to say.."
"I see," Diana said briefly, "There was just something Andrew wanted to see her about?"
That caught his attention, "Andrew? What could he want? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to just randomly decide to meet up?" Kenji questioned, feeling a small annoyance brewing inside him.
"Not sure. You wouldn't be getting jealous would you, so easily I mean," Diana teased, seeing that she'd hit the nail right on the mark.
"You seriously have way too much fun with this. Let's just go tell them now, no harm in that, right?" Kenji questioned, purposefully raising an eyebrow, earning another laugh from her, coyly smiling back at him.
"No, there's no harm in that. As long as you don't plan on pestering Andrew," Diana remarked yet again, earning an eye twitch from the brunette, "Let's just go.."
Having walked for a few minutes, the two of them were so engrossed in whatever short conversation they were having that they hadn't noticed when they'd arrived at Ursula's room, opening the door, putting whatever conversation was being had to a halt.
"I'm sorry, did we interrupt something?" Diana spoke, entering the room somewhat adamantly.
Akko got up with a start, confused by the pairing entering the room, "Diana!? What are you doing with Kenji, you...you temptress!" Akko bellowed, getting Diana to jolt back with a bright red face.
"W-W-What are you talking about, we came here to find you!" Diana exclaimed, stumbling on her words.
"Can you both just calm down? What were you talking about anyway?" Kenji stepped in, derailing any further argument, looking over to Miss Ursula, who seemed uneasy.
"The final word. Phasansheer Shearylla, not even I know its meaning," Ursula answered.
"You don't?" Kenji queried, a bit perplexed. It made sense, but the blue-haired teacher seemed to be the most knowledgeable about anything involving the Grand Triskellion, so the fact that she didn't know anything was a tad strange.
Akko once again intervened in the conversation, "Yeah, I already heard that. Why are you and Diana actually here?"
"Oh, that's right," Diana perked up as if she'd forgotten, "Andrew got back to me, saying that he had something for you to collect, downtown at three o'clock."
"Really, I must've left something with him. Or maybe he just wants to give me something...wait, what's the time?" She asked, suddenly in a hurry. Darting her eyes around the room for any sign of where to read the time.
Ursula finally spoke up for her, "It's around two forty now, you'll make it if you hurry," She said sweetly, watching Akko blur out of the room, Kenji following close behind her.
"Akko! Wait up, we can get there faster if we use my broom!" His voice was now nothing more than an echo down the hall.
Diana was going to go with them but stayed on the account of not wanting to be a third wheel and because she had a question for Miss Ursula, "Professor. Is it alright if I ask you something?"
A bit taken aback by the request, Ursula fumbled with her words for a moment, "Me? You want to ask me something? I'm not sure if I'll be able to answer it, but I can certainly try my best-"
"It's about the magic from the sorcerer's stone. Recently, at least ever since Professor Croix introduced the Sorcery Solution System it's been used in great amounts. I was just wondering since you two have known each other for a while that you might know something..."
Staring at nothing for a moment, Ursula swore that a shadow of Croix elevated past the window, jerking her up in an instant, "Um! We'll continue this conversation some other time," She said hurriedly, reaching for her broom, but deciding on her hat due to yesterday's events.
"Professor!" Diana called out, watching her sprint out of the room, 'What's up with her...?'
"Oh, this is why you reached out? To give back her hat?" Kenji realized, both relieved and somewhat disappointed with the reasoning. He hadn't expected Andrew to have an all too deep reason to reach out to Akko through Diana, but he had slightly wanted more.
"Was I not supposed to? I figured Akko would want this back," Andrew said shortly, leaning his face on his palm.
Akko swiped the hat off the bench, "No...I appreciate it. But, it was really short notice you know! You're lucky Kenji came with me with his broom, or else I would've ended up being late," The red-eyed girl huffed, abruptly scooting closer to Kenji.
As Andrew was about to speak up, a crowd down the street cut him off, all of the formed a single mob, all raising their signs and fists in unison, Kenji and Akko shared a concerned look with one another, "What's that all about? Something happens, we don't exactly get that much news in Luna Nova, given that there's no internet or email.."
"That's actually the reason I'm here today, I'm heading to parliament with my father to try and figure out a way to settle this. There's a whole debacle going on about a recent football matches final score. It's rather alarming, our two countries are already at odds."
Kenji sagged with a downcast expression, he remembered hearing about that when they'd hitchhiked off Andrew's car. It felt a little too real with what his world would argue over, he wondered whether or not that apart from magic, his two worlds were really all too different, "Man if only Chariot were here, I'm sure she could sort this all out, and light up the streets!" Akko yelled out, pumping her fist in the air.
'This again?' Kenji dropped his brow a little.
"Why don't you just do it?" He blurted out, catching both Akko and Andrew off guard.
"What do you mean by that, surely you can't expect Akko to calm the crowd all alone," Andrew questioned.
"Obviously not. It's just that, I've told you before Akko, first about worrying about whether or not your good at magic and if you ever will be. But, you've been chasing after magic and the seven words all for Chariot, only now are you actually doing what you want...so if you wanna make the world laugh just like Chariot, then do so with your own power," Kenji explained, unknowingly brightening Akko to the point that tears fell down her face.
She threw her arm around him, not paying any mind to Andrew, squirming on one side of the bench, "Kenjiiiii! I...didn't think you thought about me that way, thank you!" Akko sobbed slightly, hugging him even tighter.
Kenji awkwardly held her back, a bit surprised and embarrassed by her actions. He thought that after dating Akko for the amount of time he had been that he would get used to whenever she sporadically closed the distance between their personal space.
Whilst they were hugging, Kenji turned his head back to the crowd for a moment, spotting what looked to be red and black cubes. There was only one person who he'd seen use them.
"Akko, we've gotta go, now," Kenji lightly tapped her shoulder, turning her head to what he was seeing, "We need to find out what those are for."
She nodded eagerly, timidly letting go of him, she had admittedly wanted to hold onto him longer. At some point in the future, she wouldn't be able to hold him for a while.
Kenji and Andrew nodded, the brunettes waving each other off, "We'll see you...at some point," Kenji shrugged, running after Akko who was already ahead, chasing after a singular cube that was still tucked low to the ground.
"Akko...wait up!" Kenji shouted, watching her skid around the nearest alley, desperately reaching out for the cuboid that was darting over and under each one of her swipes as if knowing that she was grabbing for it.
"I can't! It keeps getting away, I'm so close to it I know I am!"
'She can't seriously mean that she's close to figuring out who's behind this all...'
"What do you mean! It's Croix! She's the one behind all of this, you can't seriously think that she's not, every time something like this happens. Is it supposed to be a coincidence that she's there every single time!"
"Just because she seems suspicious to you doesn't mean she is! She's our teacher, what reason does she have to do any of this!" Akko argued, not bothering to look back at him.
Kenji sighed, for the majority of the time he found her caring and sensitive nature to be endearing, that she was willing to go out of her way for someone who would never express the same sentiment toward her. But not now, when the evidence was clear that Croix was involved with everything, that she wasn't interested in Akko, but the Grand Triskellion.
"Akko c'mon. I know you might not believe it, but it's obvious and it should be to you, someone who's seen everything happen. She kidnapped you to take data and the Shiny Rod!" He argued, starting to get frustrated.
"No! I'll choose to believe in her, not everyone's like they seem, Kenji.." Akko retorted snippily.
They didn't get a chance to continue their conversation, as much as Kenji would've wanted to. They'd come to a building in which the cube was making its way up. Flashing on a screen behind them was a picture of people setting signs of protest alight, disregarding the goals scores, '..Seriously, this has to be her. No way a screen would start up just like that.'
Following the streaking black blur, the two of them clambered up the large set of stairs without even breaking a sweat, something Kenji was both impressed and discouraged by. Had he really run this much in his time here?
And there, Akko felt her heart drop slightly, whilst Kenji stared daggers up at them. Croix was stood atop a billboard, flipping between screens and buttons on her tablet, the same cubes they'd been chasing all regrouping back into a single drone like they were finished with the data they'd been collecting, "You two, why are you here. I came here expecting you two to be a Luna Nova?"
"Doesn't matter. Your here aren't you? Take your collecting something for the Shiny Rod?" Kenji replied sarcastically, not taking his eyes off her, making sure she didn't have anything planned.
He'd had enough of being thrown around due to her magic.
"Professor...w-what are you doing with all of those cubes? It's not like Kenji says right, tell me for your class or something!?" Akko exclaimed, pleading for another response.
Kenji stood a little solemnly, despite Akko being proven wrong, he'd felt no sense of superiority with that, he couldn't stand to see such a lost look on her face.
"You know, I'm tired I'm acting as if everything's fine. Kenji figured it out a while ago, moreover, I practically let him, I didn't even bother to come up with any kind of excuse, and you still believe that I'm not up to something, how were you picked to awaken the seven words..."
Fiddling with one of the cubes, Croix watched a whole stream of them appear above her, "All this time, I've been looking into the power of emotions. Anger, sadness, happiness, anxiety, frustration, annoyance and so many more, I've found the perfect way to circulate it into magic. All I have to do is add fuel to that fire," She grinned, swiping something alongside her tablet, red steam emitting out around them.
"If I can use that, I can make magic something noteworthy again. If I gain enough, then maybe I can power my Black Noir Spirt.." Croix mumbled under her breath, the heavy winds making it impossible to hear.
Standing amongst it all, Akko let hit it hit her in the face, not bothering to squint or even shield her face against it. Fixating her eyes on Croix, fumbling between what she should feel right now, hurt, betrayed, or angry.
"Akko," Kenji's voice got her to turn away, shakily turning her watery eyes over to him, "It's ok. Everything will be ok...I promise."
He hadn't need to say much, but what he had said had managed to calm Akko down. Maybe it was because it had come from him, seeing his face and hearing his words always granted her some peace of mind.
So, by wiping the tears and pricking the corners of her eyes, Akko steeled herself, "No! This isn't right, no matter how you put it! Magic shouldn't be taken and used this way, no matter what you want it for. If what Kenji says is true, that you want it for the Shiny Rod, then that's just wrong!"
Kenji stood silently, unsure if he should input his own two sense. Or if it would ever matter.
"You know.." Croix started, somewhat distantly, "Chariot thought the same way. Frustrates me that you two are so much alike - but just like here...you'll fail. You are naive and can't even listen to the one person who tolerates you enough to have feelings for you, what would I expect from a half-rate witch, even the man who's not a witch is better at magic than you."
Getting a bad feeling, Kenji reached out for Akko's wrist, grabbing for his wand at the same time, "Private lesson, over."
In the blink of an eye, the mass of robotic cubes swarmed in on them, slamming down onto the rooftop and kicking up a load of debris as he did. Akko and Kenji both evaded it, jumping in two separate directions, watching the blocks come together into a single entity roaring out to them as if it were a dragon.
Akko yelled out for it, dragging its attention away from Kenji, who was currently staggering back up on his foot, shaking himself back awake, "Hey! Over here, I'm the witch you want!"
She instantly regretted her decision, the hulking creature slinking its black body over towards, her tearing into the roof's foundation and chasing after her, 'Shoot..'
Almost losing her footing under the crumbling flooring, jumping up onto the side of the roof and whatever had been built atop it, watching it get destroyed just as quickly, the robotic husk not showing any sign of stopping.
"Get away from her!" Kenji bellowed, jumping in front of it, his wand at the ready, "Kando Mioher Guintana!"
In an instant, the creature's face split apart, its inside completely hollow. Kenji wasn't the most experienced with high-level spells, but as of late, he'd been trying to use as many as possible, without falling unconscious.
Several pieces of wind shot out from the wand, invisible to everyone's eyes, "Akko!" He yelled, signaling for her to move. She did so, catching the wand that Kenji had dropped to her, "Metamorphie Faciesse!" Transforming into an elephant, she domed straight into it, knocking it back even further.
It would've flown all the way back, if not for growing an even larger set of spider-like limbs, scratching into the rooftop, reeling straight back up, much more alive than ever. Kenji tried and failed to cast another spell, the cubic monster shooting out a string that had the exact texture of a spider web, keeping both him and Akko hung on their heads.
"Fuyu Ma-" Kenji began to yell, cut off by his binding gripping onto him even tighter.
"Let's not have any of that now, not like you'll escape anyway.."
Croix was abruptly kept quiet by the door to the rooftop bursting open in a blue glow, Ursula gliding over it like a surfboard, whipping her wand back and cleaving right through the creature, freeing Kenji and Akko from its grasp.
Snapping its dripping maw onto Ursula, the black and red streaking beast trapped the teacher within its stomach, "Ursula!" Akko cried out, about to run out to do anything, to at least try to stop it.
Kenji stepped in to stop her, pointing out the progressively growing blue hue, until it came to a boiling point. Bursting out in a spectacular explosion, Ursula at the forefront of it all, her once blue hair now an apparent red color, 'So. She really is...'
"Of course, you came to help. Chariot de Noir..." Croix finally said it, reveling in both the shock on Ursula's face and confusion over Akko's staring up at her as if she was some kind of shining light, "Professor Ursula...are you really Shiny Chariot?"
"Funny, isn't it? I promised you could meet Chariot and yet she was under your nose the entire time," Croix laughed full-heartedly, still lingering above them. Kenji couldn't muster anything to say, resorting to glaring up at her. He couldn't be shocked like Akko, completely flabbergasted by the news staring up in awe - a small part of him could've figured it out a while ago.
Yet, he still felt a little cheated by Ursula, did she not only trust Akko but him so little? "I'm sorry Akko. You as well Kenji. I meant to tell you, I really did. But, I just couldn't find the time or the place.."
"..Stop this Croix! You know this isn't right!" Chariot yelled out, Croix doing nothing but scoffing.
"Are you sure that you of all people should be telling me this? To try and stop me, after all, that you've done those ten some years ago, at your magic shows, or when you blew up the moon?"
Chariot almost dropped to her knees, clutching her arms to keep herself standing, "All of this, the way I'm harnessing raw emotions to turn it into pure magic. Acting as if you yourself didn't use it, in a much crueler way no less. How Chariot would turn dreams into magic!"
The cubes writhed above Croix; as if celebrating her words. Joyful like she was.
"Those words...to turn dreams into magic. That was at all of your shows."
Helping Akko stand, Kenji now squinted at Chariot, skeptical of her. Croix was still who they should've been worried about, he wasn't losing sight of that. But all of Chariot's reactions to her words only led him to become increasingly suspicious.
Just like that, Croix laughed, "Oh, I see now. That's why your so worried about her figuring it out, Akko. You went to one of Chariot's shows, didn't you? By using her own dream fuel spirit, Chariot sucked the magic out of all of those who entered her shows, you included. When dreams are put into physical form, they take their own users' magic.."
For once, Kenji was the one left to be confused, struggling to realize what exactly Croix was speaking about. Akko's shaking eyes spoke more than a thousand words, slapping her legs repeatedly, trying to smack the fear out of her.
"You get it right, Akko?" Chariot spoke, her voice shaky, "What I've done is unforgivable, and I didn't even notice what I'd done to you. As we spent more time together, I saw your adoration towards me and I knew then. I'm the reason you struggle with magic, why you can't ride a broom..."
"Liar.." Akko mumbled over her, not wanting to hear it, "Liar!"
Memories of the time Akko had spent with Chariot, her teacher. Teaching her how to use magic, to get better for her tests, the Samhain Festival. Helping her in realizing what was important, the Seven Words of Arcturus, and making her a better person.
Was it all just a facade, a way for Chariot to make up for the practically unforgivable act she'd committed, seeing Akko as nothing more than someone to make her feel better?
"LIAR!" Akko screamed, denying every second of it. Not wanting to accept anything she'd heard as true. Her red eyes filled with nothing but tears, turned to Ursula one last time, not looking back as she run, back down the building and out of sight.
Kenji was going to follow, desperate to make sure she was okay. That was until his crystal was yanked, back a weird energy fueling it, "I wouldn't go just yet. Akko isn't the only one Chariot's been keeping secrets from," Croix announced, looking much more seriously than she had previously. Kenji clenched his fist, praying this really was her mocking him.
"What...what have you been hiding from me!?" Kenji exclaimed, after hearing all that she'd kept and done to Akko he wasn't looking to be pleasant, "What earth-shattering information haven't you been telling me!"
Chariot looked back at him, wiping the tears off of her face, not wanting her student to see them, "Fine. I won't talk about the issue. I've known about the existence of that crystal, long before you found it. I knew it was at the Fountain of Polaris because I put it there, and...I'm the one who gave it to who used to be here, just like you."
A slew of thoughts overplied on top of Kenji, he'd asked her to be straightforward and just tell him, but that was because he didn't know what to expect. Maybe it was how to get him home, but not this.
"How...how did you give him this crystal!? You knew him so you know how he got home, and where the crystal was, if you knew I came from the leyline somehow then you could've told me this. This isn't sparing feelings like you were with Akko, not telling me is just hiding it for no reason! Is that what you wanted!"
It was now Kenji's turn to get upset, not on the verge of tears but to the point that his face was now red, "No! The last time, when he was here when Croix and I knew him. He wanted nothing more than to get home like you, but then one day I watched him...disappear, when we helping him get home he just vanished, leaving nothing but the crystal and the map you found.."
This surprised even Croix, who finally spoke up, "What...that's what happened. You just watched him disappear, instead of telling me he just left! There was still so much I had to say, he was helping us unlock the seven words but because of you, you drove him away but giving him that crystal. He didn't have to leave, learn magic! This started and ended, because of you Chariot!"
"Lucas isn't here anymore because of you! Why'd he have to leave? Why'd you give him a piece of the Shiny Rod, you must've known that wouldn't have worked!"
Chariot stood silent, Croix was right. Back then, she only thought about what he'd wanted, getting home, and even though she'd never directly sent him home, she'd been at fault for some of it, there was no one to blame but herself.
"He blipped out of existence? How does that make any sense, it happened because he had this! The Shiny Rod already responds to strong feelings, all those times I've thought and yelled about wanting to go home, what if had just sent me back? The portal was useless, and I never saw Akko, Sucy, Lotte, Diana, Constanze, or any of them again!"
Kenji tugged at his hair, frustrated and bewildered beyond belief. Had his goal been pointless this whole time, would the portal even work, or was the crystal always supposed to join back with the Shiny Rod? Would it if Akko revived all the words?
"Tie Freyre.." Kenji murmured, walking past Chariot not bothering to look at her face, not now and maybe ever. He'd been able to borrow a broom from his flight instructions teacher without much hassle, that didn't matter though.
Leaving Croix and Chariot atop the roof, Kenji drifted off, not knowing where he was going anymore.
...
Hope you enjoyed it, I've had the idea that the guy who was in the Little Witch Academia world previously knew Croix and Ursula and that Chariot was in part due to him disappearing, giving him the crystal and all. Obviously, the next chapter will deal with the aftermath of all of this, with Kenji coming to terms with everything and bringing Akko back.
Till the next chapter, see yah!