Chapter 2: The calm after the storm.
"Atsuko Callistis! Where on Earth have you been?!" The girl in question flinched upon hearing Finnelan's angry voice as soon as she set foot inside the school. The sun was already setting and the older woman had told her to remain inside the school for the day, so she was undoubtedly up for a reprimand. Possibly also a punishment.
"I'm sorry." The girl apologized, trying to look as sad and tired as possible, hoping this would make the strict professor take pity on her. "I went looking for my mom."
"I specifically asked you to remain in the school today." The professor said exasperated as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "These are dangerous times, Akko. The last thing we want is another disappearance."
"I couldn't just stay here and do nothing!" She argued, balling up her fists. "Who knows what happened to my mom, and the more time we take to find her the more likely it is she'll…" Akko cut herself off hastily. She didn't even want to think about the possibility and saying it out loud was too terrible to even consider. However, upon hearing her desperate tone and noticing unshed tears shinning in her eyes, the professor finally sighed tiredly and turned around.
"Follow me, Atsuko." She said as she started to walk away. "Your mother may not be here anymore… temporarily." She seemed to add that as an afterthought. "However, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, understood?"
"Yes, professor." Akko pretty much grumbled as she started following her.
"Good. And to make sure we'll be able to keep an eye on you, I'm afraid you'll have to move over to one of the school's dormitories." She paused. "I understand there's a team that's recently lost a member."
"Not with Hannah and Barbara!" Akko protested instantly, almost panicking. "Please, they are so mean and… and downright evil!"
"Miss England and Miss Parker are two very respectable and well-behaved witches!" The older professor answered, clearly offended that Akko had insinuated otherwise despite having witnessed firsthand how the two would always bully the magicless girl. Before Akko could protest, however, the professor kept talking. "But, for their sake, you're not staying with them."
"Whew." Akko exhaled in relief, which earned her a glare from the older woman. "Uh… I mean, who am I staying with then?" Even as she was finishing the question, Akko already knew the answer.
"Miss Yanson and Miss Manvabaran have agreed to have you as their temporary guest."
"Will that really be okay though? I mean, it's been only one month since Justine…" Akko trailed off, unwilling to finish that phrase. Sure, she hadn't known the girl very well since she was always so reserved and didn't talk to anyone, but it still hurt her deeply when she knew of her passing away. It was even more preoccupying when everyone refused to tell her how she had died, and her mother had forbidden her from even going to the funeral.
"Don't worry about that." Finnelan answered. "They both understand that dire times call for drastic measures."
"Okay." Akko mumbled, wondering what on Earth was so drastic about her rooming with her two friends for a while.
"One more thing." The professor said as she stopped in front of the door to the red team's dormitory. "Starting tomorrow you are not to go to your school anymore."
"What?" Akko startled, utterly confused. Not that she minded taking some early vacations… but still! She thought Finnelan would be the last person to suggest she ditched school.
"With things being as dangerous as they are we can't have you running around on your own, and neither teachers nor students will have time to drop you off and pick you up from school everyday."
"What will I do all day then?" Sure, Akko wanted to dedicate all her time and energy to search for her mother, but she doubted that's what Finnelan had in mind.
"You will attend classes here, as part of the red team." She replied.
"Yes!" Akko pretty much jumped in happiness. That had been her dream ever since she was little, growing up surrounded by witches and yet unable to do magic herself. At the beginning of that year, when classes had started, she'd pretty much begged Finnelan to let her join the new generation of witches, since she had already turned sixteen, but the professor had remained firm on her denial. And even her mother hadn't interfered on her behalf! That had been the first time they'd fought, and Akko still couldn't understand why her mom had said she believed in her and in her capacity to be a witch someday if when that day came she wasn't going to support her.
But no matter. That was in the past and now Akko would study magic and find her mom.
"You won't be able to do any magic, sure, but I believe it's best if you learn about our history and other theoretical subjects." The professor kept saying.
"I'll do my best!" Akko exclaimed, wishing it was tomorrow already.
"Good." She nodded. "Now go settle down in your new room. And don't be late for dinner." And with that, the professor walked off, leaving Akko alone in front of the door. Granted, the girl didn't even hesitate to get inside.
"Lotte! Su!" She called as she barged in without even knocking. "Hi!"
"Oh, great. She's here." Said Sucy, a creepy looking girl with pale skin and pinkish hair that covered one of her eyes. She was practicing yoga on her bed, making some very weird poses, and had sounded mostly disinterested, but that was normal on her.
"Akko! Welcome." Another girl smiled kindly at her from her position sitting at her bed. She had a relatively small complexion, short blonde hair and round glasses. "Finnelan came to drop off your things earlier." She got off from the bunk bed and pointed to a bunch of bags and suitcases that had been laid next to it before going towards Akko. "She told us about what happened. Are you okay?"
"I will be." Akko shrugged. "I'm sure I'll find my mom sooner or later, and meanwhile I get to learn magic with you guys! Really, it's not as bad as it seems." The Japanese girl smiled, but apparently Lotte didn't seem to buy on her little act, as she keep staring at her with a doubting expression. At the end though, she relented and decided to change the subject.
"Alright." She said. "Do you want me to help you settle down?"
"Thanks Lotte, but I think I'll be fine." Akko smiled before going to rummage through her things, tossing things out of the bags and suitcases as if searching for something, and grumbling in frustration when she couldn't find it.
"Uh… are you sure you don't need any help?" Lotte asked after a while.
"No, I'm fine!" She assured her. "I'm just searching for… aha!" Akko exclaimed triumphantly as she got something out of one of the bags. It was a piece of folded paper that, when extended, came to be half the length of the bed. Not only that, but it had a printed picture of…
"Really? You have a poster of your mother?" Sucy said with clear disapproval.
"First of all, it's a Shiny Chariot poster." Akko answered before blowing her a raspberry. "There's a big difference."
"So she has a red cape, a skimpy outfit and a golden rod. She's still your mother." The pink-haired girl deadpanned.
"Sucy, leave her alone! She just lost her mother, remember?" Lotte chastised her friend.
"Thank you, Lotte! That was my second point."
"And your third?" Sucy asked.
"My third…" Akko paused, trying to think of something but coming out dry. "There's no third! I don't even need a third. Shiny Chariot is amazing and I miss my mom. Period."
"It's still weird though." Sucy said, not relenting for one second.
"Oh, shut up Sucy!" Akko pouted, but truthfully she knew her friend, and knew she was probably not trying to be actually mean. She was just expressing her opinion.
"Hey, Akko, tell me." Lotte called, getting her attention in order to distract her from Sucy's teasing. "Do you know anything about your mom yet? Have they found anything at all?"
"Well… she's alive. I think." Akko answered. "But aside from that we really have no idea. It's like she vanished on the spot!"
"Maybe she got poisoned and turned into stone." Sucy cackled.
"Sucy!" Lotte chastised her once again.
"No way! She's too smart and powerful." Akko protested.
"Oh! Maybe she was sent to the past and met a handsome vampire and is now having hundreds of adventures through history, while at the same time discovering true love!" Lotte exclaimed excitedly.
"Ugh. Nightfall again?" Sucy made a face.
"Honestly that's the most plausible explanation I've heard so far." Akko shrugged, throwing herself at the mattress and letting out a frustrated sigh. "In a world full of magic, she could truly be anywhere." She frowned, trying to suppress the nasty feeling raising in her stomach once again, but truth to be told she felt awfully tired, frustrated and desperate, and she didn't like it one bit. She just hoped they'd find her mother soon, but she wasn't holding her breath.
"Come on, Akko. Let's go have dinner." Lotte suggested, in an attempt to keep her from thinking about her mother and getting depressed.
"I'm not hungry." The Japanese girl lied, but her stomach immediately grumbled in protest, reminding her she hadn't had one bite of food the whole day. "Alright." She sighed. "I guess some potatoes don't sound half bad right now."
They sat at their usual place at the cafeteria; a large table where the green team would be joining them soon. Akko wasn't really in the mood of talking to anyone else right now, but she guessed she'd have to face her friends sooner or later, so she didn't complain. Still, she barely talked as she started chewing on her baked potatoes that, as always, didn't taste very well, but at least filled her stomach.
"Akko, I forgot to mention." Lotte started, and Akko acknowledged her with a hum. "Finnelan told us not to tell anyone else about your mother's disappearance."
"What?" The Japanese girl finally teared her gaze away from her plate and regarded her friend with a look of confusion. "Why?"
"She probably doesn't want anyone to panic." Sucy answered, shrugging. "Remember she also opted to keep Justine's death secret."
"And Granny's." Akko frowned. Too many recent deaths. Too many secrets. She hadn't realized it until that day, but maybe they were related to her mother's sudden disappearance.
"We also don't know why Cavendish isn't here anymore." Sucy added, apparently thinking the same as Akko. "Something's fishy here."
"Yeah. They teachers are definitely up to something." The three girls startled when their friend, Amanda, appeared next to them. The girl with short orange and pink hair sat down next to Akko, placing her tray loudly on the table. She was tall, compared to the others, loud, with a permanent mischievous smile and bright green eyes that seemed to always be seeking for trouble. She also had a clear American accent and a loud voice that distinguished her from her two companions from the green team, which were rather quiet.
Next to Sucy sat Constanze, a short girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail with a red bow. She had deep eyes, like she was always immersed in her own thoughts, a serious expression, and rarely spoke. As always, a little robot followed right behind her, and often acted as her voice.
Last came Jasminka, a girl that was rather chubby and had her long pink hair tied in two braids. She had small eyes and a permanent kind expression on her face. She was rarely seen without something to eat in her hands, either a bag of fried potatoes, cookies or other snacks. Strangely enough, she never seemed to gain weight.
"They've been having daily meetings at night." The American girl continued saying.
"My mom didn't mention anything." Akko frowned.
"I don't think they invited her." She answered.
"That's so weird! And now she's gone, and… agh, why do things have to be so complicated?!" The Japanese was now pretty much pulling her hair off, but her friends from the green team watched her with confused expressions.
"Wait… gone?" The redhead was the first to speak.
"Did something happen?" Jasminka soon followed, while Constanze chose to stare intently at Akko to denote her interest. The red-eyed girl paused her momentary panicking to look at her friends and then at Lotte with a questioning look.
"I… suppose there's no harm on telling them if they promise not to tell anyone." The Finnish girl relented at the end, letting her gaze linger on Amanda for a bit too long, obviously wanting her words to get to her, especially.
"Ooh, so mysterious! I like it." She grinned. "Don't worry, Akko, I know how to keep a secret."
"We won't say anything." Jasminka agreed, and Constanze nodded, sharing he sentiment.
Thus, over the course of dinner Akko proceeded to tell her friends every detail she remembered, from the moment she woke up to when she got to Lotte and Sucy's room. The only thing she didn't reveal was Croix, although she wasn't sure why. She supposed it wasn't important for them to know about her, at least for now. So she just said she'd gotten ran over while searching for her mom, but that it wasn't too bad and she'd just put on some band aids and called it a day.
Once she finished her tale, her friends were pretty shocked, and remained silent for a while, likely assimilating all the information she'd dumped on them, and surprisingly Sucy was the first one to speak.
"The dead birds are a bad omen, but I'll have to see what kinds of fungus feed on their bodies to make sure."
"Uhm… yeah, Akko…" Amanda paused, making a face. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but things aren't looking very well. The general vibe of magic has been… murky lately."
"But Professor Ursula is strong. I can sense it." Jasminka intervened, speaking more cheerfully than the other girls. "I'm sure she'll be able to handle whatever situation she's in."
"We'll help you find her Akko, don't worry." Lotte added, placing a hand on top of her friend's shoulder as a sign of comfort. Constanze just grunted in approval.
"Yeah! I mean, you have five witches as friends." Amanda added, giving her a confident smile. "We'll solve this, I promise. You won't have to search for her alone."
Tears tickled in Akko's eyes upon hearing her friends' words, but they were happy tears. And a pleasant warmth spread through her chest when she realized that she indeed wasn't alone in her predicament; she had the aid of witches, which for her was pretty much the same as having the aid of gods, so now it was only matter of time before they'd find her mother. She was sure of it.
"Thank you, girls." She said as she finally let her tears fall. "I'm lucky to have you."
A/N: Well, that was chapter 2. And we met Akko's friends, yay! Well... we're still missing one, aren't we? Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review/favorite/follow if you want to support me :) See you in two weeks!
Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.