Chapter 4: Investigation time.
Akko's stomach rumbled. Again. For the fourth time in the past minute. And why was that? Because instead of having dinner she was trying to sneak into her own room with Amanda and Constanze's help. Jasminka was going to stay outside and warn them if a teacher was coming, while Sucy and Lotte would cover them at the cafeteria, likely making an incident to keep the professors far too distracted to notice the absence of four girls.
And although Akko very much wanted to get into her room and find clues about her mother's disappearance, she also wished she'd at least stolen one more potato chip from Jasminka's endless stash before the beginning of their mission.
Oh, well! She had her pickled plums to look forward to once she went back to her dorm.
"Now, Cons?" Amanda asked, readying her wand to cast a spell. On her part, Constanze was kneeling in front of the entrance to the Astronomy Tower, setting up a contraption that Akko couldn't possibly identify. Upon hearing Amanda's question, she gave her a thumbs up.
"Okay. Step back." Amanda warned them, and the two shorter girls quickly got behind their friend, waiting for her to do her thing. "Meruar estrida." She pronounced the spell, making a wide arch with her wand. Instantly, Constanze's invention started shining brightly and then shot a ray of light towards the entrance, traveling around the door frame and then receding.
"Amazing!" Akko exclaimed, alternating her excited gaze between her two friends, her hunger long forgotten. "Can we go in now?"
"Yes." Amanda answered. "What Constanze's invention did was use my cutting spell to create a hole in the barrier, allowing us to get in and out without restriction."
"As I said: amazing." Akko reiterated, looking at the shorter girl, who smiled proudly at the praise. "Now come on! Let's go find my mom!"
The three girls then ascended the stairs, Akko leading of course, and entered the round room that was the Astronomy Tower. All in all, it was a very small space, barely enough for one person to live in, much less two, but hey, it was home.
Amanda and Constanze had never been in there. Sure, they'd gone to fetch Akko a couple of times, but they had always left almost immediately after the Japanese girl came out. Amanda thought the place was… humble, but it seemed welcoming at the same time; with the wooden floor, the yellow lamps and the rustic look of the furniture. Constanze just thought it needed more technology. Like, how can a person live with no computer? No TV? No videogame console? No microwave? Nothing?
Akko just thought the place felt empty, now that her things had been moved to the red team's dorm. And without her mom… well, it was even emptier. And without Alcor? It may as well be a black hole! But that didn't matter. She was here to gather clues and she was going to do just that!
"Akko?" Amanda called, making her turn around to address her. "I think it's best if we divide. I'll search for any hidden compartments, you can see if there's something weird between her papers, and Constanze can hack into her cellphone… she has a cellphone, right?"
"Yeah, but I think she only used it to communicate with me." Akko explained. Still, she went towards her mom's desk, opened the first drawer and extracted the thing in question. A simple smartphone that by some miracle had WhatsApp and Facebook. The cheapest there was. Akko was surprised it even worked. Next to it was also her own cellphone (which was much more modern than her mom's), and Akko made sure to take it since she'd promised to call Croix sometime.
"Here." She gave the one belonging to her mom to Constanze, and tucked the other into her pocket. The girl just gave her a reassuring smile before going to sit on a corner to try and hack into it.
Amanda, on the other hand, went to look at the bookcase to try and see if pushing and pulling books would reveal a hidden passage. Akko didn't think she'd have much luck with that, but hey, it was better to let her do her thing. Meanwhile, she just sat at the desk and started looking at the piles and piles of papers her mom liked to accumulate. Most were school-related; homework and exams she'd yet to grade, but soon enough she found a pile of letters.
Most of the letters were just promotions from different stores, or reminders from Akko's school that she had to pay. And honestly? She had never asked her mother how much she was paying for her education, but damn! With school bills like that, it was amazing they could afford the clothes on their backs. And she didn't even like that school. Still, she couldn't help feeling like an ungrateful brat when she realized the sacrifice her mother was making for her, and remembered how much she'd whined about hating school.
But whatever! She had to keep looking. And soon enough, she found something that caught her attention. It was a very fancy-looking letter from… Bernadette Cavendish? Who was that? Diana's mom or something? Actually… there were a lot of letters from her, most of which dated from way back in the day and seemed to be just friendly letters updating her mom about her personal life, but the last one…
It was another fancy letter, just like Bernadette's; expensive-looking paper, elegant calligraphy and a wax seal with a unicorn in the middle. But this one wasn't from her, but from someone named Daryl.
Professor Ursula.
I'm afraid your last letter came at a very inconvenient moment. You are no doubt aware now of Bernadette's passing, and will understand why I cannot comply with your demands, as urgent and important you say they are.
Still, a promise is a promise. And yes, I will fulfill it on my sister's stead. However, as I said, right now is not a good time for us. Maybe during summer break it'll be more convenient.
Lady Daryl Cavendish. Proxy Head of the Cavendish house.
Wait, wait, wait! This letter… it was two weeks old. And Diana left the school nearly two weeks ago. Did that mean… someone from Diana's family had… died? It certainly seemed to be the case, and would explain her sudden absence. And it was someone her mother knew and had apparently written to shortly before her disappearance.
And also, that last letter was from… Bernadette's sister? Huh. And wait… did she say summer break? And something about a promise? Was that why her mother wanted her to spend school vacations with the Cavendishes? Because of some secret thing that was apparently super important? Why didn't she say so? Why did she keep it secret even for her? It just wasn't fair! If she had told her she was sure it'd be much easier to find out what had happened to her!
Still, she kept searching on the pile of letters, looking for anything suspicious, but… nothing. Just some magic-related stuff and several letters from worried parents asking her to give their children another chance at the Astronomy exam. All pretty boring, really. She was really hoping to find something else.
"Hey, Akko." Amanda called, distracting her from her thoughts about the letters. She looked up to see she'd moved on from examining the books and was now looking at one of the many framed pictures and paintings her mom had hanging on her wall. Some were of Akko, and others of stars and magic and stuff, but the particular picture Amanda was holding was one of the brunette girl as a baby; laying on a bed of stuffed animals and squeezing the life out of Alcor. It had always been one of her mother's favorites, but Akko hated it whenever she showed it around proudly. It was embarrassing! … And now Amanda was holding it.
"Gimme that!" She demanded, trying to take the picture off her hands, but she held it out of her reach, using her height to her advantage.
"Wait! I think there's something behind it… another picture." She tried to pry the frame open, but it looked like the only way to get out the picture out was to break the glass. So, of course, she did the only sensible thing; throwing the frame to the ground and squeezing it with her shoe.
"Amanda!" Akko immediately exclaimed, pulling her away from the picture, but it was too late; the frame had now been broken. And yeah, she'd never liked that picture, but it was her mother's favorite! She was going to kill her when she came back!
"What? It worked, look." Amanda said, not at all looking apologetic or repentant for a second. She then kneeled at the ground and took the picture out of the frame… and sure enough, there was another one behind it.
Akko quickly reached out to grab it, before Amanda could even get her hands on it, but she still let her peer over her shoulder as she stared.
It was a picture of her mom. But… she was very young. Eighteen years, perhaps. Twenty tops. She was still Shiny Chariot at that time, that's for sure. And she… huh. Who was she hugging? A boy? No. A girl, although that grey hoodie and messy hairstyle didn't do her any favors. They were standing in front of what seemed to be a Japanese building, and were quite obviously dressed like tourists; sunglasses and all.
But… Akko's mom had said she'd only went to Japan once: when she adopted her. And in the picture… yeah, she could be 22, maybe, but who was the other girl? And why would she go with her?
Now that she thought about it, she looked kinda familiar; that lilac hair… she'd seen it before.
"Is there something written behind it?" Amanda pointed out, and Akko realized she was still looking at the picture, but… writing? What was she…?
Oh. When she turned the picture around, she saw it had something written in its back with black ink.
My dear Chariot.
I love you. Yes, that was the whole point of this letter; just to remind you that I'm head over heels in love with you. Hope you'll remember that when you're out there making spectacles all around the world. No one loves you more than me.
I miss you. Please come back soon.
P.S. I love you.
Awww! That was so cute! Akko thought. Was she her girlfriend or something?
"Akko, I don't know how to say this, but… your mom's hella gay." Amanda burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I know, Amanda." Akko answered, rolling her eyes.
"You knew?!" She exclaimed, surprised.
"That she prefers women? Of course. That she had a cute girlfriend that sent her cute letters written on cute photos? No."
"Did she never mention her? They seem to be pretty close." Amanda mused, and Akko had to concede she was right; for them to have gone to Japan together on vacations, and keep in touch even when her mom was on tour… it must have been serious. But she still had never heard of her.
"No, I don't think mom has had even one stable relationship since she adopted me." Akko confessed. "She always said she didn't have time, and that she wanted to concentrate on my education, but… I always suspected she had loved someone before." She sighed, remembering all the times her mother's gaze would get lost in the horizon and become tinted with sadness whenever someone asked her why she never married or even dated someone. "I also think it ended badly."
"That's a shame." She said. "They look like a cute couple."
"Yeah…" Akko frowned, only then realizing that staring at an old photo wouldn't get them closer to finding her mom. "But we need to keep looking! Did you find anything else?" As she spoke, Akko tucked the photo into her pocket. Why? She didn't know. She felt it was important, if not for their mission, at least for her mother.
"Not much." Amanda shrugged and gave her an apologetic expression. "Your mom isn't the type to keep many secrets, huh? I could only find this." She picked something from the desk and then handed Akko a small leather-bound notebook that looked damaged and old.
"What's this?" Akko asked as she opened it.
"Dunno. It was tucked inside another book, like she didn't want anyone to find it." Amanda answered, clearly as puzzled at her. "It seems to be some kind of diary to keep track of the stars."
"Stars?" Akko hummed as she saw the contents. It was filled with drawings of different constellations and their positions on the sky, with the date and time written down, as well as some interpretive notes at the margins. "Why would she keep it secret? I mean, she's the Astrology teacher."
"Hey, she's your mom. Don't ask me." Amanda shrugged. "But some of the things she wrote down… they appear to be fragments of a poem or a prophecy. I'm not sure, but I think I've seen them before somewhere."
"Prophecy?" Akko parroted, reading some of the lines. The latest entry.
The moon will shed a tear, sharing her greatest sorrow,
And the tear shall mark the place she calls her home.
The meteorite! It was talking about the meteorite that fell last year not too far from Luna Nova. It was a small fragment that fell off the moon. A moon tear! But wait… who was this "she"? Oh! No more questions, please! She wanted answers for once.
"Ugh! I'll probably have to read this whole thing to figure it out." Akko pouted.
"Oh, stop whining! It's not even that big."
"Well, then maybe you should read it!"
"Hey! It's your mom. You read it!"
In that moment, before the two girls could keep arguing, Amanda was distracted by a small hand tugging at her skirt. When she looked down, she saw it was Standbot, Constanze's robot.
"Jasminka called. Go, now. Teachers approaching." It spoke with its metallic emotionless voice, but the sense of urgency was still clear as day.
They turned to look at the small German girl, who had finished hacking the cellphone and was now patiently waiting for them at the door.
"Quick, Akko. Grab everything you need and let's go!" Amanda urged her. But Akko already had the journal on her hand and the picture on her pocket. All she was missing was the letters. So, she quickly picked those and Amanda grabbed a few she accidentally dropped before flying down the stairs… however, Akko paused, remembering something: Finnelan hadn't given her a broom or a wand, thinking she wouldn't need them, but if she was planning on learning magic, she'd have to get her own. Or her mother's.
Quickly, she returned towards the desk and took the wand laying on top. She was going to also grab her mother's broom, which was perched near the entrance, when she realized it was too big; having been designed to carry up to three people and the supplies her mother would sometimes gather for the school. Plus, the golden handle in shape of a crescent moon wasn't very inconspicuous. No, she'd be better off stealing a broken broom from the storage room and trying to repair it herself.
And so, with the wand safely tucked into her other pocket, Akko ran to try and catch up with her friends before she was discovered by a professor. And soon the three girls were inside the green team's room, exhausted and out of breath but, luckily enough, they hadn't been spotted by any teacher. All thanks to Jasminka's opportune warning.
"Well done, team!" Amanda said, high-fiving the other three. "Hey, Constanze, did you find something in that old cellphone?"
Constanze, however, just shrugged, and Standbot spoke in her place.
"Messages to and from Akko. Only Akko. No contacts."
"Huh, really?" Not that she was too surprised, but she was hoping she'd at least find another clue. "I guess she really only uses it to communicate with me then." But then Cronstanze shook her head and Standbot kept talking.
"E-mails from a Shiny Chariot fan."
"What?" She didn't even know her mother had an e-mail in the first place.
Constanze then quickly handed Akko the cellphone and showed her the last e-mails her mother had received shortly before her disappearance. They were all from someone who simply signed as "C", and whose e-mail address was just a bunch of random letters and numbers thrown together.
She was apparently a Shiny Chariot fan who had had recently discovered her mom's true identity (not surprising, considering she'd been doing spectacles around town) and was asking her to meet sometime soon. Her mother had actually agreed in the last mail though, saying she'd maybe have time during summer break. Still, Akko didn't think that was suspicious enough. Except that the mysterious person signed just as "C". Who does that?! So, to make sure she wasn't leaving anything behind, she decided to send all those e-mails to her own address and look into them more carefully later.
"What a shame!" Amanda exclaimed after reading the e-mails as well while looking over Akko's shoulder. "I was hoping she was having a secret affair, or something juicy like that."
"Amanda! That's my mom you're talking about!" Akko chastised her, absolutely grossed out that her friend could even be thinking about that.
"What? It would explain her absence." She shrugged, not looking at all apologetic. "I mean, maybe she's still out there having wild, passionate, se-"
"Amanda!" Akko cut her off with an embarrassed yell. She was sure she was only doing this just to upset her, judging by her shit-eating grin.
"Fine!" She laughed. "I'll stop. Aren't you hungry? Jasminka has some snacks. Gosh, how I hate skipping dinner!"
And so, the four friends ate in relative piece, Amanda sometimes jesting and laughing at Akko's expense. But that was okay. They were good friends; kind, loyal, and keen on helping her find her mother.
Still, even as she joked around with them and made silly faces to make them laugh, Akko couldn't help thinking about what they'd found. This mystery surely got bigger and bigger with each clue they unearthed, and they didn't seem to be even close to solving it.
She only hoped they'd find her mom soon enough. Before it was too late.
A/N: Well, I guess now we know what happened to Diana, right? Kind of. Also, in case it wasn't clear, Chariot adopted baby Akko (newborn) when she was 22, and she told her that was the only time she went to Japan. Also, that makes Chariot 38 in this fic, while Croix is 39, so they have 10 years more than in the series.
Well, anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it and that you continue to express your support by leaving reviews, favorites and follows. See you in two weeks!
Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.