Chapter 7: Moon tears.

It was Wednesday night, barely past halfway through the week, and Akko was already begging for the weekend to come. Not only did she have an infinite amount of homework she was ignoring and things she had to learn for the exams, but she could barely concentrate because she was panicking over her missing mother. Like, come on! How did anyone expect her to focus on mundane things like studying when her mother could be in the hands of evil blood witches or something worse?

And yes, she'd shared her theory with her friends, but had gotten mixed responses. Most of them believed blood witches were a thing of the past, of much darker times when magic was still kept a secret and witches were being burned at stakes. Amanda, however, considered it was all a legend, while Constanze didn't seem to have an opinion on the subject. All in all, they told her it was better to gather clues first, form an idea of what could have happened, and then see if blood witches were involved in it at all.

Akko wasn't sure if she should forget about blood witches for now, so it didn't cloud her judgement, but it was such a good hypothesis! She was sure Croix would agree with her when she told her!

But anyways, her friends were indeed right about one thing; she needed to keep investigating. After all it didn't serve any purpose knowing her mother had been kidnapped by evil witches if she didn't know how it happened, or why, or where she was being held, right? So she and her friends started deciphering the few clues they'd gotten in her mother's room. Especially the letters.

Surprisingly though, it was Lotte who first found a lead. That Wednesday night, the Finnish girl had been looking through her mother's astronomy notebook while Akko did her homework in the library, when she suddenly gasped out loud. Akko shot up in surprise and looked around confusedly, more so when the girl quickly went to retrieve a book and started searching through its pages, too absorbed in what she was reading to pay attention to anything around her.

"Uh… Lotte?" Akko called, curious to know what she'd found, but her friend didn't seem to have listened.

"Leave her." Sucy advised. "Once she starts reading there's no power on Earth that can distract her."

"But…"

"Aha!" Lotte's triumphant cry interrupted Akko's protest, as her friend went to sit next to her and started glancing excitedly between the book and the notebook. Just then, Akko noticed that the book Lotte was holding was none other than a Nightfall volume, easily recognizable for its black cover with only a lit candle in the middle. Nightfall was a series of romance books written by a witch, of which 365 volumes existed already. It was very popular within the magical community, although Akko herself had never been interested in such a sappy (in her opinion) novel. Still, she knew a fair amount about it thanks to Lotte's frequent ramblings.

What she didn't know was what Nightfall had to do with her mother's notebook; as far as she knew, her mom was never a fan of the series either.

"Lotte?" She tried once more, and this time the girl's eyes turned to look at her, sparkling with happiness and determination.

"I found it!"

"Huh?"

"I knew I'd seen these lines before somewhere! It was in Nightfall!"

"You mean… my mom had a notebook filled with quotes from a novel she didn't even like?" Akko raised an eyebrow, sounding skeptical.

"No! The prophecies in Nightfall are actually based on ancient songs, nursery songs actually, usually sang by witches to their daughters." Lotte explained, showing as much enthusiasm as she always did when it came to anything related to Nightfall.

"Right." But if her mother knew these nursery songs, shouldn't she have sang them to her when she was little? And yet the words didn't ring a bell on her at all.

"Look!" Lotte showed her a scribble on her mother's notebook first. It read 'The sun and moon will unite in order to welcome her'. Next to it, there was a drawing representing a solar eclipse. "See? And here!" Lotte pointed to a line in the Nightfall book, which was in the context of a whole poem.

.

Red and green, green and red

Always fighting, always at odds

But one day the chosen one will come

.

The sun and moon will unite to welcome her

Father and son will dance in a field of silver

The moon will shed a tear, sharing her greatest sorrow,

And the tear shall mark the place she calls her home

.

And the war of witches will then begin

Hers will be the victory, hers the scepter

Hers the blood, and hers the will

.

But at the end of all, only one shall remain

Will it be green? Or red?

.

"So… you're saying this is some sort of prophecy?" Akko asked fearfully, because a war of witches sure as hell didn't sound good at all.

"Well… it's just a nursery song." Lotte answered. "No one knows about its validity. In the Nightfall series it is used to describe the events that foretell Anabelle as the chosen one in the 'war of witches' arc, but the author explicitly said in social media that she had merely drew inspiration from witches' folklore and she was in no way connected to the chosen one prophecies."

"Prophecies? There's more than one?!" Akko shrieked, only to be promptly shushed by Sucy, who was reading a book about poisonous plants and definitely didn't appreciate being distracted. "Sorry." She apologized quietly.

"Well… " Lotte trailed off, frowning as she tried to remember. "There's plenty. I only know one more though."

"How does it go?" Okay, so curiosity killed the cat, right? But her mom seemed to be interested in these sort of things, so of course she wanted to know more!

.

Fire and blood inseparable,

United at the core of her heart

Fire will be her hair

Blood will be her eyes

Fire and blood for the chosen one who will possess the scepter

Fire and blood for the chosen one who will be possessed by the scepter

.

"Fire will be her hair? Blood will be her eyes?!" Akko shrieked once more, much to the annoyance of Sucy. "What's that supposed to mean? She sounds like some sort of nightmare monster."

"From what I know, some interpretations say the chosen one will be a witch with red hair and red eyes." Sucy was the one who answered this time, surprising them both, apparently having decided that Akko probably wouldn't stop distracting her until she found more concrete answers. "Of course, others say this is a warning that she will be a blood witch. That is, if you believe in such stories."

"… Wait." Akko blinked, trying to process what her friend had just revealed. "Red hair and red eyes? That sounds like…"

"It's just a nursery song. Don't take it so seriously." Sucy warned.

"But my mom was clearly investigating those prophecies, right?" Akko then quickly grabbed the notebook and flickered through the pages, seeing the fragments of the poems as well as the annotations. First, a solar eclipse that occurred in 2001. Then Jupiter and Saturn aligning in the Milky Way in 2006, then the lunar meteorite that fell near Luna Nova last year! They all pointed to what the prophecy said. And together with her mother's hair and eye color… "It's already happening. The war of witches has begun, and my mom is the chosen one! That's why she was kidnapped!"

"Uhm… Akko, no one believes in those things." Lotte tried to explain gently. "Maybe your mom was just curious about those events because she's an astrology teacher. She probably tried to tie them to the nursery songs, but I doubt she found anything."

"But what if she did, Lotte? What if that's the reason she disappeared? What if the blood witches are trying to keep her from fulfilling the prophecy?!"

"Sure, add more myths to the mix, why don't you?" Sucy drawled out, obviously still skeptical about the blood witches' existence.

"We need to investigate!" Akko insisted, alternating her gaze between her friends' doubtful eyes. "We should go to the place where the meteorite fell. Maybe we could find some clues there."

"Akko…" Lotte tried to object.

"Please, Lotte! I know this whole thing has something to do with my mother's disappearance. And we need to follow every trail." Akko pleaded earnestly, but only got concerned gazes from her friends. "I thought you'd help me." She pouted, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"… Only if you let me test my new potion on you."

It wasn't until Saturday morning when they finally made their way out of Luna Nova and towards the forest with the excuse of helping Sucy find some mushrooms for her personal projects… which granted wasn't really an excuse considering they were stopping every few paces to let Sucy inspect and collect a small batch of colorful and probably poisonous little fungus.

Ugh. I hope she doesn't test those on me.

At least the forest looked more normal than the last time Akko was here. There were a few burned trees still, but at least moss had started to grow on them, making them look alive even if they weren't. The dead animals had also been mostly decomposed now, their nutrients returning to the earth and giving nourishments to the surrounding plants and mushrooms. And the surviving birds were flying and chirping happily around, like tragedy hadn't struck just a few days prior.

Even little Polaris, who she had chosen to bring with her, was being very enthusiastic about his first excursion and didn't hesitate to chase after any butterfly or bee he saw on his way, jumping happily between the tree's branches and darting between Akko's legs. Lotte actually fell when the little devil decided to target her instead, but he was so adorable that the girl could only laugh and pat him softly on his head.

All in all, their little adventure was just as fun and relaxing as the Japanese witch had hoped… except for Sucy making some dreary commentaries every now and then, which soured their mood considerably and put them on high alert.

"This mushroom is extremely poisonous. It usually grows only where dark magic has been casted."

"Oh, look at this witches' circle! I hadn't seen one so big in a long time. Someone must have died here heheh."

"I have the feeling we're being watched. I hope they would reveal themselves so I could poison them."

"Hey, doesn't the sky look a bit dull to you? It seems like there's a barrier nearby."

It was her last comment that gave them pause.

"A barrier?" Lotte asked, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Oh, please, you didn't notice?" Sucy said in her usual monotone voice.

"What kind of barrier?" Akko interfered, looking towards the very normal-looking sky. "I don't see anything."

"A magical barrier, dummy." Sucy deadpanned. "They're almost invisible; they only make the colors look slightly paler."

"Right." She still didn't see anything. And Lotte looked just as equally confused.

So, the three friends decided to continue her path despite Sucy's warnings, hoping there was actually no barrier or that, if there was, it wouldn't get between them and their destination.

And they kept walking and walking, talking and laughing, skipping and exploring, running around, enjoying the wind and the sounds of nature… until Akko literally collided with thin air.

"Ow!" She exclaimed as she fell flat on her butt, tightly clutching her sore nose. Ugh. It felt like the damn thing had gone all the way into her skull. Also, was there a warm liquid coming out of it? Was she bleeding?!

"Akko! Are you alright?" Lotte exclaimed, quickly rushing to aid her, offering her a tissue when she noticed the bleeding. Akko quickly accepted and put in her nose before looking to the sky and pinching in order to stop the hemorrhaging. She had a lot of experience with these sort of things.

"I told you there was a barrier." Sucy said in her usual monotone, though she was probably laughing on the inside at Akko's predicament. Akko, however, just glared at her.

"Meow?" Polaris approached his owner, a concerned expression clear on his face as he nudged her lightly with his head.

"I'm alright, buddy." Akko answered him as she started petting the kitten, both as reassurance for her familiar and as a way to distract herself from the pain.

"Sucy? Do you know any healing spells?" Lotte asked, getting up from her previously kneeling position next to Akko. Apparently, she didn't believe the brunette was well enough to continue.

"Do I look like Diana to you?" The poison expert deadpanned. But upon seeing Lotte's earnest and worried face, she relented. "I don't know any spells, but there's a mushroom that could help." Saying this, she extracted a tiny mushroom she'd collected earlier. It was black with a few grey dots, and overall didn't look edible at all. In fact, it looked rather dangerous.

Akko took it, but just kept staring at it suspiciously.

"So… you're sure if I eat this I'll be fine?" She asked, a doubting expression all over her face.

"No. If you eat it there's no telling what kind of crazy things you'll end up hallucinating." She answered. "Just lick it and it should numb the pain, and maybe stop the bleeding."

"Right." Now, normally Akko didn't eat anything Sucy gave her, but she didn't detect any trace of malice or mischief in her words. She actually seemed sincere for once. Maybe she was planning another experiment in the future and needed Akko to be in prime condition. Or maybe she was lying and this was the experiment… huh. What to do?

While Akko was contemplating her next move, she suddenly felt the mushroom move slightly on her fingers and, when she looked down she watched in horror as Polaris licked the tiny shroom.

"Wait!" She tried to stop him, but it was too late. He had already licked it.

Akko then watched with bated breath, half-expecting the little cat to drop dead. She was readying herself to kill Sucy if that happened, but then the cat just kept staring at her, and then at the mushroom, as if waiting for her to lick it to.

Wait… was he testing it for her? He looked fine, to be honest. And his expression seemed to be telling her that it was safe to trust Sucy this once.

"Uh… he's… not dead?" Akko exclaimed.

"Unfortunately." Sucy answered, sighing. "Considering how small he is, he should already be experiencing the side-effects, but I guess he's just as though as you."

"Okay…" Akko was still a bit weary of the hallucinogen, but nevertheless decided to give it a try. What's the worst that could happen? She couldn't continue on her quest while loosing all of her blood through her nose, right? So… here goes nothing.

Akko licked the mushroom. And… it surprisingly tasted good. Sweet. Kinda like an apple. But better, like it was tempting her to take a bite. Still, she knew better than to trust random mushrooms delivered by Sucy, and ended up tucking it into her pocket, reasoning that with her clumsiness and bad luck it probably wouldn't be long before she needed it again.

Fortunately, the little mushroom actually did what it was supposed to and Akko was soon on her feet and without a nosebleed to worry about, nor pain from her injured nose. But… she still had to deal with the barrier problem.

She reached out a hand experimentally, and was met with something as solid as a rock wall, even though it was invisible. She tried pushing against it, but found her efforts to be futile. It didn't look like pure brute force would be able to break it, although she was willing to try if it came to that, but for now it seemed their only option was magic.

"Sucy…"

"No." The other girl cut her off.

"But…"

"Without knowing what kind of barrier this is, it's impossible to pass through it."

"Plus, it was probably put up by the teachers to prevent us from going too deep into the forest." Lotte intervened. "They probably won't be amused if they find out we broke it."

"But girls…" Akko whined.

"You should probably bring Amanda and her team if you wish to get past." Sucy suggested. "Aren't they the experts?"

"Yeah, but… we're already here. Shouldn't we at least try?" The brunette then turned to look towards the greenery landscape in front of her and pouted. How unfair! They were so close. They only needed to get past that clearing, descend into a valley and find the meteorite! It was a fifteen-minute walk tops. Was it really that much to ask?

Ugh. Stupid barrier. Stupid bees that were on the other side! They were closer to finding her mom than she was. And they were also… they were very dangerous! Polaris really shouldn't be getting so close to a freaking honeycomb!

Akko instinctively tried to take a step in order to stop her cat from climbing the tree where the dangerous insects resided, but ended up hitting the barrier once more, having to stop to wail in pain.

However, somewhere within the chaotic mass of blind pain she was experiencing once again though her already wounded nose, she realized the implications of what had just happened.

Polaris had gotten through the barrier. Somehow.

Was there a crack, maybe? Or maybe it just didn't let humans pass? Or…?

Akko's train of thought was cut off when a bee passed buzzing next of her ear, scaring her a little. However, after she jumped out of the insect's way, she noticed something truly weird; the bee smashed against the barrier, as expected, except… it kept doing it until eventually it was suspended in midair for a few seconds, like it was fighting against the wall preventing it from passing. And then… then it passed through and reunited with the other bees.

So… to pass through this barrier she only had to keep smashing herself over and over against it with pure will and determination? Well, that was her specialty! More so when the promise to find something about her mother's whereabouts laid on the other side.

So, before her friends could stop her, she was already charging against the barrier once more.

"Akko!" Lotte exclaimed, trying to stop her when the Japanese girl smashed her shoulder against the barrier with all her might. "Stop it! You'll only end up hurting yourself again!"

"I have Sucy's mushroom for that, don't I?" Akko grunted in response, using all of her strength to push against the magical barrier.

"Heh. This should be fun." Sucy laughed.

"Sucy!"

In that moment, Akko finally felt something giving out from under her fingers. Like the barrier was starting to crack but still managed to hold on against her.

"Just a little more." She muttered to herself, clenching her teeth. She then started to hear cracking sounds, and feel some parts of the barrier give out from where she was pushing it. She was vaguely aware of her friends' voices calling her, but she decided to ignore them; she was just that focused.

The barrier then broke a little more, and her shoulder was immediately stabbed by the glass-like shards of the crumbling wall. And it hurt. A lot. But Akko simply clenched her teeth and kept pushing. She wasn't going to give up now!

Finally, with a scream, Akko was able to push past the barrier and, as soon as it wasn't on her way, opposing her, Akko fell to the ground due to her own inertia.

While doing so, she realized that the barrier's shards had gotten her in several places, including her left shoulder, right hand and left knee. It all hurt like she had literal kitchen knives digging deep inside her flesh… except there was no blood, or any other physical sign of injury. Just the pain.

Ugh. It really, really, hurt. But… at least she'd made it past it!

"Akko!" Lotte was next to her in a second, inspecting for wounds that she wasn't able to see. Yet, it was clear that her friend had been harmed while breaking through the barrier, for she was tightly clutching her knee and her expression was pained.

"I'm… fine. Kinda." Akko chuckled, wincing when said action brought even more pain to her shoulder.

"You should eat the mushroom I gave you." Sucy, who had also come to stand next to her, suggested. "It won't cure you from your foolishness, but it will at least help with the pain."

"But you said I would start hallucinating if I ate it." Akko protested.

"Yes. If you swallow it whole." Sucy clarified. "If you only nibble it, you might start seeing double, but you should be fine otherwise."

"Hmf." Akko grumbled, unsure if she should trust Sucy's words. But then again, she had said the truth earlier, right? And a tiny little bite from this tiny little mushroom surely wouldn't kill her. Seriously, what's the worst that could happen? That she ended up dreaming with pink flying elephants? There were worse things. Like trying to walk while being in so much pain.

And so, without thinking, Akko pulled the mushroom out of her pocket and swallowed it whole. It wasn't until a second later that she realized Sucy had specifically told her not to do that.

"Idiot." Her pink-haired friend simply said. "Come on, let's hurry. Hopefully we'll arrive to the crater before you start seeing things."

Akko was fortunately able to walk thanks to the mushroom, and by the time they got out of the clearing and into the valley where the meteorite had fell, she still wasn't experiencing any side-effects. Thankfully, she was being accompanied by Lotte, Sucy and Polaris, who were able to pass the barrier thanks to her completely shattering it. Somehow. Neither of them was exactly sure how it had been possible, since a magical barrier could normally only be broken by a spell.

"See? I told you I'm a witch!" Akko replied, but their friends said nothing, probably not wanting to ruin her mood.

Anyways, after about ten minutes of walking they arrived at the valley. Which was nothing impressive, really. Just a small depression of the terrain surrounded by tall trees, with only grass and herbs growing in the center. It couldn't be more than two hundred meters in diameter, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find the crater where the meteorite had fallen… depending on how big the meteorite was, of course.

Akko knew they tended to disintegrate when they reached the atmosphere, so what if it was so small she wouldn't be able to see it?! But no. That couldn't be the case. Her mother had written down the exact location of where it fell in the forest, so there had to be at least one mark in the grass or something, right?

However, before Akko could get too far with her search, her foot suddenly got caught on a tree's root, making her stumble and fall, rolling down the valley. She screamed and braced herself for the bruises and scratches that would surely appear all over her body… but strangely enough, when she finally stopped she didn't feel any pain. Huh. It probably was because of the mushroom… although she'd likely feel the wounds later.

Once she opened her eyes and tried to get up, however, she came to a rather weird sight; a mirror. Kinda. More like… a puddle? But made out of liquid metal? Something like that. She wasn't really sure. When she touched it, it was cold, and although it bended and produced waves, it was solid enough not to let her hand pass through.

Could it be… the moon's tear? Sure, she'd imagined a piece of rock in the middle of a crater, but this forest was supposedly filled to the brim with magic! Surely a literal liquid moon tear wasn't the weirdest thing she could have found.

Deep in her mind, she somehow knew it to be true. She had found what she'd came for.

And now… now what? What did this have to do with her mom? Why had she thought it was important enough to write down the event?

As Akko stared down at her reflection, trying to figure out the answers, to see if it somehow could solve all her questions about her mom, she didn't notice she was getting closer and closer to the liquid surface. Until… as soon as her nose touched the strange substance, a sudden force coming from the other side, vacuum-like and incredibly strong, pulled her in.

She tried to scream, but only managed to fill her lungs with liquid. And now she couldn't even cough to get it out, since it was too heavy and dense. Her vision was also filled with the silvery color of the liquid, and at every inch of her body she felt the pressure it exerted on her.

But, as soon as it all happened, it ended. And suddenly, she could breathe again. And when she opened her eyes once more, she saw something other than silver. She saw… darkness. Just darkness.

No, wait. There was… there was something else there. In the distance there was a… a flame? It was bright, and it was red, the color of blood. But it felt warm and comforting somehow. Familiar, too.

Subconsciously, Akko started walking towards it. With every step she took, the figure got clearer and clearer, like a veil was being slowly uncovered. And it wasn't long before Akko could recognize what it was. Or rather… who.

"Mom!" She screamed, pretty much bolting towards her in a frenetic run, almost falling over a couple of times in her haste to get to her. "Mom!" She called once more, but the red-haired woman didn't seem to listen. Her eyes were glazed over and focused into the distance, her posture stiff as she sat cross-legged in the ground. Her usually kind face was expressionless. Her joyful eyes, cold.

"Mom?" Akko repeated, feeling an unpleasant sensation rising on her stomach. Still, she took another hesitant step forward and fell to her knees, facing her. But the woman didn't move, and didn't acknowledge her. Like she wasn't seeing her. "Mom, please! Answer me! It's me! Akko! Can't you see me?" Still, her mother remained as stoic as a statue, and tears had started to appear in Akko's eyes, accompanied by shuddering sobs and whimpers.

"Mom. It's me. Please!" She exclaimed, pretty much throwing her arms around her, almost squeezing the life out of her. Out of this body, which was too cold, unlike the warm one she was used to. It didn't feel like it was alive. Like her mom wasn't even there.

"Atsuko. Listen." Akko almost jumped out of her skin once she heard a voice whispering into her ear. A voice that was familiar yet foreign all at the same time. It was her mother's voice, yet it lacked emotion. Warmth.

"M-mom?" She whimpered.

"You must be strong, Atsuko. You are alone now, and that way you shall remain."

"I-I don't… I don't understand." She sobbed, holding her tighter. "Where are you? I need you, mom! I-I… I can't be without you yet. I'm not ready."

"No, you're not. But you will be." She responded, still cold. Still without hugging her back. "Atsuko… don't search for me. I made my decision, and I won't come back. You must be strong and continue on without me."

"Mom?" She whimpered again. Tears flowed out of her eyes like waterfalls, soaking her mother's shoulder.

"Atsuko… don't come for me. Don't yearn for me. Forget me and move on. There is an important task that awaits you."

"What could possibly be more important than searching for you?!" She all but screamed, separating only enough to look at her mother's eyes. Those distant, dead eyes that still were looking right past her.

"You must go now. Farewell."

"No!" But it was too late; the figure she was seeing dissolved into darkness, and now she was alone in the void. Crying, feeling more lonely and lost than ever.

"No!" Akko woke up screaming and sitting up. But when she opened her eyes, she realized she wasn't in that weird void with a twisted version of her mother anymore. She was at the valley again, Lotte and Sucy giving her concerned stares while Polaris mewled softly and nudged her hand with his nose.

"W-what happened?" Akko asked, and realized she was still crying. Her friends exchanged concerned looks and then Sucy was the one who answered.

"You passed out, started screaming and failing around, mumbling something about your mother… it was like that for a few hours, actually."

"Hours?"

"I told you not to swallow it. Idiot." She deadpanned.

"Huh?" Oh! The mushroom! She was talking about the mushroom! But… wait, was it all then just a hallucination?

"Sucy gave you an antidote." Lotte intervened. "But I still think we should take you to the school immediately, in case there are any side-effects."

"But… what about the meteorite?" Wasn't that the whole reason they'd come, after all?

"You fell right into the crater, but it was completely empty." Akko followed her friend's gaze to the place where the celestial body had landed; nothing but a small stone circle that couldn't be bigger than a truck's wheel. It didn't look like much, to be honest. "Someone must have taken the meteorite before we came."

"I see…" Akko couldn't hide her disappointment. All this work for nothing!

"Come on! I'd like to go before I start growing roots here." Sucy said, staring impatiently at the duo from her now standing position. Lotte then shot up the ground in an instant and quickly offered her hand for Akko to take. The brunette accepted it, of course, along with the aid to get up.

"Thanks." She muttered.

"You're welcome." Lotte simply answered with a sincere smile before she started dragging her away from the crater.

As they walked, Akko put her free hand into her pocket, half-expecting to find the mushroom for some reason. Instead, her fingers touched something small, smooth and cold.

When she extracted it, she saw it was a rock that smelled of iron and shined like a mirror.

Shaped like a tear.

A/N: Heh, not gonna lie, this chapter was fun to write, especially the prophecies. Don't you like a little bit of foreshadowing? ;)

Anyways, thanks for reading, please leave a review/favorite/follow, as always. Have a merry Christmas, and see you in two weeks!

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.