Chapter 12: Answers.
Akko and Professor Nelson arrived back to the school as the sun was setting beyond the horizon, hiding behind the grey clouds that blocked its light and gave their surroundings a weird, lifeless color. As if suddenly they had entered a black and white movie scene. The wind was blowing so strong it bent the trees, even carrying with it a few droplets of water that landed in Akko's nose and made her shiver despite the warmth her new sweater provided.
Now, Akko was a bit nervous. She knew Finnelan wouldn't take lightly what she'd done to Hannah and Barbara; she'd known it since before Croix offered to teach her the spell. But… a part of her really was wishing for the strict professor to take mercy of her, considering all the bullying she had suffered at the hands of those two. Yet… she knew better than to let her hopes get too high.
When they got inside the building, Akko noticed that the lamps in the corridors were already lit up, something unusual at this hour of the day, but she supposed it was because the upcoming storm had made everything dark before it was time. An uneasy feeling set into her stomach upon this realization, as she'd lost two members of her family in the last two big storms, and she really didn't want to lose anyone else.
"Akko." Nelson's voice stopped her before she could walk right past Finnelan's office because of how lost she was on her own thoughts. "Come on."
"Right!" Akko hurried to go stand next to the professor as she knocked on the door. However, instead of Finnelan greeting them, when the door opened it revealed two normal-ish looking Hannah and Barbara. It seemed even the professors hadn't been able to complete remove all of the pimples, meaning they both still had a few pink spots on their faces. Unfortunately, the green color of their skin was gone, but Akko still took some satisfaction at what little remained of the spell. Upon seeing their aggressor, however, Hannah and Barbara both shared a scared expression and then pretty much bolted out of the office and down the hallway as fast as their feet could carry them.
Akko really wanted to relish in the moment, maybe even mock them if possible, but… She only let a smirk appear on her face for a moment before promptly suppressing it, since she knew it wouldn't help her case with Finnelan.
"Atsuko." The strict professor greeted her with her usual serious expression. "Please, sit down."
Knowing the routine by memory now, Akko hurried inside the office and dropped on the chair before promptly starting to defend herself.
"Okay, okay. Look, I did cast that spell on them, but technically it was self defense because they've been bullying me, and harassing me and calling me a blood witch and-"
"Atsuko." Finnelan cut her off with a tone that Akko knew well enough to have the instantaneous response of shutting her mouth and stop talking. "Where did you learn that spell?"
"Uhhhh…" Akko panicked. She hadn't really anticipated this being an issue, and thus hadn't prepared and answer. After all, the spell was so easy to cast that she'd assumed all witches knew how to do it, especially witches her age. "I just… did it?" It was the only thing that she could come up with. "It's very easy! I was just so full of anger and resentment that it kinda… happened." She finished with a nervous laugh, although what she said was actually partially truth.
"I see." Finnelan frowned, adopting a worried and thoughtful expression. "Have you had any contact with blood witches?"
"W-what? N-no! Of course not. W-why would you think that?" Akko denied a little too quickly, her voice an octave higher than normal. Yep, she'd never been good at lying.
"She was in the company of a strange woman when I found her." Nelson interfered, making Akko jump a little on her chair since she hadn't realized she was behind her; she'd assumed she had stayed outside. "I'm not completely sure, but I think her description matches that of Croix Meridies."
"Croix Meridies?" Finnelan's eyes hardened as she heard this information. "The sole daughter of Circe, one of the most powerful blood witches of these times."
"Yes. Lilac hair, green eyes, pale skin, tall… she perfectly matched Ursula's description of her."
What?! Ursula… her mom, had not only known that Croix was a blood witch, but had also shared that information with the other witches? But… why? If she… she loved her! Right? Unless… something had happened between them? But it would have had to be something very bad if her mom ended up revealing Croix's true identity to the other witches.
"It can't be a good sign that such a powerful blood witch is so close to Luna Nova." Finnelan said, the lines of her forehead growing deeper and deeper with worry. "And it's probably not a coincidence that she specifically targeted Chariot's daughter."
"I agree." Nelson nodded. "I am certain she must be planning something."
"No!" Akko got up from her chair, making it fall to the ground with her sudden movement and startling the two teachers. "Croix isn't a blood witch! She uses technology to obtain magic! She'd never hurt anyone, much less me!"
"Atsuko, please sit down." Finnelan said calmly, not impressed at all by the girl's sudden outburst.
"No!" She hit the table with her hands. "Croix was my mom's friend! She's been helping me find her!"
"Akko…" Finnelan sighed. "Tell me… has she given you something to eat? Or drink?"
"Uhh…" She trailed off, unsure what that had to do with anything. Her mind immediately went back to the magic potion she'd drank, but… there was no way Finnelan was talking about that, right? "Yes?"
"You think she has her under a spell?" Nelson intervened with a worried voice.
"I think she's been using her, yes." The headmistress nodded gravely. "For what? I can only guess."
"N-No! Croix would never do that!" Akko tried to defend her once more, but it was difficult to remain firm when both adults appeared so confident in what they were saying. Almost as if… they had seen this before.
"A few weeks away from her should fix it, depending on how much of the potion she ingested." Nelson spoke once more, leaving Akko more confused. Fix what? She didn't feel like she was under a spell! She didn't understand a thing, but part of her was too afraid to even ask. She didn't want to believe Croix was evil. She couldn't. There was no way.
"Yes, but that's not what's worrying me." Finnelan tensed. "Akko… where did you get that necklace?"
"Well…" She trailed off, unsure if she should say the truth or lie. But before she could decide, Nelson had already ripped it off her neck and given it to Finnelan.
"Looks like pure silver." She said.
"Indeed." Finnelan carefully put the necklace on the table and got out her wand.
"Wait… what are you going to-" But before Akko could finish what she was going to say, Finnelan's wand had already touched the necklace, which made a black smoke come out of it. A smoke with an acidic unnatural smell, unlike anything she'd ever smelled before, which made her stomach turn and she had to cover her nose with her hands, yet the smell seemed to be forcefully making its way inside her nostrils. Then, the collar started emitting a red light, as if it was on fire, but it didn't seem to be melting.
"A… curse?" Nelson asked, fear creeping into her voice.
"A very powerful spell." Finnelan nodded.
"It's a protection spell…" Akko tried, but her voice didn't seem convincing at all, not even to her.
"But why would she-" Nelson cut off herself harshly as she apparently came to a sudden realization, her eyes widening in a horrified expression.
"The barrier!" Finnelan exclaimed, probably realizing the exact same thing. Then, she turned to look outside the window, where rain was already falling from the dark skies, splashing against the crystal like desperate hands trying to get in. "Professor, you need to tell the other teachers! We have to be prepared." At this, Nelson nodded tensely before pretty much bolting out of the office.
"Prepared for what?" Akko tilted her head, confused, while Finnelan sighed in response, suddenly looking like she'd aged up ten years in only ten seconds.
"Please sit down." She said, pointing to the chair behind Akko. The girl obeyed, because she was so confused and intrigued that she desperately needed answers.
"Professor… what's going on?"
"War." She answered gravely.
"What?!" Sure, Akko knew of the War of Witches prophecies, but… Finnelan was talking as if it was already happening.
"For Millennia, blood witches have been hunting us down and killing us for our blood, as you no doubt learned in History class. What I didn't say, however, is that the reason they went into hiding and pretended to be extinct was the creation of Luna Nova."
"WHAT?" Akko repeated. Really, the more Finnelan said, the less she felt like she knew.
"Luna Nova originally wasn't just a magic school; it was used to train young witches in the forbidden combat arts." She explained. "During their childhood and adolescence they would receive protection from their instructors, meaning blood witches would have less opportunities to attack them, and when they became adults they had all the knowledge they needed to fight back against them. Graduates worked in teams to defend themselves, and the Blood witches began losing."
"I see." Akko nodded. That was a very cleaver move from whoever made Luna Nova.
"Eventually, blood witches became rare enough that such drastic measures weren't needed anymore, and so the Rouge Hunters and the school became separate entities."
"The Rouge Hunters?" The girl raised an eyebrow. She'd never heard of that and she wondered if that was something they'd seen in class but she missed.
"Think of it as some sort of secret police, tasked with dealing with blood witches. Except most witches don't know about it."
"Then how do you know about it?"
"I was part of this secret police." She confessed. "And so was your mother."
"But you're not badass!" Akko immediately protested, before realizing how rude she had sounded and covering her mouth, trying to stop the words from coming out.
"I was tasked with divination, espionage, and intelligence reports." Finnelan explained, apparently not bothered by Akko's comment. "Your mother was the one actually dealing with the blood witches."
Okay, so that checked out with what Croix had told her, meaning that it seemed she had at least been telling the truth about this matter.
"How many witches are in this force?" She asked, since Finnelan had made it sound like her mom was the only one out there killing blood witches.
"Usually nine." She answered. "Two take care of the intelligence part of the process, three instruct the future hunters, and three are the current hunters."
"Uhh… I think you forgot one…?" Akko slowly raised her hand as if she was on class. She certainly felt like she should be taking notes anyways.
"The current Prime Minister of Magic is the ninth member, and all members of the Rouge Hunters respond to her directly." Finnelan explained. "Just like the Nine Olde Witches responded to Woodward."
"The what now? And who's even this Woodward?" The girl tilted her head, making the teacher let out the longest, deepest sight she'd heard so far.
"Seriously, do you just not pay any attention in class?"
"Uhhh…"
"Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that there is a war going on, one that's been raging for centuries, though in secret." The professor continued. "As you have probably guessed however, nine witches can't really do much, especially not in a global scale. And so… the threat slowly grew under our noses."
"You mean the resurgence of blood witches?"
"Indeed. It all started when Chariot du Nord was born and, with her, the rumors of her status as the Chosen One."
"Were they just rumors though?" Akko felt that, after her mom had demonstrated to be the most powerful witch of her generation, and having killed about a dozen blood witches singlehandedly, those rumors were pretty much confirmed already.
"I don't know." Finnelan admitted. "She certainly was very skilled, and was able to hunt down more blood witches in her teenage years than most hunters in their entire lives. However… this meant our enemy felt threatened, and they responded in kind."
Akko immediately remembered Hannah's words, not too long ago, when they were talking about her mother: "Ever since the so called Shiny Chariot started performing there have been more and more disappearances, and some even claim to have seen blood witches around."
"The war got worse!" She gasped.
"Indeed." The professor nodded gravely. "Just forty years ago we were dealing with only a handful of families of blood witches, but they've been teaching their secrets to like-minded people; people who want power more than anything else and would stop at nothing to obtain it." Akko gulped audibly at this. "Now there's probably a few hundred blood witches out there, growing more and more powerful with each passing day, to the point they could even be a threat to families like the Cavendish."
"Diana's mom!" Akko immediately put two and two together. "Was she killed by them?"
"I don't know; they've been very secretive about it." The professor frowned. "But it's certainly a possibility, and Justine's death was not natural either. Nor was… Miranda's."
"G-granny?" The girl asked in a small voice. Her sweet, caring, gentle grandmother… had been killed by blood witches?
"Indeed. They've become bolder and bolder, and I have my suspicions that your mother purposely went to find them."
"What?! Why would she do that?!" Akko exclaimed. Sure, her mom might be the Chosen One, but that didn't mean she could single-handedly defeat all blood witches!
"My best guess? To protect you." Finnelan answered with a tired expression. "She was always very impulsive and arrogant too, and she probably thinks she can win this war by herself."
"What?" Akko had never thought of her mother as impulsive, much less arrogant! If anything, she appeared to be rather thoughtful, and humble.
"Why do you think she started doing shows again and stopped dying her hair?" Finnelan pointed out. "Such reckless behavior was undoubtedly on purpose. She was daring the blood witches to come to her and, by the looks of it, they did."
"So… you're saying…" Akko gulped. "You think she was captured by them?"
"Yes. If she's still captive or if she's off to find other blood witches is a different matter." The professor explained with a worried tone of voice. "What I do know is that she isn't powerful enough to kill all of them, and… we aren't strong enough to protect the school without her here." That last part was said with a grimace, as if the words literally left a bitter taste on Finnelan's mouth. "Which is why… I have a mission for you."
"A… mission?" Akko tilted her head. Sounded like something way too important for Finnelan to trust her with. But she wasn't going to complain.
"I wanted you to learn more magic first, but we're running out of time." She explained. "I need you to find your mother and bring her back."
"I… why me?" Sure, Akko was dying to find her mother. She'd do anything for her! But… she felt like she wasn't prepared at all to fight blood witches if it came to that.
"Because…" Finnelan sighed. "Your mother loves you, and she probably won't listen to anyone but you."
"Well… she gets along with… uh…" Akko trailed off, realizing her mom didn't actually have any friends in Luna Nova. She really was her only emotional attachment. And… maybe Croix.
"Akko, listen. There's a prophecy that says that the Chosen One will stray away from the right path, and only the purest love could bring her back." She paused, looking intently into Akko's eyes. "I think that's you."
"M-me?" Akko squeaked, but the professor just nodded gravely.
"I don't know why she adopted you, or why she kept your magic a secret, but what was obvious to all of us is that she truly loved you from day one."
Akko blushed. Of course she knew her mom loved her! But… it still felt surreal to be given such a mission.
"I don't think anyone else could convince her to come back and accept our help." Finnelan explained. "And I doubt she would listen to any of the teachers, or even the hunters. That's why this mission must be yours and yours only."
Akko shrank in her chair. This felt way too important for her. Way too big. The future of the entire magical world rested on her shoulders. But… she had no choice. If she wanted her mom back… she'd have to find her herself.
"It is very important for the mission that you don't talk to blood witches." Finnelan continued. "Not even Croix."
"But… she's been nice…" Akko tried, but after seeing what happened with the necklace it was getting more and more difficult to defend her.
"That's what they do! They're seductresses, and their eyes literally have hypnotic powers." She explained fervently. "They use potions and spells to convince you of anything they want."
"So… you're saying… none of what she did was real?" She couldn't help when her voice trembled as she remembered all the times they'd laughed together, all the times she'd hugged her, how she'd been there for her when she was feeling down because of her mom… had it all been… an act?
"She was likely using you to get to your mother." She nodded. "And the necklace she gave you likely had a spell in it to break the barrier that protects the school from blood witches."
"I see…" Akko deflated. She felt empty. She wanted to cry, but she didn't to do it in front of the professor, so she held back her tears.
"Akko, nothing is more important than your mission right now." Finnelan continued, apparently undeterred by Akko's inner turmoil. "And I'll urge you to go to the Cavendish mansion first; Bernadette was once friends with your mother, and she knew her better than anyone else. I'm certain she must have had some information about her whereabouts."
The Cavendish mansion… where her mother wanted her to go on summer break. And Finnelan didn't even know about the promise Bernadette had apparently made to her mom before dying, whatever it was. Certainly it seemed the Cavendish mansion was Akko's best lead.
"Alright." The girl certainly hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. "I'll do it." Finnelan nodded, apparently satisfied with her answer.
"You should ask one of your friends to take you to Blytonbury. There, you must wait for a huntress, who will protect you on the way to the Cavendish mansion, and every step of your mission afterwards."
"Alright." Akko nodded, but… she wasn't all too sure about that. Something in her gut told her that meeting a huntress was a bad idea. Especially since she herself was a blood witch and she doubted an experienced hunter would have any problem realizing that. Really… she'd be better off asking Lotte and Sucy to take her all the way to the Cavendish mansion.
"Very well." Thankfully, Finnelan didn't seem to notice the lie. "Then now I shall explain-"
Whatever it is the professor was going to say was interrupted by the sound of an explosion that shook the entire school. The windows vibrated, and there was a blinding light in the sky outside, almost like thunder, but louder. The rain also turned to hail, hitting the roof almost violently in a way that felt unnatural, and Akko started to shiver from the sudden drop of temperature.
"There's no time." Finnelan said through gritted teeth.
"W-what's going on?" Akko asked fearfully.
"The attack has started! You have to go now!"
"B-but-"
"Here, take this." Finnelan took a heavy book out of her desk's drawer and shoved it into Akko's hands. "It has all the information we have about blood witches and how to fight them. I think you'll need it."
"I-I…" Akko eyed the book, not knowing what to say or do. She was paralyzed. By fear? Or maybe the sheer uncertainty she felt about her mission? She didn't know. But thankfully, Finnelan stood up, went towards Akko, grabbed and forced her to stand up as well.
"We'll hold them off while you escape. Now go!"
And with a firm shove towards the door, Akko's legs finally started moving, carrying her away, probably to her room. It felt like her head was about to explode. Too much information in too little time. Too much to process. She felt overwhelmed by the uncertain future, hopeful that she'd find her mom, devastated because of Croix's betrayal…
She didn't know what to do, or even what to think of all of this. It felt surreal. But what she did know is that she had a mission, and that's all she should concentrate on for now.
A/N: Thanks for reading y'all! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review/fav/follow if you did. It seems like I will be alble to keep posting chapters every two weeks, at least for now, but every bit of support helps me keep writing, and I bet you all want to know what happens next, don't you? XD
Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.