Chapter 13: Escape.

Akko was running as fast as her feet could carry her. She heard the distant explosions shaking the school, she heard screams and yells, but she tried to ignore them and carry out her mission. She only had to get to her room and then escape with Lotte and Sucy. She just hoped she could do it in one piece and without encountering any blood witches along the way.

The storm outside was making her anxious, however; she'd never liked storms in the first place, but when they were of a magical nature and brought a swarm of evil blood witches with them? Yeah… she especially didn't like those. So now she was trembling. From fear or cold? She wasn't exactly sure. All she knew was that she wanted this nightmare to end.

When she descended the stairs into the second floor of the main building, she was instantly met with… chaos. Spells flew everywhere, the teachers were fighting off other women that had apparently entered through the now-shattered windows, the freezing wind blew wild everywhere, almost like it too wanted to participate in the fight… it was just a very scary sight, and Akko didn't want to look at it for longer than necessary, so she swiftly ran towards the hallway that lead to the west dormitories, where she assumed her friends were.

Before she could make it that far, however, a tall woman welding some sort of wooden wand that was very different from the ones of Luna Nova, stepped in front of her. Judging by the color of her magic it was very apparent that she was a blood witch. Akko gulped, taking a step back and trying to decide if she should run or try and fight her.

"Well, looks like a little sheep strayed away from the flock." She gave her a sweet smile, almost alluring in a way. And, when Akko looked into her eyes, she couldn't help feeling like she'd known this woman her whole life. "Why don't you lead me to where the others are? I promise no one will be hurt. Especially not you." She almost wanted to trust her; her mouth seemed to be compelled to speak by some sort of external force, and she kind of wanted to give into it, but… She shook her head, snapping out of it. This was a blood witch! She was probably using some kind of trick on her!

"Stop it!" She yelled, getting out her wand and pointing it at the witch in what she hoped was a menacing way. "Just so you know, I'm the best student of this school, you don't want to mess with me." She hoped she appeared more confident than she felt, and that her enemy couldn't see the shaking of her hand as she spoke. She seemed to be shocked at her actions, at least.

"Wait… you're one of us?" Akko was confused by the question for a moment, before she realized that she had just revealed the color of her own magic by getting out her wand. And it did resemble that of a blood witch to an almost uncanny degree. No wonder she seemed extremely confused! But before Akko could even think of an answer, a spell sent the blood witch flying out of the window and down to the grass two floors below. When Akko turned around to thank her savior, she found no other than Professor Nelson.

"Atsuko!" She exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine." She smiled, discreetly putting away her wand; the last thing she wanted was for someone to notice the color of her own magic and assume she was a blood witch in disguise or something.

"Good." She nodded courtly, then went to take Akko's arm and started dragging her away. "Finnelan tasked me with taking you to where the others are." She explained. "Once things calm down a bit you should make your escape, understand? Two teachers are guarding the other girls and, once I inform them of your mission, they should know when it's safe for you to go."

"Okay." Akko would never admit it, but she felt infinitely better now that she was being accompanied by an actual adult; someone older that could protect her and guide her. She'd felt like a headless chicken running around before.

But just when they were entering the hallway that lead to the dormitories, presumably so they could get to the ground floor through a less transited section, Akko was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Akko! Wait!"

The girl froze on the spot, not having expected to hear that voice so soon again.

"Atsuko, what…" The Professor trailed off when she turned around to look at the cause of the girl's sudden stop and found none other than Croix Meridies herself, standing there in the hallway. But she wasn't wearing the casual outfit she'd worn earlier at the town; no, she had a pair of tight black trousers, a white shoulder-less shirt with red straps, kinda like a harness, and… most notorious of all, she was wearing a crimson red cape that fluttered around in the wind. Her hair was also stylized and she was wearing makeup. It was just like when Akko first met her. Well… except for the cape; that was new.

"Akko…" Croix started, but as soon as she tried to take a step towards her, Nelson pointed her wand towards the woman.

"Stay back." She snarled. "I'm not letting you get closer to this girl."

"You really think you could stop me?" Croix raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, but you better believe I will try." She reiterated, stepping closer to Croix and positioning herself between the girl and the blood witch.

"Look." Croix raised her hands in surrender. "I just want to talk, okay?" She took a step forward. "Akko-"

She was cut off suddenly when Nelson casted Murowa at her, but she managed to dodge it easily and then disarm the professor with just a flick of her hand. Before Nelson could react, she then rushed towards her in an almost unnatural burst of speed and grabbed her by the neck, leaving her completely paralyzed by some sort of spell that surrounded her with a red light.

"Pathetic." Croix chuckled. "Did you really think you had a chance against the daughter of Circe? You might have been in the army, but you're no huntress."

"C-Croix!" Akko finally spoke. She had been paralyzed by the mixture of emotions she felt when she saw Croix. She really didn't want to believe that her second mother figure was evil, and that she had been using her; after all, Croix was the exception to so many blood witch rules! But… the fact that she'd given her an enchanted necklace the same night the blood witches attacked couldn't be a coincidence, right? And that her mother had known of Croix being a blood witch and also told the other witches surely couldn't be a good sign either, and she trusted her mother's judgement over anything else.

"Please, don't hurt her!" Akko said, with a lace of fear in her voice.

"I won't." Croix said, but she still didn't let go of the professor. "But you gotta listen to what I have to say."

Akko nodded hesitantly, but discreetly placed a hand on her wand, just in case.

"I don't know what they told you, but I'm not the bad guy here." She started, but Akko quickly interrupted before she could stop herself.

"Then why are you dressed like a cartoon villain?"

"I'm not-" Croix blushed. "It's the cape, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Akko admitted. "And also… everything else."

"I-I… look, I'm not here to discuss fashion with you." She sighed. "I'm just trying to warn you!"

"Warn me of what? Of the obvious attack that the blood witches made on Luna Nova?" Akko almost yelled at her, letting a little anger from the suspected betrayal sip into her words.

"No!" Croix replied. "I don't know what they told you, but… the reason Chariot went into hiding wasn't the blood witches!"

"And what do you know?!" Akko shot back. "I know she didn't trust you anymore."

"Maybe." Croix admitted, much to Akko's surprise. "But really, she was hiding from the hunters. You can't trust them, Akko!"

"And why would she be hiding from a group she was once part of?" She frowned. It didn't make sense.

"Because-" Just then an explosion was heard pretty close, cutting Croix off and making her stumble. Akko tried to regain her balance, but she ended up falling on her butt. "Look, there's no time!" Croix yelled urgently, trying to be heard over the chaos that was raging just a few meters away. "I'll explain everything, alright? But you gotta come with me."

"I will go with you." Akko said cautiously. "But only if you answer one question."

"Alright." Croix nodded, but Akko did sense some hesitation in her.

"The necklace you gave me… did it really have a protection spell?" Akko locked eyes with her as she spoke.

"Yes." Akko wanted to believe her; she felt compelled to believe her. The way she said it sounded so convincing! But… this sensation… it felt just like how the other blood witch had tried to convince her to take her where the other students were. These feelings, these thoughts… they weren't hers. They weren't natural.

Akko shook her head and closed her eyes, remembering what Finnelan had said about blood witches having hypnotic powers in their eyes.

"Tell me the truth!" She yelled. "Stop these tricks!"

"I-I… How did you…" Croix blinked, obviously confused, and then sighed. "I should have known. You're partially a blood witch, after all."

Emboldened by her words, Akko dared opening her eyes and scowling at her again, though looking at her hair instead of her eyes.

"Tell me the truth! Did it have a protection spell or not?"

"No." Croix admitted, no tricks this time. "But it wasn't what brought down the barrier, if that's what you're thinking."

"Then what did?" Akko shot back, unwilling to trust Croix completely just yet even if her answer appeared to be sincere.

"You." As soon as that word left Croix's mouth, Akko remembered that day, not too long ago, before she could even use magic: when she went searching for a moon tear with Lotte and Sucy and ended up breaking a barrier in order to get there.

"W-what?" She stuttered, utterly confused, but knowing that to be the truth. Yet… Croix was the only one she'd told about that, aside from her roommates, who were there when it happened. Meaning that someone must have told the blood witches about it, and she was sure it wasn't Lotte or Sucy.

"Akko, listen." Croix spoke again. "You gotta come with me! They will never trust you and will end up killing you."

"You don't know that!"

"I do." She smiled sadly. "And besides, the magic I can teach you is more powerful than theirs. Come with me, Akko, and I will give you the power you need to find your mother."

It sounded very tempting. She really wanted to say yes, but… She remembered what Finnelan had said about her being under a spell. What if that's what was compelling her to trust Croix? What if those feelings weren't really hers? Croix was still holding the paralyzed body of Nelson, after all. She shouldn't seem trustworthy in this situation, but she did!

"Let her go first!" Akko demanded.

"I will. As soon as you give me your answer." Croix shot back.

"Then my answer is no." She said firmly.

"Alright." Croix sighed. "I see you're not ready yet, and… I suppose it will do you some good to see the world for yourself." She smiled, but it looked almost like a smirk. "I'm confident that you will come back to me."

Then… she pulled something out of her sleeve. Akko thought it was a wand and she rushed to take out her own, but… it was a black cube, like the ones she'd used on her, except without red light. Then, she put it on Nelson's forehead.

Akko was expecting for the cube to end the spell, hence she didn't do anything, but, instead… it started glowing with a red light, brighter and brighter until it almost looked white. It was blinding and she had to cover her eyes, but… when she opened them again, she saw the professor laying on the ground, immobile and with her eyes closed.

"Professor!" Akko exclaimed and ran towards her, kneeling at her side and checking for a pulse… except she had no idea where to search for it and her hands were too shaky anyways.

"Relax." Croix rolled her eyes. "She's alive."

"What did you do?" Akko asked through gritted teeth. Sure, Nelson wasn't exactly her favorite professor (that spot was definitely her mother's), but she still didn't like seeing her lying unconscious.

"Let's just say that I made sure she won't be a nuisance for my plans." She smirked.

"What plans?" But just as Akko finished her question, Croix had already grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the ground. Akko tried to struggle against her grip, but almost instantly a swarm of red cubes descended down on her, pressing against her limbs and preventing her from moving. Then, they started emitting that odious red light, and filled her body of a tickling sensation that rapidly increased to unbearable levels. It was like electricity was invading her body, like when she sat on the ground for too long and her legs felt funny for a few minutes, except amplified tenfold. She wanted to scream in pain, but she couldn't even open her mouth; her whole body was quite literally frozen.

And then, as sudden as it started, it also ended.

Akko inhaled sharply, forcing the cold air into her lungs; a refreshing sensation inside her heated body. She felt like she had a fever, her head was spinning and all her senses were numb. Even Croix's voice sounded more like a distant whisper, and her hand on Akko's forehead like the touch of a feather.

"Listen, Akko. I know you feel terrible, and you're just seconds away from passing out, so listen carefully." Croix said, and the girl tried to force herself to pay attention, although it was getting more and more difficult by the second. "I just injected inside your body the equivalent of 20 witches' worth of magic, meaning that right now you're more powerful than most." Twenty witches? What the hell was she talking about? Akko just wanted to sleep. "It's kinda dangerous and it will take your body a couple of hours to adjust, but I'm confident you'll be fine." She continued. "However, this magic won't last forever, and you have to make sure not to use it all at once, okay? I'm sure it's more than enough to last until I can see you again, but even then I must urge you to be careful."

Finally, Akko couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, and only faintly heard Croix's next words like a murmur carried away by the wind as her consciousness sank into the dark ocean of sleep.

"I'll see you again, Akko. I'll be watching you."

When Akko regained her consciousness she first felt… softness. Something soft under her. A… mattress? Indeed, when she opened her eyes she came face to face with the Shiny Chariot poster she had in her room's wall, next to her bed. Had it all been… a dream?

She turned around, to see if Sucy and Lotte were also there, but her body ached when she moved, as if she'd made a ton of exercise before falling asleep. But… it was manageable nonetheless. Nothing that would really impede her movement at least. Yet… there was another sensation too, one that she couldn't quite describe. Like a tingle under her skin. A rush of energy. Like that time when she was a kid and she'd drank a whole bottle of coke and gotten, not only a sugar rush, but also a caffeine rush. Her senses were also heightened, to the point of making her a little dizzy, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to regain composure.

Too many sounds. Too many voices screaming in the distance. Too many… smells. Wow. She'd never really smelled her room. It smelled of mushrooms and books and… cat? Also a faint smell of cinnamon and… ramen? Not quite, but it was certainly there. Had Croix taken her to her room then?

"Akko?" A voice she didn't recognize called her name. It was almost childish in a way. "Akko? Awake?" The voice called again just before something soft and fluffy touched her face. She opened her eyes, utterly confused, and found Polaris' big blue eyes staring at her. She blinked. He mewed but she could understand his words.

"Akko awake!"

"Aaaahh!" Akko screamed in surprise and tried to back away, ending up hitting her head against Lotte's bunk bed. Then she clutched her head in pain and groaned.

"Dumb human." Polaris sighed… if cats could even sigh anyways. The intention to sigh was there nonetheless though.

"Shut it." Akko pouted at her familiar. "Since when can cats talk?"

"Oh? Human learned cat language?" The cat tilted his head. "What a horrible accent."

"Shush." Akko stuck her tongue out at the cat. "You're a kitten, you don't know anything."

"You kitten too." Akko could have sworn she heard amusement in her cat's voice. "You no big like the other. The nice human. Human with food."

"Human with food?" Akko frowned. Who was he referring to?

"Yes! Human brought you here! I guided her." Polaris puffed out his chest in a proud manner. "Gave me food like old times."

Like… old times? Big human? Huh. It sounded like… Croix? She was certainly tall, and Polaris had lived with her before becoming Akko's familiar. Croix had said he was a stray that she fed from time to time.

"Was she tall with lilac hair, a red cape and red boots with high heels?"

"Red? What's red?" Oh right. Akko had forgotten that cats can't see colors. "Dunno." He yawned. "She said you're a cub. Asked me to protect."

"What's with adults asking animals to protect me?" Akko said to no one in particular, remembering how her mom always used to leave Alcor in charge of her custody whenever she left her alone. But in her mom's defense, at least Alcor was older than her and could use magic. Polaris was just… a small kitten.

"Feed me, human. I'm hungry." Polaris demanded, snapping Akko out of her contemplations.

"I will. But first we have to get out of here." Finally, Akko remembered the whole reason she was here in the first place; she needed to go to the Cavendish mansion. She didn't know what Croix had done to her, or what had happened with Nelson, but what was important was that she was alive and she needed to find her mother.

"The others said that too." Polaris replied. "The odd one. And the one with mushrooms." He then clarified, although Akko found it amusing that he called Lotte the "odd one" when Sucy was the other option. "But me waits. Me waits for human."

"Well, I'm here now." She said, getting up from the bed, though she was still a little dizzy and ended up having to grip the bunk bed in order to not fall. "Do you know where they are? Lotte and Sucy?"

"Human wants me to guide?" Polaris perked up at this. "I demand food."

"You'll have your food when we find them."

True to his word, Polaris was able to guide Akko through the Luna Nova hallways and all the way to the auditorium, where her roommates presumably were. He even guided her through secluded places and secret passages to avoid the battle still raging between the teachers and the blood witches! Who knew there was a secret staircase inside the toilet? Yes, literally (eww).

She wondered how much time had passed since she'd been knocked unconscious… probably not much, considering the fight was still going on.

As Akko and her cat arrived to the big auditorium doors, she noticed that there were two teachers making guard outside, but promptly let her enter once they noticed her uniform… although not without first scolding her about taking so long, of course. Once inside, she scanned the place for her friends and realized that most girls, though scared, seemed to be unharmed. Some were wet, other were dirty, and there was one girl with a wound on her leg that was being tended to by the nurse, but overall there didn't seem to be any casualties amongst the students, which was good.

Soon enough, she found her friends sitting at the far end of the auditorium, Sucy looking at some mushrooms and Lotte browsing the internet in her crystal ball as usual. Quickly, she made her way to them and greeted them loudly.

"Sucy! Lotte!"

"Akko!" Lotte exclaimed, looking up startled. "Are you okay?! Where have you been? We were worried about you!"

"I told you she was fine." Sucy tried to downplay it, but her posture did relax slightly when she saw the Japanese girl.

"Girls, there's no time! I need your help!" Akko said as she sat down in front of them, going directly to the point as usual. "I have to get to the leyline, and then to the Cavendish mansion, and-"

"Wait, wait! Akko, slow down." Lotte cut her off. "Can you explain us where you've been first? Or how did you get past the literal battle going on outside?"

"Or where you got that red jacket." Sucy said.

"Or why you haven't given me any food." Polaris interrupted, clearly annoyed.

"Oh, right! I'm sorry Polaris." Quickly, Akko took a cookie out of the backpack she'd prepared only with the most essential things (yes, cookies are essential) and gave it to the cat.

"Next time bring tuna." The cat protested, but still started eating.

"Hey, food is food." Akko shrugged.

"Why are you talking to your cat?" Sucy narrowed her eyes, looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Uhhh…" Yeah, even she knew that suddenly being able to understand cats wasn't exactly normal, not even for witches, so she decided to keep that secret to herself for now. "I've been learning cat language."

"Have you?" It didn't look like Sucy actually believed her, but they had bigger things to worry about right now.

"Yes. Now… about what's going on…"

"The teachers didn't tell us anything." Lotte said apprehensively. "They just evacuated the dorms and brought us here. We heard some explosions…"

"Do you have something to do with this, Akko?" Sucy narrowed her eyes.

"Uh… maybe?" She chuckled nervously. "Listen, I'll give you the summarized version."

And so, Akko proceeded to tell them what Finnelan had said to her, the mission she had right now and why she needed to get to the Cavendish mansion as soon as possible. She kept her latest interactions with Croix to herself though; she still didn't know what to make of them, if she could actually trust Croix, or what she had even done to her after their short talk earlier, so… yeah, she'd rather not tell her friends about it for now.

"So we're going to the Cavendish mansion, huh?" Sucy raised an eyebrow. "Sounds good. I heard there's a rare type of mushroom that grows at the shores of their lake."

"Wouldn't it make more sense for a teacher to take you?" Lotte pointed out, clearly overwhelmed by the whole situation.

"Uhhh…" Akko paused. It would make more sense. Finnelan had only entrusted her friends to take her to Blytonbury, like they'd done many times before, where she was supposed to meet up with a hunter that would take her to the Cavendish mansion, so she wasn't sure how to justify it.

"They'll probably be busy rebuilding Luna Nova and reinforcing the defenses." Sucy interfered, although Akko wasn't sure if she actually believed her or just really wanted to get her hands on those rare Cavendish mushrooms.

"Do you think they'll even let us out?" Lotte still seemed rather hesitant.

"Finnelan probably already informed them?" Akko said, though it came out as a question. Finnelan had tasked Nelson with relying the information to the other teachers, and she was… well… not available at the moment.

"It's worth a try." Sucy shrugged. "I already feared something like this would happen, so I packed some essentials before fleeing." At this, she showed her satchel to the other girls, who saw it was filled with flasks containing potions, mushrooms and other rare ingredients.

"I… still have to pack my things." Lotte said unnecessarily, as she was the only one of the trio not carrying anything with her.

"Don't worry, Lotte! I brought your stuff!" Akko assured her, opening up her bag to reveal the latest Nightfall volume and the star journal they'd found in her mother's room, both of which she handed to Lotte before also getting out a second crystal ball. "I don't know how long this trip will take, but hopefully you'll be able to return to Luna Nova soon enough, so I figured this was all I needed to take."

"Didn't you bring food too? Or money?" She asked as she carefully took the crystal ball out of Akko's hands, clearly afraid she'd break it.

"I brought pickled plums!" Akko exclaimed proudly, taking the jar out of her bag and showing it to her friends.

"No offense Akko, but even I can't stand the flavor of pickled plums." Sucy answered, looking at the jar with repulsion.

"And we can't even bring those into the leyline." Lotte interfered before Akko could start making a passionate speech about why pickled plums were the most delicious food ever.

"Why not?"

"Salt, Akko! They have salt!" Sucy growled. "Leylines don't like salt."

"Oh, right…" She deflated. It seemed she would have to live a few… days? Weeks? However long this mission would take without eating her delicious plums. "Anyways, I took my mom's credit card, so we don't have to worry about money."

"Alright…" Lotte sighed, apparently starting to realize there was not getting out of this.

"Should we tell Amanda and the rest?" Akko suddenly asked, like a brilliant idea had just popped in her mind. "Where are they, by the way?"

"I haven't seen them since morning." Sucy shrugged. "They're probably off doing some mischief around town and planned on coming back later."

"And regardless, we really shouldn't tell them." Lotte interfered. "This mission seems too important and they'd probably come up with some reckless plan."

"Maybe…" Akko trailed off, looking around the auditorium as if hoping to somehow find her other three friends somewhere around there. "I still wanted to say goodbye, though."

"You could send them a letter!" Lotte tried to cheer her up.

"And we really should get going before things get even more chaotic out there." Sucy spoke.

"Yeah…" Akko shook her head in order to snap out of her thoughts, wondering where the green team was and when she could possibly see them again, and instead tried to focus on her mission. "Alright!" She exclaimed. "Time to go to the Cavendish mansion!"

"Akko!" Both of her friends shushed her immediately.

"Sorry..."

The three girls were now backstage planning their escape route. They had decided to go to a more secluded place, least Akko ended up telling everyone about their "secret mission", and thankfully there they were completely alone. Well… almost. Professor Pisces was on a nearby table inside her fishbowl, but it's not like she could stop them from leaving, or even tell anyone about their plans; she was a fish after all.

"So… you really think the main entrance is out of the question?" Akko asked.

"Yes." Both of her friends immediately said.

"If what you said is true and blood witches are attacking Luna Nova, we'd be an easy target." Sucy then added.

"Didn't Finnelan tell you how you were supposed to get out?" Lotte asked.

"No…" She sighed. "Nelson was supposed to guide me, but… she was knocked out by a blood witch." Not entirely a lie. Lotte shuddered at that.

"I think we should take our chances going through the sports field." Sucy was the one who spoke. "The rain should help cover us from prying eyes."

"Uh… have you forgotten that there's hail and an electric storm out there?" Again, Lotte tried being the voice of reason, but she was mostly afraid and her tone clearly conveyed that.

"So then what? What option do we have?" Akko whined. She wanted to start the search for her mom as soon as possible, but she just kept running on obstacle after obstacle.

"There's another way." Huh? That voice… it came from behind! Akko turned around, half-expecting a professor to be there, but… there was no one. Well, no one except Pisces. "Here, Miss Callistis." Her eyes widened when she realized that the one speaking was indeed the scaly professor.

"P-professor P-Pisces?" She somehow managed to stutter out.

"The school's drainage leads to a nearby lake." She explained. "And near it there's a leyline portal."

"The… drainage?" She scrunched up her nose. That sounded gross. A few bubbles sprouted out of the fish's mouth; Akko assumed it was the equivalent of laughter.

"It's not as bad as it sounds." She said in an obviously amused tone. "If we use the laundry room's pipe system we shouldn't find any… disgusting things in the water."

"I see…" Akko adopted a thoughtful expression, not noticing her two friends staring funnily at her.

"Are you… talking to Professor Pisces?" Lotte was the one who asked.

"Huh?" Akko startled, only then realizing just how weird this whole thing was. "Y-yeah? I think?" First she could understand Polaris and now Pisces! Just what was going on with her?

"Since when do you know fish language?" Sucy narrowed her eye.

"Since… uh…" She tried to think of an excuse. "Since I'm taking fish language as my optative. Duh." She said matter-of-factly, although she had never understood a word of fish language until two minutes ago.

"Right." Sucy still had a skeptical look on her face, but there were more important things to worry about right now.

"Professor Pisces says she knows a way out of the school." Akko informed them. "And I think that's the best plan we have right now."

"You have to take me with you, Miss Callistis." The professor said. "It's surprisingly easy to get lost in the sewers."

After sneaking out of the auditorium through an emergency exit, and making a quick stop at their room to retrieve their brooms and some of Lotte's possessions that Akko hadn't taken into account when she hastily packed the "essentials", they arrived safely at the laundry room that, as predicted, was completely empty.

"There!" Professor Pisces pointed with her fin to a big water container to the left side of the room. "That's our best entrance point."

Quickly, Akko dropped the professor in the water before turning to look at Polaris. She knew he wouldn't like this, but… it was the only way.

"Don't even think about-"

"Metamorphie fasciesse!" Whatever the cat was going to say was cut off when Akko pointed her wand towards him and turned him into a catfish; a very small one that fit in the palm of her hand, although he started trashing around and struggling to breathe. "Hey, calm down!" Honestly, as Akko picked him up and put him in the water, she couldn't help marveling at how accurate the transformation had been. Whatever Croix had given her, seemed to be making it easier for her to cast spells. The fact that Polaris was smaller than a human no doubt helped too, however.

"I hate you." Her familiar said in fish language, which made his voice sound weird. However, she resolved not to pay him any mind as she casted the metamorphosis spell on herself and got into the water, surprised when she realized she could actually breathe! It felt different than breathing air, sure, and having gills where her ears should be gave her a weir tickling sensation when the water passed through them, but… if this was the only way out of the school, then she could endure a little tickling.

"Akko… what exactly are you?" Asked Lotte, who was now to her left, swimming in the form of a wide-eyed yellow fish.

"Huh?"

"Seems like you turned yourself into a merman." Sucy cackled to her right, obviously amused by the whole thing. She had in turned been transformed into a fish as well, except she was the same grey-ish pink color of her hair.

"What?" Akko shrieked, looking down at her body, only then noticing that, indeed, she seemed to have a humanoid body, even if she did have fins, scales and could breathe in water. So… she was apparently a merman now. "Maybe I should try again…" She sighed. She'd gotten too cocky after her success transforming Polaris, and had therefore loosened her concentration while doing her own transformation.

"Hey, Akko, it's alright." Lotte assured her. "You can breathe in water, right? That's all that matters. You're still learning."

"She's right." The professor interfered, making the three young witches look at her, now that they could all understand her thanks to their fish forms. "The only thing that matters is that you can fit inside the pipes, and they're rather wide, so I don't think you'll have a problem."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" She exclaimed indignantly.

"Come on Akko, let's go." Sucy said, swimming towards the professor, who had already turned around and started going towards a hole in the far end of the water container. Lotte quickly followed Sucy, and a still frowning Akko started swimming after her friends. Behind her, a very upset catfish trailed reluctantly.

After navigating through a literal maze of pipes following the professor, they finally made it to the lake. Akko had never been there, but she knew it was part of the forest surrounding Luna Nova. And… now that she saw it, she realized it was quite big too, maybe as large as Luna Nova's main building and just as deep. Although it was difficult to tell in the darkness.

"Well girls, I'll leave you here." The professor said once they were approaching the surface. "The leyline portal is to the southern side of the lake, and I trust you will have no problem finding it."

"What will you do, professor?" Akko asked.

"I'll stay here until things have calmed down at the school." She answered. "Despite my extensive theoretical knowledge, I'm afraid I wouldn't be of much use in a land fight."

"Alright, well… thank you for your help then." Akko said with a small smile.

"No problem." She answered. "I hope you find what you're looking for. Something tells me that you will be a different witch when you set foot in the school again." But before Akko could ask the professor what she'd meant by that, she had already swam away to the dark depths of the lake.

"Let's go, Akko." Lotte gently pat her with a fin, distracting her from her thoughts about the professors' cryptic words.

"Huh? Uh… yeah! Let's get going then." She said. "To the leyline!"

The tree girls and the cat soon got to the shore and regained their original forms. They were all soaked from head to toe, but… it didn't really matter because the storm was still raging on land. Polaris was very upset about it and quickly tried shaking off the water and using Akko for cover against the rain, but it was of little help. It was as if someone was pouring buckets of ice water on top of them, but at least it wasn't hailing anymore.

"Okay, so… where's the leyline?" Akko asked through trembling teeth, looking around for a sign of the portal. That's when she saw it; a big pirate ship in the middle of the lake. At least it looked like a pirate ship, but it had magical illumination in the form of a few lamps shining blue light that hung from the rails. Another weird thing about the ship was that it didn't have masts. Huh. Could it be a ghost ship?

"No way!" Sucy exclaimed, her eye widening. "I knew she was working day and night to finish this thing, but… this looks almost complete already!"

"Who?" Now Akko was even more confused.

"Hop on." She answered with a toothy grin, getting on her broom. "I think we should go say hi."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Lotte interfered, hesitant. "We should probably be heading to the leyline."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Sucy assured her just as Akko was getting on the broom behind her. She didn't really know what this pirate ship was doing here, but she was very curious to find out, and it seemed like Sucy knew something about it. As soon as Akko had grabbed her friends' waist, Sucy took flight, followed by a weary Lotte.

Flying in the middle of the rain wasn't exactly a fun experience, and Akko truly felt so cold she feared her fingers might start falling off. But she took comfort knowing that, after the investigated this strange ship and got into the leyline, there would be no rain to worry about. Unless… did it rain inside the leylines? Huh. She'd never stopped to think about that.

Just then, they set foot on the ship's deck and got off their brooms, but… it seemed to be completely empty- Whoa! A net suddenly appeared out of nowhere and trapped the three girls inside, making them fall on the wooden surface. It was a trap!

"H-hey!" Akko screamed and trashed about trying to get out with no success. "Let me out! Sucy, Lotte, help me push this thing off!"

"Calm down!" Sucy said, annoyed, when Akko's foot accidentally kicked her while the Japanese girl tried to get out of the net.

"Well, well, captain. Look what we have here." Only when she heard a familiar voice, did Akko stop trashing around and looked up to find… yep. That was undoubtedly Amanda O'Neill herself, dressed in the Luna Nova uniform but wearing a black eye-patch that covered her left eye and holding a sword in her hand.

"A-Amanda?" Akko asked, confused. She certainly hadn't expected to find her friend here.

"Seems like these bandits think they can just board our ship and steal our treasure." She shook her head. "I say we make them walk the plank, aye captain?" She turned to address someone that was apparently behind her, and only then did Akko see Constanze standing there… wearing a pirate hat. She just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at Amanda.

"Cut the act, O'Neill." Sucy said grumpily. "Just let us out of here."

"Aww, you're both such killjoys." She pouted, but still cut the net with one swift slash, setting them free.

"Thank you." Akko said, getting off the floor. "What's all of this anyways? And why are you dressed as pirates?"

"It's… uh… kind of a long story." Amanda chuckled, turning to look at Constanze as if asking for permission to tell Akko and the others.

"Constanze asked for a special permit to participate in the Wild Hunt this year." Sucy explained before she could answer. "She's been working on this ship to be her weapon against the rowdy spirits."

"Ohhhh." Akko nodded. She had of course been watching the Wild Hunts every year since she could remember; they took place on the winter solstice and were usually a pretty big event within the witching community. She always thought the hunters with their magical bows and arrows were pretty cool and had dreamed of participating herself many times before.

As to how Sucy knew about it… well, it wasn't really that much of a surprise. Aside from Amanda and Jasminka, Sucy was the closest to Constanze out of their group, mainly because they both liked the same movies and videogames and enjoyed silence and solitude in order to research their particular interests, so they hung out together a lot.

"That's why you've been missing all day?" Lotte spoke for the first time since they'd set foot on the ship. "Were you helping Constanze make the ship?"

"Oh, no! This thing is done already." Amanda laughed. "We just went for a test ride around the country, but… unfortunately we got caught in the storm before we could make it back to Luna Nova."

"Not ready." Stanbot, which was standing next to Constanze, spoke up with its metallic voice. "Weapons need calibrations. Net needs reinforcements."

"Yeah, I know." Amanda rolled her eyes. "But the ship itself is ready, isn't it? I mean, it can fly!" In response, Constanze gave her a firm nod. "But anyways, what are you all doing here? Were you searching for us?"

"No." Sucy deadpanned.

"Actually, we kinda… have to go to the Cavendish mansion." Akko said awkwardly. She didn't know if it was the best plan to tell the girls from the green team about it, but they were her friends, and she felt she owed them as much.

"Why? You gonna search for Diana?" Amanda raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

"No, it's… a little more complicated than that." She sighed. She really didn't want to have to explain everything again.

"Blood witches are real and are attacking Luna Nova." Sucy was the one who spoke. "Finnelan lost her mind and gave Akko an important mission."

"Uhh…" Amanda stared at her like she had sprouted another head. "I don't know which one of those statements sounds more unbelievable."

"I'll explain later." Akko said. "Maybe." She added, remembering that they had to go now. "For now… think you can tell us where the leyline portal is?"

"Well…" Amanda started speaking, but then trailed off and adopted a thoughtful expression, like she'd just had an idea. "Hey! What if we take you to the Cavendish mansion?!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. "You can explain everything to us on the way there, and I bet this ship travels faster than any broom could. Plus, we it's not like we can go to Luna Nova now, since it's under attack."

"Ahh…" Akko hesitated. She felt bad enough about dragging Lotte and Sucy into this whole mess in the first place, and she didn't want the green team to get involved as well, but… the idea of traveling across the country in a ship instead of a broom sounded undoubtedly better. Plus, she'd need all the help she could find for the upcoming trials that no doubt awaited her. "I don't know… What do you say, Constanze?" She ended up addressing the captain.

"Akko plus ship equals bad idea." Stanbot spoke up, which made his creator's eyes widen before she tried to shush him.

"Is that a no?" The Japanese girl sighed. Constanze then open her mouth, closed it again and adopted a thoughtful expression before shrugging. That was an 'I don't know' if Akko had ever seen one.

"Hey, why don't you come belowdecks?" Amanda suggested. "Jas is preparing something for dinner, and you can dry up and then tell us what this important mission is about and what the hell is happening at Luna Nova. Sounds good?"

"Sure." Lotte was the first one to speak up, obviously relieved to have an opportunity to escape from the raging storm.

"Yeah… I guess some food from Jasminka doesn't sound half bad." Akko agreed.

"What are we waiting for then?" Sucy said and immediately pushed past them to follow Constanze, not waiting for her teammates.

"Man, this is starting to sound like an adventure!" Amanda exclaimed as the three remaining girls started following their friends. "Can't wait to hear what kind of mess you've gotten into this time, Akko!"

"Yeah… it's pretty big." She smiled at Amanda, feeling comforted now that they had encountered the green team. Maybe this mission wouldn't be so impossible after all, as long as she had all her friends for support.

A/N: Well, that was long. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, because the next one will be the beginning of the 'Cavendish arc', as I like to call it. And yes, that means we'll be seeing a certain cabbage witch ;)

As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review/favorite/follow if you're liking this fic. I'll see you in two weeks (hopefully).

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.