Chapter 15: Training with little miss perfect – Part 1.

Akko didn't exactly have the most pleasant of nights sleeping at the Cavendish mansion for the first time.

Diana's room was as big and fancy as she expected, but thankfully she didn't have to actually sleep in there. Kind of. The main area contained Diana's bed, a huge wardrobe and a dresser, and was separated from the Akko's new quarters by a rotating bookshelf. Akko's sleeping place appeared to be a study of sorts, though thankfully the servants had removed the couch and installed a bed instead.

The bed itself was… fancy. With a huge canopy hanging over Akko's head and far too many pillows to be acceptable, in her opinion. It was also… too soft, perhaps? Maybe it's just that she had already gotten used to sleeping at the Luna Nova's hard-as-rocks mattresses, but… even her bed at the Astronomy tower was never this soft. So she remained awake for hours, tossing and turning as she tried to find a comfortable position.

There was also the smell. Maybe it was partially due to her newly heightened senses, but… this whole place reeked of perfume. It was a pleasant smell at first; the subtle aroma of roses, lilies, and other flowers, but… after a while it became overwhelming. It seemed to be pervading every single air particle in the room and transferring to her clothes, her hair and even her skin the longer she stayed in there.

The musty, leathery smell of the many books that stood on the bookshelves covering every wall seemed to help offset it somewhat, but it wasn't enough to make it tolerable.

And to top it all off… the silence was the most unnerving. The only sounds she could hear were her own breathing and the occasional meow muttered by Polaris in his sleep. But outside the mansion even the wind seemed to have died down, as if waiting in anticipation for something. Akko could have sworn there were eyes watching her on the branches of the trees that she could see from the massive window that adorned the room.

And as if all that wasn't enough, her mind kept spiraling and spiraling with questions about her mother. Why did she want her to come here? Why make her train for the initiation? It's not like she could magically become a Cavendish! More so… it probably wasn't a coincidence that Bernadette had died shortly before her own mother disappeared, right? Was that what made her mom decide to send her here for summer break? Did she think something similar would happen to her soon and planned to send her away and out of danger? But… if that was really the case, then how did she think she was going to do the training? It's not like she had even an ounce of magic before Croix interfered, and surely her mom didn't plan for that! Or… did she?

Those and many more questions haunted her all night, barely letting her sleep at all. That's why, when morning arrived and the first few rays of sunlight came peeking over the horizon, the last thing she wanted was to get off bed.

"Get up." She heard Diana's cold voice waking her up, and all she could do was bury herself further into the warm covers.

"Five more minutes." She mumbled.

"Akko!" Diana yelled in exasperation and tried to yank the covers off of Akko, but the stubborn girl held on tight. "We don't have time for this."

"We have all day." She yawned, still refusing to get up just yet. Diana just shook her head in exasperation and then got out her wand.

"Tia Freire!"

"…Huh?" Akko was very confused when she heard the flying spell coming from Diana's lips, but her confusion turned into concern when her bed suddenly started moving upwards. "H-hey! What…?" She was interrupted when the bed inclined at a steep angle, forcing her to cling to the mattress in order to not fall down… except she forgot that the mattress wasn't actually stuck to the bed and ended up falling on her back anyways and bringing it on top of her.

"Oww…" She complained at the rather rude awakening, already feeling soreness on her back. Thankfully, the covers had helped mitigate the fall somewhat.

"I told you to wake up fifteen minutes ago!" Diana yelled without a hint of compassion after she returned the bed to its original position. "And then I come check on you, and you're still in bed! Unbelievable!"

"Ugh, give me a break." Akko answered as she pushed the mattress off of her. "I didn't even hear you the first time you called me."

"I don't know why I was expecting anything else." The strict girl crossed her arms over her chest. "You certainly look like you lack discipline."

"And you look like the type who wouldn't know fun if it bit you on the butt." Akko shot back.

"I-I…" Diana looked flustered and confused for a moment, like she wasn't expecting Akko to fight back even with how rude she was being. "Magic isn't about fun." She answered, trying to compose herself. "It's an ancient art that requires discipline and the utmost respect to be used responsibly."

"If you say so." Akko shrugged as she got up. "For me, magic has always been a synonym for happiness, and I really don't think it's as complicated as you're making it out to be."

"We'll see if you'll keep thinking like that after today's training." The blonde girl smirked almost maliciously. "Get dressed, I'd recommend something comfortable. I'll see you outside in ten minutes."

And with that, she was gone, leaving a sleepy and confused Akko to clean up the mess that was now her room and somehow find something appropriate to wear.

Ugh. Seriously, this girl was just the worst! She would have almost preferred to be trained by Hannah and Barbara.

…

Almost.

It was cold outside at this hour of the day, with the wind blowing so fast and sweat sticking to every inch of her exposed skin. Granted… maybe that was her own fault for choosing to wear shorts and a simple cotton t-shirt, but… those were the most comfortable clothes she'd brought from home. She certainly didn't expect any sort of training that would involve this.

And by "this" she of course meant what they'd been doing for the past twenty minutes already; running. Yep. The first part of the training apparently involved running around the mansion for no reason when they could barely even see the road because the grey clouds covered the sun still rising on the horizon.

Why running? Well… Diana had refused to answer her questions until after they were finished, but she remembered her mom telling her something about it. Ursula was always very… fit, to say the least, despite being apparently a normal school teacher; she woke up early almost every single day to go out running and do other kinds of exercise, and had even made Akko train with her several times (which is why she had been able to keep up with Diana so far). When asked about it, she had said that a witch's magical energy is partially linked to her physical energy, so if she wanted to do advanced spells, she needed to take care of her body as well.

Sure, most witches neglected that part of training, but there was a reason her mother was the strongest among them. So… yeah, so far she didn't have any complaints with this. Except that the cold morning air seemed to be hurting her throat. Ugh.

"Akko." Diana's strict voice pulled her out of her contemplations. "You're falling behind." At the remark, Akko quickened up her place until she was directly next to the young prodigy. But… she couldn't deny her muscles were starting to get tired already.

"It's been months since I last went for a morning run." She complained, glancing at Diana, who… unfortunately didn't appear to be tired at all. Sure, her face was a bit sweaty and her cheeks had a nice pink color to them, but she was barely agitated, and her whole appearance was calm and composed, though determined. If anything, the blush made her look even more perfect than usual! It was unfair.

"Thank the Nine that it's just running for now." Diana answered without turning to look at her. "We don't do extremely strenuous exercises, like some witches, but it's still probably more than your body is used to."

"Hah! I'm pretty strong myself, you know?" Akko answered with a smirk, despite already starting to feel a little tired. But she would never admit that out loud.

However, in that very moment, she noticed something moving on the corner of her eye, and when she turned to see what it was, she found… two dogs? Hounds, to be precise, who had apparently come to run beside them, tongues sticking out and tails wiggling.

"Awww! Who are these cute boys?" She asked, stopping dead in her tracks and turning to address the dogs, who didn't seem to mind the attention, as they quickly approached her and started sniffing her curiously with their big wet noses. On her part, Akko cautiously tried to pet them and was happy to find they responded well to the action.

"Akko!" Diana yelled, also stopping a few feet away from her. "Come on, keep running! We don't have time for this."

"B-but…"

"Human smells nice." One dog told the other, which distracted Akko when she realized she was also able to understand them.

"Like a snack." The other agreed, burying his nose on Akko's palm.

"Diana said cats aren't snacks…"

"Diana also said cookies aren't for dogs." The second dog obviously disagreed. "I love her, but sometimes she's just plain wrong, you know?"

"Cats aren't snacks!" Akko decided to interfere in their conversation. "They're friends."

"The human talks!" They startled.

"I'm Akko." She really didn't need another animal calling her 'human'. She could forgive Polaris for now because technically he was still a baby, but if these dogs knew their owners' name, they could damn well learn hers too.

"Cat-human sounds better." The dog answered. "It's more descriptive."

"Agreed." The other nodded.

"B-but-"

"I'm Toby." Said the one who wanted to eat cats.

"And I'm Todd." The other also introduced himself.

"And why should I call you by your names if you won't call me Akko?"

"Well, you can always call us 'hey, you two, stop that'."

"Yes, or 'that's not a chewing toy'."

"That's how Diana calls us sometimes." They finished at the same time.

"Akko!" The girl in question was startled when she heard Diana's voice closer than expected. She turned around and saw Diana glaring at her. "What on Earth do you think you're doing?"

"Uhh… trying to convince Toby and Todd that cats aren't snacks?" She finished with an awkward smile.

"Wha- but…" The usually composed Diana stuttered and then looked down at her dogs, who instantly sat down and wiggled their tails.

"We're good boys." They said.

"You know dog language?!" She pretty much shouted.

"Oh? Yeah!" She nodded happily. "And also cat language and fish language." Upon Diana's incredulous stare, she just looked to the side sheepishly. "It's easy for me to understand animals, okay?"

"I…" Diana trailed off, apparently unsure of what to say. "Why would you even learn dog language?!"

"Why not?" Akko raised an eyebrow.

"Because witches don't use dogs as familiars! They don't have magic." She explained. "Some have wolves, sure, but that's still very rare."

"Okay, but dogs can still be friends." She argued. "Isn't that reason enough to learn their language?"

"They probably only say they want cookies anyways. You don't need to learn a whole language to understand that."

Well… she's not wrong about that. Akko thought.

"So… Todd and Toby are your… pets?" Akko really didn't think Diana was the type to own two dogs just because. With her, it seemed everything had a purpose.

"Like you?" Toby asked.

"Are you her new pet?" Todd added. Akko decided to ignore them.

"Hunting dogs." She clarified, but quickly continued talking upon Akko's horrified look. "We don't hunt animals. The Cavendish mansion is a very ancient and magical place, which attracts many spirits and magical creatures that could cause problems at the nearby villages."

"We sniff those big rats out." Todd spoke proudly, and Toby nodded, puffing his chest out.

"It is their job to help me track such creatures so that I can then relocate them." Diana finished her explanation.

"Ohhh, I see." Akko nodded. "But… do spirits really smell?"

"Yes." Diana answered courtly. "Now, can we please continue our training?"

"Oh? Right, right. Sorry, I just… I love animals." She gave her a sheepish smile that Diana answered with an exasperated huff.

"Let us continue then."

The two kept running for another half hour, this time accompanied by the two dogs, and by the end of it, Akko could barely keep moving. Her legs felt like they had been stabbed by a thousand needles and then set on fire! But she didn't complain. There was no way she would show Diana just how tired she truly was.

Thankfully, breakfast was next and she even got to see her friends and talk to them for a few minutes before Diana started to rush her to finish eating so that their training could continue.

After breakfast came… library time. And what a huge library it was! Why did the Cavendish even need this many books? She seriously doubted anyone could read all of them in one single lifetime! The bookshelves reached the ceiling high above them, but there weren't ladders to climb them, which must have been why Diana brought her broom with her. And every single inch of every wall was covered in bookshelves properly labelled with the subjects the books were about, except for the many small windows that brought light into the place.

Akko was surprised to see that many of those books were about mundane subjects like Politics and Math and History. She would have assumed everything in there was about magic.

"Akko." Diana called her when she just kept looking around the library. That's when she noticed that Diana was sitting on a table already, with an open book in front of her. Quickly, Akko went to sit next to her.

"S-sorry…"

"Today we need to study the history of my family." She started, looking at the pages of that thick, old book. Akko saw it had some illustrations that appeared to be handmade. Actually… the letters seemed to be handmade too. How old was that thing?

"The Cavendish." Akko sighed, anticipating a boring history lesson about a bunch of aristocrats that probably came to power via exploitation of the working class.

"Did you take history classes at Luna Nova?" Diana asked.

"A little." She shrugged. "We saw something about the blood witches and the witches' hunts."

"I was afraid that'd be the case." She deflated slightly and then closed the book, only to open it again in the first page, where there was an illustration of an enormous tree, sprouting from the Earth and reaching into space. Its branches seemed to touch the stars.

"Many years ago, when the first humans started to roam Earth, the magic came from the stars." She began her explanation. "Yggdrasil, the sacred tree, connected the skies with nature, allowing every single human being to use magic, if they so desired."

"Every single human?" Akko repeated, eyes widening. That sounded awesome! She wished it was the same now, that way she wouldn't have to rely on Croix's technology.

"Indeed." She pursed her lips. "But human greed knows no bounds, and soon enough a few misguided individuals sought to have more power for themselves, and in their attempt to obtain it, they destroyed Yggdrasil."

"What?" Akko exclaimed. How was that even possible? Wasn't it a magical tree?

"All that is left from it now are the Leylines that we use to travel all around the world." She continued. "But humanity lost its ability to use magic forever… All of them except nine women, guided by the Olde Witch Woodward, who managed to rescue a small part of the sacred tree."

"The Nine Olde Witches, you mean?" Her mother had told her about them quite a few times, and they were apparently a big deal within the witching community.

"Yes." She nodded. "They sealed this small branch in Arcturus forest, so that no human could ever find it, to protect it. As a result, they became the only people capable of using magic."

Oh! So that's why some called them the First Witches. It was said all current families of witches descended from them.

"The seal, however, can be broken." Diana continued. "It needs seven powerful spells and the Rod of Seven Stars, Claiomh Solais."

"The Shiny Rod!" Akko exclaimed, remembering the seven gems it contained. "My mom's rod."

"The Shiny Rod was a fake!" She argued. "No one has ever seen the real Claiomh Solais!"

"And how are you so sure?" She pouted. For once, she was sure that it was the real deal. Her mom was the Chosen One, after all!

"If Chariot really was the Chosen One and she had the Claiomh Solais, don't you think the War of Witches would have ended by now?" She argued. "When you open the seal to the Grand Triskelion, you get access to the magic of the ancient tree, which is said to be so powerful that it can alter reality, granting you any wish you want." She looked pointedly at Akko. "She could have simply wished for blood witches to be eliminated and the war would be over."

"Well…" Akko pursed her lips, trying to think of a reasonable explanation and remembering what Diana had said. "Maybe she didn't have the seven spells."

"Even then!" Diana continued arguing passionately. "The Claiomh Solais is said to be the most powerful wand to have ever been created, and was made by Woodward herself. With such a tool, don't you think she would have had no problem killing all blood witches?"

"I don't think this is a matter of having the right tools…" Akko said, remembering Croix. "My mom is a very gentle and compassionate person. I don't think she'd like to kill all blood witches."

"Then she's a traitor." Diana said with finality. "It doesn't matter what she wants. If she's the Chosen One, she doesn't get to be neutral. She has to choose who will die; witches or blood witches. If she doesn't do anything… she has chosen destruction for both."

Akko stayed silent after that, desperately trying to find an argument to defend her mother. She knew she wasn't a traitor, and she knew she was the Chosen One! She just… didn't know how to convince Diana of that. That girl sure knew how to make some good points, and if Akko didn't know her mom was the Chosen One and not all blood witches were evil, she'd probably be convinced already. But she couldn't just say "actually, my mom was in love with a blood witch, so… that's probably why she didn't end the war back then, but she's most likely fighting blood witches as we speak". That just wouldn't go well.

"Ahem." Diana cleared her throat and straightened herself, appearing more composed now, even if seconds before she had been red-faced and agitated by their conversation. She looked so perfect and proper! How annoying. "My apologies for going on a tangent for a moment." She said calmly. "We shall continue with the lesson now."

"Oh, right." Akko nodded, trying to recall what they were saying before her mom was brought up. "You said that the Nine Olde Witches sealed the Grand… uhh… the thing in the forest of Arcturus?"

"The Grand Triskelion, yes." She confirmed. "And then they became the only people able to use magic." Akko nodded when Diana looked at her to see if she was following the explanation; she remembered that. "When they had daughters, however, they inherited their magic as well. And their daughters' daughters, and so on."

"So… they're the ancestors of all witches, right?"

"Exactly." She nodded. "But most witches don't know which Olde Witch their family comes from. Only the Cavendish."

"And what makes you so special?" Akko raised an eyebrow.

"My ancestors have kept a strict record of our family tree for fifteen centuries." She announced proudly as she turned a few pages before landing on an illustration of a woman with long curly blonde hair feeding a unicorn. She had a weird witch hat with a bird skull on it too. "This is Beatrix Cavendish, the first witch of our bloodline."

Beatrix? Hadn't Daryl said something about them having to prove their worth to Beatrix during the initiation?

"Is she still alive?" Akko asked without thinking.

"In a way." Diana nodded, to her surprise. "The most powerful witches turn into sacred trees upon their deaths." She explained, no doubt noticing Akko's confused face. "The Nine are no exception, of course. And Beatrix's tree is here at the Cavendish mansion."

"I see." She really didn't but she would never admit it to Diana. "So… we're supposed to prove our worth to… a tree?" Upon her question, the blonde girl could just sigh in exasperation and shake her head. Unsurprisingly, even when doing such a simple action she managed to look elegant somehow. Maybe it was the way those perfect blonde locks moved. Ugh, how Akko hated her!

"Beatrix's spirit lives in her tree, albeit dormant." She explained. "Only once we complete the ritual will she awaken and give her blessing to one of us."

"Right, right." Akko nodded, adopting a thoughtful expression that was really meant to hide the fact she was barely keeping up with the other girl's words. "And… what is this blessing for, exactly?"

"It would allow me to use some secret arts and spells that have been passed down in my family for generations, as well as to invoke the symbol of the Cavendish, the unicorn, at will." She answered. "More so, I need it in order to become the leader of the Cavendish." She then paused and shot Akko a glare full of resentment. "In someone like you, however, it'd be pretty much useless."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She pouted.

"Don't take it personal." She responded, unimpressed. "Beatrix's blessing will only work on a Cavendish, that's just how things are."

"Oh yeah? Then why did my mom make Bernadette promise she'd train me and let me undergo the initiation?"

"That… I still don't know unfortunately." She deflated. "But my mom wasn't one to take these kinds of things lightly, so there must have been a reason." It appeared like she was trying to convince herself of that last part rather than Akko. "Regardless, I believe this whole mystery will only get resolved when we complete the ritual and speak to Beatrix."

"So…"

"So pay attention and give it your all on this training." Diana's voice turned stricter than usual somehow. "We only have a month to make you a witch worthy of seeing Beatrix, and the lesson is just beginning."

Akko could only groan in response and continue listening as Diana's gaze returned to the book and she searched for a page that talked about Beatrix's daughters and their many accomplishments, and she tuned out almost immediately. She didn't want to, of course, but she couldn't help it! This was such a bizarre situation and a part of her felt like she was wasting precious time that she felt would be better spent searching for her mother, but… at the same time, she had a feeling this was all her mother's plan. A plan she'd had since the very beginning, many years ago when she adopted her. She wanted her to go through this training and make the initiation for a reason, and hopefully that reason was related to her own disappearance. Maybe. At least, that's what she hoped.

A/N: Well, well, looks like Akko is already suffering and it's only the first day XD. I almost feel bad (not really). Sorry about the delay, but I hope it was worth the wait, and if you liked it please leave a review/favorite/follow if you want to support me. Thanks for reading!

Also, I posted the new fic cover on my Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram if you want to check it out! (I'm Tania Hylian in all).

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.