A/N: I had a recent inspiration to write an Akko and Andrew story - there's just not enough on them!
Special thanks to my beta-reader Kamil the Awesome.
Disclaimer: I do not own Little Witch Academia.
Under the Blue Moon
Chapter 1 - Encounter
The white marble pathway up to the looming manor glowed under the blue moon's light. Akko gulped, hoping none of the dozens of guards in livery of equal value to her parent's cottage would notice. She clenched her hands, nearly wiping them against the shimmersilk dress she had slipped into. A hand snaked around the elbow of her right arm, and she glanced over at the reassuring smile of Lotte. Even with a mask over her face, she'd know her best friend without a doubt.
"Sorry," Akko whispered. "Don't know why I'm so nervous."
"You're not the only one," Lotte admitted. "The other girls will be nervous as well. Who knows what the Earl or his son, the Viscount, will do to us."
"It's the Blue Moon, though," whispered Amanda, stepping up to be right behind them. "If they're so concerned with our kind arriving, then perhaps they should bolster their border guard. It might only be once every hundred years, but they know well enough when it comes."
Akko nodded, even as the uncertainty in her gut returned with roiling force. For over a thousand years, the magical realms had been divided between the witchy realm and the vampiric fiefs. Her own homeland of Japan had long been the domain of witching folk, along with the English realm that hosted the Luna Nova Magical Academy. Admittedly, she had needed to pass through unknown realms to reach school, for vampires secretly ruled most of the lands between them.
She'd never see the sunny lands of California or Florida thanks to them.
The nearest vampire realm was in the Welsh countryside, and with the unique magic of the blue moon glowing upon the world, made sneaking across the magical border that were the Welsh mountains easier than it had any right to be. It was only thanks to the illusionary magics of Sucy that they'd made it this far.
"Remember," the pasty skin witch had grumbled after casting a spell upon them, already dressed appropriately for a masquerade. "Our scents will only be hidden from vampires for an hour—and it takes a few minutes alone just to reach Earl Hanbridge's estate."
With the warning given by Sucy fresh in her mind, Akko slightly increased her stride. She moved swiftly for the manor entrance, and the stairs up to the entry. They were decorated simply with a faintly red carpet bound to the indentations of the stairs by glimmering metal rods. She'd bet yen over pounds they were solid gold.
A man stopped them at the door. He held out a hand, into which Akko placed six forged invitations. She was never going to tell her friends for just how long she had been plotting to get them into this masquerade. Curiosity about the vampiric world drove her desire to be here on this night, and she hoped what she would gleam in the time allotted by Sucy's spell would give her an edge in her quest to be worthy of the Shiny Rod, the great relic of the witchy realms.
As if I'll ever allow that Diana Cavendish claim what will be mine.
The man allowed them to pass, handing back the invitations. She pocketed them into a hand purse, magicked so she could put whatever she wished into it. Akko preferred not to think about the esoteric and destructive items she had packed away just in case something went wrong.
She ignored the voice in her mind that suggested something always went wrong where she was concerned.
They were guided from the entry hall and down a wide corridor, lined with paintings of the Earl Hanbridge going all the way back to before witches and vampires began hating each other. Most were intimidating, painted with rocky, stern looks or faint sneers. A few of the girls whispered and giggled about some of them.
Akko couldn't find the energy to do as they did.
Eventually they reached the ballroom, and even Akko struggled to not gape at the sight before them. Bleached white walls rose in slightly circular panels, separated by golden embroidering upon square pillars and off-color, bulging Corinthian columns. They rose to peaked arches, all done in polished gold, which blended into the fanciest patterns she could imagine being crafted from white marble and gold leaf. And above them all was a great ceiling of stained glass; blues and greens and yellows and whites of shades so many that Akko could've sworn for a moment she was back at the school and within the Great Hall of the Rod.
Her astonishment was mirrored five times over, and a slight smirk formed upon her face.
"Close your mouth ladies or flies will come in," Akko said, close to giggling.
"Oh shut up Akko," retorted Amanda, with crossed arms. "If anything, you pressured us into going."
"I only came because Akko said vampires have advanced tech that would advance my research," noted Constanze, her green eyes scanning the large interior with feverish curiosity.
Jasminka nodded. "Let me know if you spot the table with food. I'm hungry."
Akko smirked. "Positive peer pressure is still positive, nonetheless, and it seems to me you all had your own reasons for coming with me, admit it."
"I confess I'm only here to ensure you don't get us into trouble."
"Don't jynx it Lotte!" Sucy whispered harshly. "I'm wishing for something interesting to happen. I've been bored since Akko's last fiasco."
"W-what are you talking about? You make it seem like I always cause trouble!" Akko blubbered, wishing she were more offended than she actually was.
The other girls stared at her, blank and tired. She turned away from them, ignoring how their gazes burned on the back of her head, and grumbled, "I'm going to explore. Rendezvous in fifty."
She moved forward, heading for the people gathered on the far side of the ballroom. There was an orchestra along one wall, and a buffet with drinks against the other. While Akko spotted Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka heading off in other directions, there were two who did not vanish for other places.
"Must you two follow me?"
"Naturally," replied Lotte.
"Someone has to," Sucy added, for good measure.
Akko huffed. As they drew closer to where people were dancing, she noticed something: the music was beginning to change. The tempo was increasing, and most of the people within the proximity of the dancing area were shifting partners. She grinned, quickening her pace. She had always enjoyed a height advantage over her two friends, and was able to plunge into those gathered to dance before either of them could stop her.
The music moved into something slow, methodical. Akko wished she knew more music, so she could tell whether this was going to be a somber piece or something of a more romantic inclination. Before she could begin moving towards the far edge of the crowd, she crashed into someone.
The mask she had placed upon her face, white and trimmed in red with seven stars to represent her greatest wish, slipped away.
Viscount Andrew, son and sole heir to Earl Hanbridge, looked down upon the gathering for his father's ball. The ballroom was immaculate as always, though the thrall servants would be busy through the early morning hours cleaning up after the vampiric nobility of several countries. The English nobility, dominated by the witchy realm forged by the Romans and the Saxons, would never be invited.
Almost a shame, he thought. It might be a challenge, trying to seduce a witch.
"Your father will be keeping an eye out for you," commented one of his friends. Andrew glanced back at
Frank and Louis. They were the sons of barons who lived upon his father's lands and had been introduced to him as babes in nappies.
"I am well aware," Andrew huffed. "I have no taste for politics. Sometimes I'm grateful that London falls within the witchy realm."
"Best not let your father hear you speak that way," Louis muttered.
Andrew scoffed. His father was more than aware of his opinions on politics and his birthright, yet it changed nothing. One day he would be Earl of the Westerlands, or those regions of Wales fully within the domain of the vampiric race. Their fief had grown with the centuries as power waxed and waned across Britain.
"He should be thankful I'm here and not elsewhere," he ended up saying.
Frank leaned in close to Louis, holding up a hand, and whispered something. Andrew glared back at them but didn't press to ask what it could be. He knew his friends well enough to bet they'd tease or taunt him over whatever was said soon enough. They might try to be patient, but he was better at that game.
"And where else could you look for a possible spouse?"
Andrew ignored how his face flushed slightly. There was no point of contention between him and his father greater than the push to find a future wife. He would eighteen by the end of the month, and it was expected of him, as his father's heir and future Earl, to be married by year's end. Despite their long-lived lives, ensuring the family bloodline continued was paramount. Their family might not have the fifty cadet branches most vampiric nobility possessed, but they were plentiful enough that the line of succession was more a formality than anything truly serious.
"You wouldn't need to be too worried about finding a wife if your father had given you siblings," said Louis, slapping a hand on Andrew's shoulder.
"It's the only thing anyone has ever had on the Earl," Frank added absentmindedly. "One son. Not even some daughters to marry off."
Andrew stood there, stiff for several seconds before he grumbled, "I'm getting a drink."
Before either of his friends could respond, the Viscount stormed away. He followed the balcony's balustrade to the right-hand stairs and descended to the ballroom floor, wide short steps bringing him down as though he were gliding. The human orchestra enthralled for the night transitioned between songs, and Andrew found he was drawn not to a table of beverages, but into the crowd of dancers. Partners were being exchanged, preparing to shift into the new song.
Why not, he thought wanly. I could use a dance, if only to distract my father.
As he moved through the crowd, seeking someone who might be worth the effort to trouble with a dance, a body crashed into him. Andrew reached out the moment he realized the young woman he had collided with had stumbled and was about to collapse. Her mask was dislodged, a lovely thing of white and red with seven stars. It played well with her pink dress, cut low to expose her milky shoulders and the pale tops of her breasts. He knew, in the back of his mind, that witches worshiped the stars, but this event was a masquerade upon the night of the Blue Moon. There were plenty of vampires playing at acting as witches.
He grabbed her and pulled her back towards him. Her lovely red eyes, which glowed under the candlelight of the chandeliers, widened with surprise. Andrew spoke, acting upon instinct and desire.
"Dance with me," commanded the vampire, his voice husky, yet refined. Akko's cheeks flushed a bright red, which matched her eyes. She imagined he was handsome, under the mask that hid his cheeks and brow. She hoped he was enamored with her eyes, unique amongst both their peoples. He was definitely a vampire, with sharp incisors visible when he spoke.
His words echoed in her mind. Dance with me. It was all too tempting, to allow herself to stay with him and accept the dance. But then Akko realized her face was bare to his gaze, and were it not for Sucy's spell, he would know what she was.
As the music swelled and the dancers began moving, she rushed off. Akko allowed her ambient magics to guide her through the crowd, moving around them with deceptive ease. The vampire wouldn't be able to follow her, which was to her benefit. She had maybe forty minutes before the spell would fade and the vampires would know what she was.
It took her longer than she liked to push through the crowd of dancers and reach the edge of those gathered. None of them had given her nasty looks, though Akko doubted any who had noticed her cared enough about a single girl fleeing the dance floor.
At the far edge of the refreshments table was an open doorway, and she rushed through it. Akko continued on, following hallways at her leisure. She ignored the decorations; there were enough similarities to those she saw daily at Luna Nova to be impressed by the Earl's manor.
That was until she came upon a wide balcony just beyond three peaceful arches. She stepped towards the exposed outdoors, staring out at everything beyond her. It was not the balustrade or the creeping vines which grabbed her attention, but the light of the blue moon. Everything was ethereal, under the light of the night sky. Akko hesitantly walked towards the railings, which overlooked a tall fountain of marble and a walkway that passed through trees manipulated into Romanesque arches.
"How lovely," she whispered, forgetting about witches and vampires for a few seconds.
"You certainly are."
Akko flinched, even as she turned around. The very vampire she had crashed into stood behind her. Now that they were away from the ballroom and the dancing people, she was able to take in the sight of him. His mask was covered in red scales, emulating the dragon of Wales no doubt. He wore a black suit of a cut she'd never seen before, the lapels dropping beneath the breast where they flared outwards. Thick white bands of fabric framed the black jacket where it exposed his dress shirt and the thick tie he wore. A red gem, the same shade of her eyes, was cinched right beneath the throat of his neck.
Silent seconds passed before he withdrew something from behind his back. Akko watched, gut plummeting, as he held out her mask.
"You lost this," the vampire said. "Please, take it. And…and if it wouldn't be an inconvenience, I would ask a dance from you."
She said nothing. She didn't trust her voice, and a single slip would reveal what she was, regardless of the spell around her.
Eventually he sighed. Instead of approaching her or walking away, he removed his own mask. As she had feared, he was frustratingly handsome. He set aside their masks upon the thick ridge of a pillar and took a step towards her.
Akko stepped back, passing under a wide arch and onto the balcony that had gotten her to stop.
"We're alike now," the man said, as if his words could reassure her. "Maskless, exposed."
He took a step forward, but this time Akko remained fixed in place. She remained upon the balcony as he continued approaching, taking her stillness as acceptance. Eventually he reached her and extended a gloved hand.
Warily, she took the hand. It wrapped around hers. Where she expected cold, there was warmth. The tales of vampires being frigid was untrue as his other hand found her waist. Akko took small steps as he drew her closer, and her free hand found his shoulder. Muscle flexed under her feather light touch, and a strange feeling bubbled in her, warm and wanting. He didn't smell of blood, as she had been told, but of the woods.
Akko was struck by how comfortable she was as they danced without music. He might be a vampire, and she was a witch, but there was something human about the moment they shared. Time slipped away as a world all their own formed in the light of the Blue Moon.
And then she felt something slide along her skin. Akko tensed, and the vampire she danced with paused. His nostrils flared as he sniffed, and horrid realization came over him.
"Witch," he muttered.
Akko took several steps backwards, but the vampire moved with her. He pressed her against the balustrade, the stone pushing painfully into the small of her back.
Fury washed away his handsome features as he snarled, fangs barred. "Are you here to kill my father, witch?"
There was no point trying to argue with him. He had made up his mind, and thus Akko could do only one thing: flee. Magic filled her limbs and she shoved him. All witches had a unique talent for a branch of magic, allowing them to exercise all aspects of it without the need for incantations. She had always felt grateful hers was in the realm of body strengthening. However, that was not enough to make her way to safety.
The vampire stumbled in the wake of her shove, face alight with surprise that she had overpowered him. She immediately turned away and climbed over the railing.
"Tia Freyre!" she called out, leaping. A magic broom immediately appeared beneath her, and she grabbed on, just as bells tolled. Her gut threatened to collapse as she flew away. The vampire shouted after her, words falling upon ears that did not wish to hear his words.
TBC
A/N: Reviews are appreciated. Story is also posted on Ao3!
