Author's Notes:
Special thanks to Muset for proof-reading this chapter. Some lines in this chapter won't be as good as they are if I didn't get corrected every now and then. So not all the praises (if there's any to begin with) should go to me.
I know I said I'll continue on the original fanfic for two to three more chapters before getting back to the rewrite, but I simply hit a writer's block there and decided to do what I can first with my rewrite! So enjoy this first.
This chapter is heavily inspired by a chapter in Teri Terio's LWA manga. But fear not, I put ample explanations to make non-manga readers understand what's going on.
Also, I've been playing around with my drawings and end up messing around with Jericho's design once again. The latest ideas I have of him is recently posted on my Twitter, AccurateSpino. Lucky you if you read this chapter near the time its uploaded, lest you'll have to scroll a lot to find it! Though it's relatively easy to find Jericho in there, since he's like the only male I draw on my Twitter.
For you PC readers! For the best reading experience, larger and change the fonts to your taste, narrow the paragraphs to 3/4 or 1/2 (seriously these first two are important it makes the page look like a book) and keep a healthy distance for your eyes.
Today is golem-making class. The excitement is palpable, and no student shies from rolling up their sleeves to get their hands dirty. But much to her teammates' chagrin, Akko's energetic golem-making leaves a mess of materials on their shared workstation. Sculpting tools lie abandoned after use, not to be returned to its place, and her erratic sculpting method disturbs her teammates especially Sucy.
Sucy narrows her eyes as another piece of clay gets splattered to her side of the table.
"I swear to all the mushrooms in Arcturus, if you do that again I'll—"
Her complaints fall on deaf ears as Akko makes no effort to slow down. Such was the intensity of Akko's focus that she failed to care for her surroundings. She also fails to notice the approach of two certain troublemakers.
Barbara flanks Akko and swiftly swipes the golem she's working on. She holds it up and studies the golem curiously.
"What's this, what do we have here? Hannah, can you tell what this is supposed to be?"
Hannah soon flanks Akko as well, replying, "I'm afraid I don't have the slightest clue of what it's supposed to be".
Akko turns to the two and folds her arms in front of her indignantly. With a confident smirk, Akko answers, "That's a Shiny Chariot golem. Isn't it cute?"
Hannah and Barbara blink and exchange confused glances.
"That performer? Again, Akko?" Hannah says.
"This doesn't even look remotely similar!" retorts Barbara.
The two break into laughter, much to Akko's chagrin. Akko tries to snatch the golem from Barbara's prying hands, but Barbara would simply whisk the golem away from Akko's reach every time she tries.
"G-guys! We're in class, can't we get along at least now?" moans Lotte. She turns to Sucy in distress. "Sucy, help me here!"
"I'll pass. Now that Akko's occupied I can work in peace".
"Sucy!"
Soon after, a brilliant idea strikes Hannah and Barbara. They now hold the golem in front of the agitated Akko and begin challenging her.
"Oh, we'll give it back", says Hannah.
"If you can make this golem move", adds Barbara.
With mischievous grins, they challenge Akko in unison, "Come on, now. Cast the animation spell!"
Never one to back down from a challenge, Akko sets her jaw and rolls up her sleeves further. Readying her wand, she says, "Oh yeah? I'll show you… um…"
Akko's bravado quickly fades. She can't remember how the animation spell goes! Akko taps her cheek with her wand numerous times trying to search her memory.
"Difranieado, was it? That's it!"
Akko aims at the golem with a renewed flame. Grinning, she cries,
"Move o golem. Difranieado!"
In an instant, a deafening explosion of magic wrecks the golem, eliciting shocked cries from everyone nearby. The smoke dissipates to reveal the shocked Hannah and Barbara. The golem on their hands is no more as pieces of it are now on their dishevelled hair and uniforms or even further off to the ends of the classroom. Such is how thoroughly Akko destroyed her own golem.
Shock whitened Hannah and Barbara's faces. But once the surprise wears off, they glare at Akko with dagger-like eyes.
"An explosive spell? You idiot, that was the wrong spell!" scolds Barbara.
"Why am I not surprised? What a lousy witch you are!" adds Hannah.
Akko—no less horrified by what happened than everyone else—could only take the complaints speechlessly.
Seeing the situation worsening for Akko distresses Lotte even further. Sucy, however, seems delighted. She chuckles as she approaches Akko, whispering,
"Akko, that was a brilliant idea. An explosive spell? Serves them right!"
Akko turns to her with unhappy eyes. "I didn't mean that—I thought that was the right spell!"
Though it was interesting at first, the endless argument begins to bore the onlooking students, so they return to their works, some shaking their heads while others chuckle to themselves. However, one wizard still watches from his table across the room with attentive eyes.
When Diana approaches Jericho's table looking for something, he immediately takes his eyes off Akko.
As he continues to work, only responding minimally to Diana, it's clear to her he's preoccupied about something. She comes to his side so she can more easily assess his work.
"Something you're confused about?"
Jericho replies, "the golem? No, I'm doing fine. I was just distracted".
"By Akko?"
"Yes", Jericho answers. When he realizes the awkwardness of his answer, he hastily adds, "Like, not in that way. I was just curious about her because of that stunt she pulled with the statue a few days ago".
The stunt he's referring to happened the very day he met Professor Ursula for the first time. Immediately after the talk, Jericho searched and found Akko easily due to the crowd she gathered for herself.
Akko was in an argument with Diana, and many curious students were there to see it. They follow the arguing pair to the garden, where Akko boldly declares the truth about her rod, claiming she'll move the statue there to life.
That day, Akko made a fool of herself in front of the whole school. Her lack of magic and lack of knowledge was made clear that day. After that, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and many students figured out that Akko is the rumoured first-generation witch among them.
The following days, Akko is followed by all kinds of ridicule from numerous fronts. Hannah and Barbara have no problem ridiculing Akko openly, and given Jericho's following of the blue team, he's never out of earshot of their mockeries. Today's no exception.
No less insidious are the girls who prefer to talk behind Akko's back. Even now, as Jericho steals a few glances around the class, he notes the way some students look at Akko with ill eyes or talk behind her back. It's the most unsavory sight, but not unfamiliar to the young wizard.
Needless to say, this makes Jericho reflect on his decision to approach Akko. Jericho can tell how confused Akko feels, being surrounded by hostile witches, so he's certain Akko won't separate herself from him once she knows they're both share the same circumstances.
However, judging from the way Lotte and Sucy also receive insults just by being associated with Akko, Jericho has a strong guess he'll likely suffer the same fate should he and Akko bond. Jericho prefers to avoid that, not when he's off to a remarkably good start after befriending the blue team.
He has to come clean with Akko at some point, he just has to find the right time and place. Evidently, till this day Jericho has yet to make up his mind. For now, he prefers to stick with the blue team while he ponders how to do that. Different from the red team, the blue team enjoys respect and love from everyone. Who can blame him for finding comfort in such wonderful company?
Following his gaze, Diana looks to Akko and her teammates, remarking, "You heard of that fiasco, have you? I see word spread quickly. I suppose news of someone like her in this school would surprise anyone. It's unfortunate, but you have to admit the girl brought it upon herself; no one asked her to make a fool of herself."
Uncertainty uncharacteristically clouds Diana's eyes, and her stern look softens. She shakes her head and says, "though to be honest, I feel a little bad for Akko. I didn't mean to humiliate her by showing how to move the statue. Perhaps I was too harsh and got the wrong message across".
Diana seems like she has more to say, but when she turns to Jericho, she's surprised to be face to face with a rather crudely made golem, held to her face by the wizard. The wizard moves the golem slightly so Diana can see his face and the unhappy smile he bears.
"At least, because of that fiasco, I now know I can count on you to tell me about animation spell. So, a little help, please?"
Diana grows dubious at the interruption and change of subject, but never one to turn down honest requests, she relents and takes the golem from his hands.
Jericho expected general advice or shallow praises, but Diana begins observing his golem as if it's the most fascinating thing in the world. For what reason he can't tell; his golem looks aesthetically shallow and unrefined.
In time—once he spends enough time around Diana—Jericho will understand this is a common trend with the Cavendish; she never does anything half heartedly or casually.
"Quadrupedal design, interesting", remarks Diana. "I take it you chose that to save energy?"
The fact Diana noticed that delights him.
"Good eye. I'm not confident about my white magic, so I decided to make something quadrupedal instead of a biped. That way, the golem would be able to stand up with less magic fuelling it, as keeping balance for a biped takes more dexterity and thus more magic".
Jericho smiles unhappily and forces out a chuckle, "This is a perfect design for me, though I feel like it's kind of cheating."
Without taking her eyes off the golem, Diana replies, "…No, I think you made a very clever decision. I think there's a fine line between cheating and being pragmatic".
To Jericho, he never imagined Diana—the prodigy of Luna Nova—complimenting him. His disbelief and confusion eclipse any feeling of satisfaction from the compliment, so he's left feeling puzzled more than delighted.
"Thank you?"
Soon after, Hannah and Barbara return to the blue team's table with sour looks. And how can anyone blame them? The argument left them in such a dishevelled and exhausted state.
They find their table abandoned, so they join Diana in Jericho's table. Tugged in by curiosity, Hannah and Barbara join Diana in inspecting the wizard's golem. Barbara takes the golem from Diana's hand and looks at it dubiously.
"It looks… Well how do I put it? I don't know what this is. What is this supposed to be?"
She passes it on to Hannah, who takes turns to inspect it.
"A chihuahua?" inputs Hannah.
"Actually, it's supposed to be a cat", says Jericho.
"This doesn't look like a cat", Hannah replies.
Jericho chuckles forcedly. "Well, uh, I never said it's a good-looking cat".
The direction of the conversation displeases Diana. She clears her throat and scolds her teammates.
"The true worth of a golem isn't in its outward appearance but its performance. True, a beautiful golem is a sight to see, but usefulness comes first".
Upon Diana's words, Hannah and Barbara quickly experience a change of heart.
"O-of course! How silly of us, right Hannah?"
"Y-yes. Silly us!"
Another compliment (of some sort)! Unluckily, Jericho didn't have time to process what Diana just said as Barbara hastily gives him back the golem. She looks at him with expectant eyes, saying,
"Well, what are you waiting for, Jericho? Give it some life now".
Jericho freezes in place. The golem might be finished, but mentally, he's yet to prepare for this moment. He expected his spell-weaving to be done in silence away from prying eyes, a situation where he could focus perfectly, but now he seems to have accidentally created an audience for himself.
He glances at Diana. Even she seems interested in how he'll perform. This gives him some grain of confidence, enough to make him relent to the request.
"Alright then. Just pray I won't lose an arm and a leg doing this".
Unfortunate bunch! The happy atmosphere will soon shatter, yet they know nothing of what will happen. And so Jericho rests the cat golem on the table and casts his spell without hesitation.
The golem dully glows as Jericho's magic works its way through the golem's clay flesh and bones. When the light finally fades, the sculpture begins to move. In a slow and difficult manner, it moves its limbs for the first time, audibly cracking its clay skin in each movement.
The face looks wrong. Instead of a flexible face that resembles a living skin, it looks brittle and stiff, like a mask that hides something else—something horrible—underneath it. Case in point, the clay around its mouth cracks as it tries to open its mouth to let out a guttural groan. Its throat is an empty gaping abyss. And when the cat golem opens its eyelids, soulless beady eyes now stare at the four witches.
Colour drains from Hannah and Barbara's wide-eyed faces. The pair retreat and seek refuge behind Diana, clinging onto her vest and shirt that they begin to crumple. But like a scholar seeking to sate her thirst for knowledge, Diana seems more intrigued by the abominable golem than scared.
Much to Hannah and Barbara's horror, Diana approaches the golem to study it closely.
"I see your problem", begins Diana, so calmly in the face of horror it's almost comical. "You fail to fuse your magic to the finer muscles. You focused too much on the core motors you forgot to give a gentle touch to the fine muscles like the facial structure".
"I-I see", Jericho stammers.
Jericho himself is taken aback by how unmoved Diana is. Even he—the creator of the golem—can't love what he created.
After a moment of thinking, he asks, "theoretically, is it possible for that to happen because the caster's magic isn't strong enough that they can't direct it to all the muscles so only some muscles are filled with magic?"
"You're correct", answers Diana, turning to him. "Low amount of magic could do that. Such as for witches who are—"
Jericho finishes Diana's line. "When they're far from a Ley Line".
Diana nods. "Yes. I suppose that's one of the most usual situations where witches have little magic in them".
Diana continues to learn every nook and cranny of the abomination, finding important details and lessons that only she could see. Indeed, to the rest, they can't find what's there to see with the horrible construct. It is as if Diana's treating the golem as an invaluable case study for future references.
Well, Jericho thinks. At least I'm useful for her... as a bad example.
"So you see, I'm not really good with this spell", remarks Jericho, scratching the back of his head. "Do you think you could show me how to do it properly?"
"Yes", nods Diana. She straightens her back and says, "Very well, I'll show you how to do it better".
Diana leads the three back to the blue team's table. Without being told, Jericho can guess which of the three golems there is Diana's. Eclipsing in beauty to any golem in the room is a beautiful unicorn, sculpted to perfection and waiting for the final touch. It's a pleasant change after Jericho's cat golem.
The unicorn golem draws pleasant stares not only from Diana's entourage but also from neighbouring tables.
"It's the Cavendish guardian symbol", Diana explains. For a second, pride flashes in her blue eyes. She brandishes her wand and makes sure she has the young wizard's attention. "I'll show you what you did wrong, so pay close attention. I'll explain more later on".
With a whisper of her spell and a flick of the wand, the golem quickly comes to life and moves with life-like flexibility and dexterity. Its face didn't crack violently, rather stretching and pulling like real flesh would. Diana's golem is a sea-wide contrast compared to Jericho's.
The three audiences quickly applaud Diana's performance. The neighbouring tables too, charmed by the performance, applaud Diana.
In no way are they applauding Jericho, but he feels elated nonetheless. It feels good to be part of such a respected group. It reminds him once more why sticking to a blue team was such a good idea.
"That's brilliant, Diana", remarks Jericho.
"The Cavendish family is praised for their gifted white magic. Have you forgotten the statue? That was all Diana", explains Barbara.
"And the Jennifer Memorial tree", adds Hannah. "That's Diana's deed. She used a secret spell only passed down in the Cavendish family".
"I heard about the one with the tree", Jericho says. "But seeing her in action is something else".
Soon after, a new golem makes its way from one end of the blue team's table and close to Diana's unicorn. This one is a red panda. It catches Jericho's attention.
"Whoa, that's pretty cute!" applauds Jericho.
His praise puts fresh heart to Hannah. Pointing at the new golem, she declares, "that's mine, of course it'll be cute!"
Evidently, she's already casted her spell beforehand. The red panda golem looks mobile and lively, a product of quality spell casting. It saunters off to another part of the blue team's table, where another golem walks around aimlessly, this one a panda. Once they meet, they continue to play and chase each other around.
Seeing her creation in action as well lifts Barbara's spirit. She could barely contain her squeal.
"Hah! They're playing!"
And of course, Diana's unicorn eventually follows. It prances close to the two golems and the three get along quite well.
Jericho would've joined Hannah and Barbara in enjoying the lovely sight had Diana not pulled him away to fulfil her promise. Rather than using the three agile golems for entertainment, Diana keeps referring to them for precious reference in explaining white magic to Jericho. It's overwhelming—the vastness of what she's telling him—and he's forced to ask her to repeat on some occasions.
However, Jericho soon becomes distracted when he spots a fourth figure on the edge of his vision. It's his cat golem, it'd walked over from his table to here.
While all of the blue team is distracted, Jericho is the only one who notices its presence. But not wanting to miss Diana's insightful instructions, he ignores the golem, just in time to catch a very vital information he'd regret to miss.
"That's why I recommend keeping an eye on your golem; horribly constructed golems sometimes have the impulse to assimilate more materials into its body to fix its deformities".
Jericho feels his heart skip a beat.
"By that do you mean…"
"By destroying other golems and absorbing their materials works for them", says Diana. "So take my advice and go to your golem before we continue".
Just as she says that, an awful cry splits the peace. It came from Hannah and Barbara.
Diana and Jericho turn just in time to see chaos have descended on the previously peaceful blue golems. Jericho's cat golem has pounced on the golems and began attacking them, its feline fangs bared with violence in its mind.
What follows is something too gruesome to describe. The four could only stare in petrified silence as the cat golem does to the three golems what Kronos did to the Olympian gods in Greek mythology, except this time there's no regurgitation involved.
The result? Hannah, Barbara, and Diana are now without their golems, with Hannah's being the most completely destroyed, and Jericho's golem is thrice its original size, having assimilated a good portion of its preys' clay into its body. It now lies in hibernation, having satisfied its appetite.
Barbara's distressed cry catches the attention of the rest of the class. Various students turn to look. They gasp in horror at the miserable sight. Meanwhile, Hannah's jaw is agape and she's speechless. While Diana and Barbara's golems suffered their fair share of damage, Hannah's is ruined beyond recognition, with many of its clay assimilated to the now full cat or left as a puddle on the table. Hannah's golem was after all the first to fall.
Hannah tries to speak, but they come out brokenly.
"I… my… the golem…"
Jericho's face is already white with horror, but he loses even more colour when Hannah turns to glare at him with a black raises her clenched fists. At the sight, the wizard backs away until he's cornered to a table.
"You!" shouts Hannah. "You murdered my golem!"
His wit escaping him, he resorts to horrible excuses.
"I-I didn't do that, my golem did that!"
"What kind of dumbass answer is that?" Hannah jabs her finger at his chest repeatedly. "It's your golem so it's your responsibility! I haven't got my golem scored and now it's ruined!"
"And neither does Diana and Barbara but they're not that upset about it!"
"That's because their golems aren't a puddle of clay on the table! I have to start from scratch!"
Hannah drags him by the collar of his shirt back to the blue team's table.
"You're going to make my golem for me!"
"But—"
"Your golem's fine, mine isn't. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer", Hannah hisses with pure venom in her voice.
Jericho could feel the stares they're garnering from their curious neighbours, and he quickly grows as embarrassed as he's scared. Seeing that resisting will create more commotion and thus more attention, the young wizard follows the girl's will helplessly as she drags him back to the table.
"I can help you remake it, Hannah", offers the worried Diana.
But Hannah declines almost immediately. While their damages aren't as dire, Diana and Barbara's golems still need to be fixed. They will waste precious time if they help Hannah rebuild her own. And of course, the fact that Hannah specifically wants Jericho's blood also plays a part in her decision.
"No. We'll be fine", Hannah replies softly to Diana. But that softness crumbles from her voice when she turns back to Jericho and asks, "Won't we?"
"Oh, boy, yeah", he replies while holding a thumbs up and an unhappy smile, though there's also a single tear at the corner of his eye.
Why does this have to happen with everyone looking? I can die of embarrassment...
While Diana and Barbara are busy patching up their own golems, Jericho helps Hannah remake hers from scratch. Not wanting to waste material, he scoops the remains of her previous golem from the table.
He grimaces. Waste not, want not.
The clay is stuck between the seams of the wood, making his work harder.
"Oh God, this is like a crime scene", he says miserably, holding one hand to his mouth as if to stop himself from gagging.
"I didn't pay you to complain", Hannah scolds.
"You didn't pay me anything".
The two tries their best to remake the golem together, but with the teacher coming close to scoring the golems, heart-gripping panic begins to fill their heads, trembling their hands and dulling their focus. And, working together only proves to be a handicap. Both Hannah and Jericho can't seem to find an agreeable pace and end up stepping on each other's foot both literally and proverbially over and over again.
"That's the arms, you idiot. Put them where they belong!" Hannah yells.
"It's not like you made it distinguishable from its legs! They're all short stubby appendages, indistinguishable to the others, unlike what a red panda really looks like" Retorts the wizard. Immediately, he regrets even trying to argue and shuts his mouth in horror.
"What did you say?!"
"N–nothing, ma'am!"
The bell marking the end of the session rings grimly, and the two's hearts collectively skip a beat.
The teacher takes her place at the front of the class and addresses the whole class.
"Time's up. Gather your golems at the front and don't forget to destroy them once I have it scored. A golem drains its user's magic continuously to fuel its movements. For adults that'd be no problem, but you youngsters will drop cold if you let your golem roam around unattended like house cats! So don't keep your golems like they're pets! Destroy them! I mean it!"
The students begin to move in droves to the front of the class and lay their golems on the teacher's desk in an orderly manner. The occupied Jericho trusts her golem to Diana to submit.
Diana is weary at first, but she's relieved to find the cat golem docile, its appetite sated. The only qualm she has is how exponentially heavier it is than before.
One by one the teacher grades the golems and one by one the students leave the classroom with lunch in mind until only a handful remains. Among those who stay are Barbara and Diana, who tries to plead to the teacher on their friends' behalf for extra time.
Diana and Barbara return to Jericho and Hannah with a mixture of emotions.
"She's giving you 10 minutes, but we're not allowed to help", explains Diana.
The extra time is enough of a blessing, and the pair resumes their work with renewed vigour. Had there been time, Hannah would've showered Diana with hugs and kisses for the help, but time isn't kind to the two, so they continue their work while Diana and Barbara take their leave.
Now the class is completely empty save for the pair and the teacher. But after about 5 minutes of waiting, the teacher excuses herself out of the classroom for an 'indefinite coffee break', no doubt bored from the wait and the grating noise of the pair's arguments. In that way, Jericho and Hannah finished the golem while the teacher wasn't around.
Breath bated and hands dirtied from the clay, witch and wizard backs away to assess their work.
Before them is an abomination—a hybrid of a red panda and a cat. It might sound not bad on paper, like the formidable centaur of Greek mythology, but here the size proportion of the two are different in that it makes the cat's body slim while the upper-half of the red panda is too fat. The imbalance in weight makes it wobble with the lightest blow of the wind. Evidently, there's confusion in the creation process.
Seeing the abomination, Hannah collapses on the floor and wails in grief. "Why did we make two different animals?"
Jericho grimaces and covers his mouth with a hand, as if trying to stop a stench from making him gag.
He says, "well, as Diana said, the true value is in the usefulness. We don't have time to wallow in grief; you have one last thing to do".
Hannah begrudgingly stands to her feet and glares at him with silent contempt written in her eyes.
Apparently, it's wise if it came from Diana but not when it comes from him.
Nonetheless, she complies begrudgingly. She readies her wand and casts the animation spell onto the golem.
Magic weaves and seeps into the clay. It begins to move. Its head careens sideways and its mouth gape open, revealing broken set teeth and long, hanging tongue. Beyond its throat is death-like blackness, and its eyes are naught but an abyss of despair, eliciting even more grimacing and wincing from the pair.
Hannah looks to her wand miserably. "W-why does it look so bad? I did the spell like before!"
"In any case, time's up. This is what you're submitting, Hannah".
"It's all your fault!" Hannah wails. "My golem was perfect and yours had to ruin it!"
At this point, the exhausted Jericho can only turn the other cheek at her complaints. He sighs and ignores her and instead grabs the golem and carries it over to the teacher's desk.
But the abominable golem has other plans. Out of the sudden, it bites Jericho's fingers so violently he drops the golem. The golem lands and tumbles on a nearby table, all while the wizard grieves.
"It bit me!" he cries in distress, rubbing his bitten fingers furiously.
Without warning, the abomination runs to a full gallop, its limp appendages flailing in the wind. It leaps from the edge of the table and pounces at Hannah with clay fangs bared.
It would've driven its fangs home had Jericho not intercept the golem's flight with, ironically, a clay pot, and promptly finds a lid to shut it with.
"It appears it has inherited the cat's hostility!" he declares.
Hannah looks at him with wide eyes. "Oh, you think so? I didn't notice it at first— OF COURSE I CAN SEE ITS VIOLENT!"
His hands occupied holding the pot, Jericho took the unfiltered brunt of Hannah's deafening cry head on. His ears ring for a good few seconds.
"Now", Hannah says. "How do we submit a golem like this to the teacher?"
"What if we just leave it locked in the pot and let the teacher handle it?" suggests Jericho. He raises the pot and studies it. "Do you reckon it'll hold if I just leave it—"
Just as Jericho suggests that, the golem abomination rams against the inside of the pot. The surprising force makes the pot slip from Jericho's hold. It falls to the floor and shatters to small pieces while the golem comes barrelling across the floor.
"D-don't let it escape!" cries Hannah.
The two quickly brandish their wands, but alas, the golem makes a swift exit from the classroom. By the time the horrified pair reaches the classroom's threshold, the golem is already at the other end of the hallway. It takes a sharp turn in an intersection and vanishes out of their sight completely.
And then, a bone-chilling scream echoes down the hallway where the golem went.
"A golem!"
"Ouch! It tried to bite me!"
"What the hell! Who made it? So irresponsible!"
It's at that moment the reality of what they've done descends on Jericho and Hannah. Their legs buckle underneath them and they slump to the floor, their soul escaping their gaping mouths.
"This is bad, we have to catch it", Jericho says. "Imagine what would happen if it runs to someone and attacks them horribly!"
"Oh no… if that happens…"
Jericho feels a chill running the back of his spine. He grimaces sorrowfully and says, "We'd be held responsible and the teacher could fail us from this class! Oh no, I can't afford to fail any classes! I just can't!"
"Worse", Hannah replies miserably. "Imagine the news and rumours that would spread; a daughter of the proud England family, made a man-killing golem abomination! My family's name could be ruined!"
Evidently, the two have a very skewed list of priorities. But however skewed their priorities are, at least they fuel them with the energy to give chase.
However, the two stop on their track once they realize they're both running in opposite directions.
"The golem went that way, Hannah. Let's go!"
"Yeah, but Diana went that way, to our room!"
As if reading his mind, Hannah rests her hands on her hips indignantly and yells, "are you crazy? I'm not facing off against that animal on my own!
Epilogue
The cafeteria is busiest at this hour of lunch. No sane—or hungry—student would skip on such an important activity in the academy's daily routinity. So it's confusing and no less suspicious to see Akko ignoring her lunch to return to her room early, carrying with her an equally suspicious looking bag.
The impulsive witch couldn't resist checking the bag's contents, not before checking her surroundings for any prying eyes. Luckily for Akko, with most of the school currently in the cafeteria, the hallway is awfully quiet.
She unzips the bag to look at its content. Inside is crudely made golem, Akko's golem. Evidently, the accident forced her to remake her golem rushedly. It's not the Shiny Chariot golem she wanted, but she loves it regardless.
"I can't believe the teacher told us to destroy our golems, and no one even disagrees!" remarks Akko. "But rest assured, Lemmy, I'm not going to destroy you! I'm sure Sucy and Lotte will understand and let me keep it once I explained it well. You're too cute to be rejected!"
Akko freezes when she hears something coming down the hallway. She didn't expect someone to be out here instead of the cafeteria. She hastily zips her bag shut and hides it behind her.
To her complete surprise, it's no student nor teacher that rounds the corner but a golem, no more than the size of a house cat. It rounds the corner in full gallop and so it crashes onto Akko's feet and comes barreling across the floor, eliciting a surprised yelp from Akko.
"Woah! Hey! Watch where you're going little guy!"
Akko goes on her knees to help the fallen golem up. Curious, Akko leans closer to meet the golem eye to eye and starts conversing with it.
"Now where were you going, hm? Are you lost, little fella? Do you need help?"
But the golem replies to her kindness by scratching at her eye with its bear-like paw, eliciting a horrific cry from Akko.
"Why my eye? Why is it always my eye?" she wails woefully as she writhes on the floor, all while the golem bites at her calf without restraint.
The irritated Akko recoves and grabs the golem in a tight choke to stop it from hurting her. She points at it threateningly and says,
"Listen here, bucko, I don't take kindly to—"
The golem hisses at her malevolently in reply.
"Oh yeah? Well I oughta—"
Before Akko can finish, the golem chomps at Akko's pointed finger, eliciting a painful yelp. Akko quickly flails her arm around trying to shake the golem off. In the struggle, Akko loses her balance and tumbles into a door leading to a dark and narrow maintenance room where fairy workers store their tools.
The fall sends Akko barreling into the narrow room and across the floor. In the chaos, she loses grip of her bag and it tumbles across the floor, spilling its contents. Akko's books and stationeries clatter in a cringing cacophony. But more importantly, Lemmy too falls out of the bag and lands on the floor with a thud.
Despite being in no better position herself—sprawled on the floor with a golem chewing her finger—Akko worries for her golem more than herself.
"Lemmy! Are you okay?"
Lemmy stands up lethargically but otherwise seems unharmed.
Akko sighs in relief. She then returns her attention to the abominable golem, that little panic-maker. It's been chewing on her finger this whole time, refusing to let go for even a second.
However, before the two can resume their fight, they freeze in place at the sound of someone's fast approach down the hallway. With Lemmy exposed, it'll be a nightmare if whoever's out finds them.
Still on the floor and with no time to get up and reach for the door, Akko uses her feet to close the door shut. Then, she grabs the violent golem and holds it in a tight embrace to stop it from making any noise.
Akko thinks she'd have her hand bitten even more for her attempt to silence the golem. But to her surprise, the golem suddenly turns passive. In fact, the previously violent and bold golem is now trembling and cowering in her embrace, afraid of whatever is out there making that ruckus.
Curious, Akko presses her ears to the door to hear what's going on outside. Though muffled, she can discern a group of people talking.
"You freaking idiot!" one of them yells. It's Hannah's voice. Akko has heard her enraged voice enough to recognize it immediately. "We lost it! Did you see where it goes?"
"It went this way, I swear I saw the golem running this way!" replies another, but Akko barely recognizes this one.
"Calm down, you two, let's think about this first", interjects another, which Akko recognizes to be Diana's voice.
Curious, Akko keeps on listening.
"This can't be happening. This is your fault!" Hannah moans "We have to destroy it before it ruins my reputation"
"I don't want it to escape as well, Hannah", rebukes the unknown voice. "I don't want to fail in class".
"And before it hurts someone?" Diana scolds the two irritably, to which they quickly apologize and agree.
Akko scowls at the golem in her embrace. This is definitely the golem they're referring to. Akko just needs to open the door and hand the golem to them and she'd be done with this violent golem.
But the way the golem looks back at her with its beady eyes give her second thoughts. They stare deep through her soul, and suddenly Akko doesn't feel so sure about herself.
Akko strokes her chin as she engages in thought. Soon after, she grins upon coming upon a conclusion.
She grabs the abominable golem and Lemmy and shoves both into her bag, following with adding her books and stationeries to hide them even further.
Before Akko closes the bag, she says,
"Kindly don't eat my Lemmy, okay? Or I'll… eat you for lunch myself".
The abominable golem nods fervently in reply. Darkness envelops its vision as Akko zips the bag shut.
Author's Notes: feel free to hit that follow and favourite button or leave a review. Your feedback is much appreciated and is always valuable for me as a writer. I'll see you soon!