After traveling back in time, Akko thinks that they're finally home.
Unfortunately, turns out they're not.
Time-Travel One-Shot P2!
Time, Akko was starting to realize, was something quite difficult to fully grasp…
In fact, the brunette witch was scolding herself for not realizing this earlier and for not stopping her crazy professor from taking them on an insane time-travel experiment.
Now she was paying the consequences for it…
"You said…" Akko murmurs menacingly to the inventor while looking around her. "That you knew how to fix this…"
"I know how to fix this!"
"Then why?!" the brunette witch asks loudly. "Are we in the future and not at home?"
That… Croix thinks worriedly… Is indeed the question.
"But this proves that the device works!" the older woman tries to defuse the situation. "Look, we're in the future!" she exclaims while pointing around her.
"It doesn't matter that it works." Akko says somberly. "Since the device has a little problem that takes the person that uses it whenever it wants!" she then looks around her confused. "And when are we?!"
"According to my calculations…" Croix takes out the watch and stares at it. "We are at Luna Nova 2 years after we left."
"So, if I'm not mistaken, right after Diana came back and I started to ask Ursula-Sensei about Lyonne." the younger girl says calmly. "If things went according to our own timeline, then that means you and I should still be at Luna Nova."
"You would be a senior!" the lilac-haired woman tells her excitedly while hugging Akko proudly. "In fact, it won't be long before graduation!" she smiles wickedly. "Want to go see how your relationship with Diana has blossomed?"
"No, no, I won't fall for the same trick as the first time. This time we're going straight home."
"But that's so boring!" Croix whines out. "Come on Akko, where is that spirit of adventure and fun you used to have?"
"I learned that it usually led me into dangerous situations and caused trouble for the people I cared about…" Akko tells her simply.
Which is kinda true… Croix thinks but is interrupted by Akko who is hurrying her.
"Now let's try to use that infernal watch again and see if it manages to take us back home."
"Infernal?" the inventor asks insulted.
"More like a Time Russian Roulette if you ask me…" Akko murmurs loudly enough for her to hear.
"That's something easy to fix!" Croix says offended.
"Then why didn't you fix it earlier?! When you were cracking some jokes with your past self?"
"Because I thought I did…" the lilac-haired witch murmurs.
Akko takes a deep breath and tries to think of what to do.
"We should just try to get back…" the brunette says absently. "I mean, the device didn't break, right?"
"The device works perfectly. We should have no problems while using it."
"Then let's just try again until we land in our time."
"Well…" Croix says carefully. "I think we should consider staying for a while."
"That's a terrible idea! The last thing we want is to have someone see us. Earlier we were lucky that we managed to travel to the past without making permanent changes to the timeline."
"About that…" Croix tells her softly while pointing towards the sky. "I don't think we were that successful."
"Is that…" Akko asks completely shocked. "Ursula-Sensei and I?" she points towards a big television that was showing the two witches performing a magic show.
"Yep… That's you alright…"
LWALWALWA
"When did we even change the past?!" Akko asks confused while concealing her face with a spell. "We erased the memories of Diana and your past self!"
"I'm just as surprised as you are about this." Croix tells her seriously. "I am sure we didn't leave any kind of evidence behind."
"Then what was it?" the brunette witch closes her eyes and tries to remember everything that happened earlier.
"Perhaps we should go seek answers at a library or a place that has internet access." the older witch suggests and both enter a coffee shop. "Seeing that magic is getting more recognition and promotion, I think it's safe to say that the seal of the Grand Triskellion was broken."
"Yeah, it says here that…" this makes Akko open her eyes in shock. "Chariot Du Nord, former magic idol, and Atsuko Kagari, a student from Luna Nova, brought magic back to the world by breaking the seal of the Grand Triskellion." the young girl closes her eyes worriedly.
"Why was Chariot with you? It doesn't make sense since she was with me after I failed to break the seal."
"Also, why didn't the article mention Diana, Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze." Akko asks confused. "We were all together because they went to find me after I ran away from Luna Nova…" she opens her eyes in shock. "Could it be that...?" she asks to herself and starts typing on her computer.
"Could it be what?" Croix asks confused.
"In our timeline, I didn't trust Ursula-Sensei right after I learned from you that she was Shiny Chariot." the young girl murmurs softly. "That was why I ran away from Luna Nova to begin with. It doesn't make sense for the others, or you, to not be there since you arrived to the Grand Triskellion with Ursula-Sensei and I got there with the others after the Leyline taking us to Luna Nova shut-down."
"Then perhaps that means that in this timeline, Chariot was the one that told you the truth about her being Shiny Chariot and not me." the lilac-haired woman says worriedly. "But when did she even have the time to tell you?"
"We left the past the day before you told me to go to Wagandea…" Akko remembers. "In our timeline, the day after Wagandea, Ursula-Sensei asked me to come to her office to talk about something important. And before she could tell me what it was, we were interrupted by Diana who said to me that Andrew wanted to see me in town."
"And when you were in town you happened to see my robots and started following them around." Croix remembers as well. "That means that in this timeline, Chariot had to tell you sometime before your meeting with Andrew."
"But it's impossible for us to know when exactly if we take into consideration the possibility of the past changing from the moment we left Luna Nova two years ago."
"In our timeline, you discovered the meaning of Lyonne after Chariot saved you in Wagandea." Croix reminisces out-loud. "Soon after, you found out her true identity from me."
"That doesn't mean that I wouldn't be capable of finding the meaning of Lyonne in the actions of someone else." Akko reminds her.
"You're right." Croix agrees with her. "So we'll start with searching for an article that describes the moment magic returned to the world."
Nodding in confirmation, Akko carefully types into the search engine and opens her eyes in shock because of what she's reading.
"Did you find something?" the inventor asks her excitedly.
"I didn't find the article you asked me to... But, I think that this one will clarify things for us…" Akko tells her somberly and again reads from the computer. "Scandal at Luna Nova! Two witches from Luna Nova have discovered the undercover operation of a terrorist witch."
"A terrorist witch?" Croix asks worriedly.
"Former professor and magical prodigy Croix-Meridies was discovered to possess an artifact of her own invention that used magic to affect the emotions of individuals. This type of magic, called Magitronics, allowed the user of the magical software to produce energy out of negative emotions. After the witches of Luna Nova made this discovery, Miss Meridies was captured and found guilty of terrorism; which led to a life sentence in the Parole du Absolution, a magical facility for dangerous witches."
"Wait… I'm in prison?!" Croix shrieks out and earns the surprised attention of some customers.
"Shh! Even if you're in prison…" the brunette witch starts explaining to her.
"What do you mean 'even if you're in prison'." Croix asks her desperately. "I'm in prison!"
"Didn't you ever consider the fact that by unleashing a technological demon you could end up being arrested?" Akko asks her sarcastically and this makes the older woman shut up.
Being with Diana had certainly rubbed on Akko…
"Still…" the younger witch says as if she wasn't interrupted. "That doesn't explain why Ursula-Sensei and I were the only ones that unlocked the last word. I mean, it was because your demon went all berserk that we all fought together and ended up activating the last word."
"But still something must have happened that made the last word activate in this different timeline." Croix murmurs softly. "Something that involved only Chariot and you."
"Don't you see Croix-Sensei? It all leads back to the point when my past self learns the truth about Shiny Chariot." Akko says simply. "I think that knowing when Ursula-Sensei told this timeline's Akko the truth will help us understand when events started to change."
"But I don't think the answer to that question will be on the internet." Croix says to her obviously.
"Although that may be, it does say in this website that I'm still studying at Luna Nova." Akko says determined.
"Wait, do you mean to tell me that…"
"We must go to Luna Nova and abduct my past self."
"Well, your future self to be precise." Croix corrects her. "Since we're no longer in the past, this timeline's Akko would be your future self."
"Fine!" Akko says exasperated. "We will go get my future self."
LWALWALWA
"Listen Akko, I know that I agreed with helping you abduct your future self…" Croix starts saying while looking around them. "And I also get why we must wear a disguise." she points at Akko's face. "But what I don't get is why mine looks like this…" she says bitterly at using such horrible clothes and makeup.
"Because you owe me." Akko tells her simply. "For starting all of this with that watch of yours."
"Relax Akko, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Everything is not fine!" the younger brunette says softly. "Don't you find it strange that Ursula-Sensei and I allowed the Ministry to put you in jail? That article said that we were the ones that delivered you to the police."
"Well, I was planning on using innocent bystanders to enact my revenge, Akko." Croix tells her calmly. "It's understandable that you two told the Ministry about it."
"But that's the thing!" Akko continues explaining. "That in our timeline we only found out about your plan after you revealed Ursula-Sensei's secret. Why did things change in this timeline?"
"Chariot knew that I was trying to stop you from finding the 7 words." Croix says softly. "But she also knew that telling the authorities about me would only hinder you in your quest. She was, unfortunately, in quite the predicament."
"Then why did Ursula-Sensei change her way of thinking so radically in this timeline? She must have seen something that she didn't like before you two fought in town."
"In our timeline, Chariot only reacted when you were the one in danger. In fact, were it not for the fact that she had to save and take you back to Luna Nova, I think a similar fight to the one we had in my lab would have occurred." the lilac-haired woman muses to herself.
"Then that means that in our timeline, after you targeted me in Wagandea, Ursula-Sensei started to actively try to stop you." Akko reminisces.
"Indeed. Almost as if you were a catalyst that made her put your safety above the seven words."
This makes Akko smile warmly.
"That's Ursula-Sensei alright." she says proudly. "And since we're talking about the same person, this Ursula-Sensei probably acted and reacted similarly."
"You're saying then that the Chariot of this timeline must have seen that your life was in danger before Wagandea and that made her confront me earlier than in our timeline?" Croix wonders curiously. "Interesting…"
"That's the only thing that makes sense and could explain your absence during the missile crisis." Akko says confidently.
"Then we should ask your future self about what happened after we left for the present." the inventor determines. "Maybe that can give us a clue of when to go afterwards." she points towards the school building. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, seniors tend to have the afternoons off in order to work on their thesis."
"Then that means we must think of a place where my future self would like to go study."
"The library." Croix says immediately.
"No, too quiet and constricting." Akko tells her softly. "With Diana, we discovered this place in the gardens a couple of weeks ago. It's amazing and we've been going there to read, study or do magic ever since we found it."
Probably the same place where we saw them do that magic show… Croix thinks with a warm smile.
"Then lead the way." the lilac-haired woman says and soon enough the two witches arrive to the spot and see a copy of Akko and Diana there, hugging each other tenderly.
"Look Akko, you're with Diana in this future as well!" Croix tells her happily.
Thank Jennifer, Akko thought relieved because she had been scared of not being with the blonde witch in this timeline after learning that she had not been when she unlocked the 7th word. But, it seems like their bond, no matter the path taken, was destined to grow and blossom.
"That calms me tremendously." Akko says while accidentally stepping on a root.
"Who's there?!" Diana asks threateningly while raising her wand and pointing it at them.
"Wait, don't shoot!" Croix says and pulls the two of them out from their hiding spot. "We are not here to hurt you."
"Of course you can't hurt us because you have used most of your magic to conceal yourselves." the blonde witch tells them knowingly. "Who are you?"
"Diana…" future Akko whispers and the heiress relaxes her stance.
"Reveal yourselves." she orders them and the two time-travelers know that there's something going on with the brunette witch in front of them.
"You don't look very happy." Croix whispers to her while pointing at her older self.
"I noticed it as well…" Akko tells murmurs to her calmly.
"So… Are you going to stop talking between the two of you and start showing us who you really are?" Diana asks them exasperated.
"Oh, right…" Akko apologizes and soon enough she's back to her normal self.
"You're me. Well, a younger me." future Akko says simply while sitting down on the floor.
"She took it way better than I expected." Croix says to them. "Unlike your girlfriend here who looks like she has seen a ghost."
Akko hits Croix softly on her shoulder.
"Akko?" Diana asks confused and this makes present Akko stare warmly at her.
"Hi Diana." she smiles cheekily and notices the way the blonde's eyes open in shock and happiness at the sight of her smile.
Yeah, something was definitely going on.
"What about you?" future Akko says to Croix who gives her a bemused smile and let's go of her spell.
"I'm surprised you were not very shocked at seeing Akko here…" the lilac-haired starts saying but stops talking when she notices the sad and shocked looks of the two girls from the future.
"It can't be…"
"Croix-Sensei…" future Akko chokes out. "You, you're alive."
"Of course I'm alive!" Croix says simply and then thinks what the words future Akko said to her mean. "Why wouldn't I be? No, wait, does that mean that I AM DEAD?!"
This makes future Akko look down in sadness.
"But that can't be true." Akko whispers worriedly. "I know that we wouldn't let that happen." she stares at Diana and her other self. "And that Ursula-Sensei would fight for Croix-Sensei no matter what."
"It was a couple of weeks ago." Diana is the one that murmurs dejectedly. "Chariot and Akko were preparing for a show when we received a message from the prison where you were staying. They said that Croix-Sensei had been the victim of a terrible accident inside of it."
"An accident?" Croix asks absently.
"Yes, the prison where your other self was had not been keeping up with regulations. Hence, a building collapsed and you happened to be in it while it happened." future Akko closes her eyes bitterly. "Bad luck they called it. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"And Ursula-Sensei?" Akko asks worriedly because she knew that no matter what, her mentor loved Croix-Sensei with everything she had.
"We haven't seen her since the funeral. She doesn't leave her room and we have to bring her food if we want her to eat." Diana tells them sadly. "Akko and I have tried to speak to her, but she blames herself for what happened. And she's right. It was because of us that you were sent there."
"Why would you say that?" Akko asks them hesitantly.
"Well, it was soon after I came back from the Cavendish manor." the blonde continues explaining while sitting next to her Akko and holding her tight. "Akko and I started to grow closer, which meant that I found out that she was searching the 7 words with the help of Professor Chariot. But, Professor Chariot and I got worried when we noticed that Professor Croix was getting too close to Akko. We knew about the Fuel Spirit and it didn't take long for Professor Chariot and I to realize that you were using the same magic to create negative energy."
"So, in this timeline Diana was working with Ursula-Sensei to try to stop you." Akko says surprised.
"We didn't want anything to interfere with your classes since we believed that the 6th word would appear to you in any moment." Diana tells them simply. "Until Professor Chariot decided that Professor Croix was becoming too volatile and could truly hurt you if left alone."
"It also didn't help that Chariot-Sensei asked me about a meeting between Croix-Sensei that I had no recollection of." future Akko adds as well.
Present Akko and Croix give each other knowing looks that don't go overlooked by Diana.
"You know about this." the blonde witch tells them.
"Yes, and I promise you we will explain." Croix tells her. "But, and this is important, could you please tell us when you found out Chariot was Shiny Chariot?"
"That morning actually." future Akko informs them. "After she asked me about that meeting and I failed to remember about it, she apologized for putting me in harms' way and told me she was Shiny Chariot. As you can imagine, I was so shocked by all of it that I ran away and left Luna Nova." the young girl admits. "Diana was the one who found me." she smiles sadly at her girlfriend.
"I was so nervous because I had talked to Professor Chariot and she had said that it was time to finish things. To put an end to all their suffering and to let go of the past." Diana tells them calmly. "But all I could care about was Akko and the fact that she was so sad and upset." she chuckles. "I told her that I liked Shiny Chariot as well and that she was capable of getting her magic back."
"She promised me that she would always stay by my side and help me." future Akko whispers vehemently. "And when she said that, I knew that what I felt for Diana was no mere friendship. So I took that promise she gave me and I thanked her for it. For being with me and for coming to find me."
"Lyonne." Croix says surprised because her Akko's suspicions had been correct.
This timeline's Akko had found another way to unlock the words.
"When we arrived to Luna Nova and searched for Professor Chariot, we got told that she was talking with Professor Croix. Of course, we immediately thought the worst and we ran to the lab. But when we got there, all we saw was Professor Chariot and Professor Croix crying and hugging each other."
"WAIT, WHAT?" Croix asks confused because she had been expecting this timeline's versions of themselves to also start an epic sword and gun fight.
"Chariot-Sensei never told me much because it was a secret between Croix-Sensei and her." future Akko informs them softly. "But what she did say is that before both of them started to fight, they were reminded of what first made them become friends."
"Once we arrived…" Diana continues the story. "Professor Croix surrendered herself to the authorities. As newspapers tend to do, they created this story of Professor Chariot and Akko discovering her lab but in reality it wasn't like that."
"We read that story." Akko tells them confused. "If you were there with them, why wasn't your name in the story as well?"
"Because I asked them not to put it there." the blonde heiress simply says. "If my last name had been on that story, it would have made a bigger scandal of the incident. And we wanted to give Professor Croix the privacy she asked for in order to heal and get better."
"Then that's how it was." Croix smiles softly at the two girls from the future. "You three did the best for me and I am grateful for that. In fact, I'm sure that in the end I must have been thankful to the three of you for helping me not hurt others."
This makes future Akko start crying.
"That's the same thing she said to us during our last visit. We could see her improving, getting better and letting go of past regrets. They were considering letting you go, Croix-Sensei. And although I was told by you to not say anything to Chariot-Sensei, you were planning on surprising her with the news during her birthday."
This is all too close to what our timeline was like…
"Listen to me." Akko tells her double intently. "This, what you have lived, is not supposed to happen. We…" she points at Croix-Sensei and herself. "Traveled to the past by accident and changed it."
"You changed the past…" the brunette witch says astonished. "Diana, does that mean..."
"If they happen to find out the exact moment in which the past changed, they could return things to the way they were." Diana says hopefully. "You could make things right."
"That's why we were asking you for your help." Croix takes out her watch and shows it to the future witches. "With this we can go back and make things right."
"Then you must go back to the moment when I have that meeting with Chariot-Sensei!" future Akko tells them excitedly. "I think that was the moment she believed Croix-Sensei was becoming too dangerous."
"Professor Chariot did suspect that Professor Croix either hypnotized or erased Akko's memories." she murmurs. "Besides, since are a very exceptional apothecary, her suspicions were not that far-fetched."
"Indeed." the lilac-haired woman agrees with them. "What happened that day two years ago was an unfortunate accident. It was the exact moment Akko and I arrived from the present and were learning about where we were."
"We were going to Luna Nova in order to find the parts Croix-Sensei needed for her watch when Ursula-Sensei saw us." Akko tells them sadly. "And when we failed to erase her memory in order to get her to forget her meeting with me, that lingering distrust must have made her react before the incident at Wagandea."
"Wagandea?" Diana and future Akko ask confused.
"It never happened here." Croix says and then further connects the dots. "Of course, that's why Chariot can fly here. She never inhaled the pollen from the tree."
"Then we must go back at once Croix-Sensei!" Akko says excitedly but then looks at Diana and her doppelganger. "But what about them? They saw us."
"If you return the past to the way it was, then we shouldn't exist and you will have no recollection of this future." Diana is the one that tells her warmly.
"Indeed." Croix agrees. "Which means that we have to succeed."
"We'll fix things!" the younger brunette promises the two older girls. "I won't let our dear Croix-Sensei leave us." she smiles at them while grabbing the lilac-haired woman's hand.
"We'll leave it to you!" future Akko says happily and knows Diana is watching her every move.
"Thank you." Diana whispers to the two witches from the past before stepping away from them. "For helping me return Akko's smile."
"That's one smile that should always be there." Croix says happily and hugs the two girls before taking her watch out and starting the spell.
"Let's go fix this once and for all Croix-Sensei!" Akko tells her determined. "Let's go back to the past!"
"Descorto tempo!" she screams and the two witches disappear in a ray of light.
I actually forgot how hard it is to write time-travel fics (specially if you want to make them match with canon). Hope you enjoy this one as well and the final part will come soon!
