Chapter 2- A School-Shaking Announcement.
Assemblies were rather unusual at Luna Nova. Other than entrance ceremonies, there wasn't really any reason to gather all of the students and staff in one place. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy waited patiently with the rest, but couldn't help but chatter like everyone else, due to the anticipation of a huge announcement.
"I don't want to be that girl, but, do you think we'll get rewards of some kind for stopping the missile Croix launched?" Akko asked her friends while fidgeting around, full of energy. Lotte and Sucy looked at each other for a moment, and then looked back at Akko.
"Akko, I think that's going to be kept on the down low around here." Lotte responded, in an attempt to bring Akko back down to Earth.
"What do you mean? We would at least be acknowledged in some fashion, wouldn't we?" Akko asked in an attempt to make sense of her friend's statement. Sucy leaned back in her seat, and folder her arms, giving off the impression that she had everything figured out.
"While you, I, Lotte, Amanda, Diana, Constanze, and Jasminka were able to stop that missile from causing even more chaos, rewarding us in front of the entire school would only make it look like this school's staff considers us the cream of the crop. While you might think we are, the truth is, we had your Shiny Rod helping us out most of the time. Now that that thing's gone, we would only look like individuals among the rest being put above everyone else on explanation alone." Sucy answered as she shrugged, closed her eyes, and cocked her head back. Akko was puzzled. Her demeanor changed to a more solemn state as she turned her head toward her other friend.
"So… does that mean I'm being too confident?" Akko asked.
"In a way, yeah." Sucy replied while pointing her finger right at her stumped friend. "But it also feels like you're trying to put yourself over others when right now. Even though those others are objectively better witches than you are. Especially since you don't have the Shiny Rod anymore." Akko looked down to the space her chair was resting on. Her expectations had been firmly grounded in reality.
"Now, Akko, Sucy wasn't trying to hurt your feelings." Lotte interjected quickly.
"I just wanted you to think more realistically." Sucy clarified. "Yeah, Professor Croix's broadcast showcased what you and Diana could do on a huge scale, but again, that was with the Shiny Rod." There was a small pause in the conversation. Sucy looked to her left where she saw Akko's head hang low. "If I were you, Akko, I'd be more proud of learning how to fly than unlocking Grand Triskelion." Lotte looked over at Sucy, rather frustrated.
"Sucy! That's kind of mean.-" Lotte was cut off by the girl she was aiming to defend.
"No, Lotte." Akko said in a rather serious fashion. "Everything Sucy said was right." Her head was hung low, and her brow was slightly furrowed along with it. "Even though I could use the Shiny Rod well, I can't use it if it's not here. It's time for me to finally make some of my own magic!" After she had accepted the fact, the slight tension between the three mostly dissolved. It was at that point, everyone in the crowd was hushed, as all of the teachers and staff walked onto the stage. The headmistress approached the podium, and readjusted the microphone to suit her. After doing so, she pushed her glasses back into place, and all eyes were on her.
"Good morning, students of Luna Nova! First things first, I would like to apologize. Due to a mishap involving one of our former teachers, that you all are most definitely aware of, we had to shut the school down for two days in order to adjust to the current circumstances we are now facing." Small murmurs around the audience appeared and dissipated, but the headmistress pushed on. "Furthermore, as you all know, magic is no longer a rare resource for us witches. It's now everywhere, and as I'm sure most of you have put together, we're on the dawn of a new age. Once retired witches will no doubt be popping up everywhere, and large advertising companies will no doubt attempt to capitalize on the reveal of a culture that many around the world were once unaware of." All of the staff on stage waved their wands, as a huge screen took up the empty air above their heads, and filled with charts in order to detail the headmistresses' words. "As you can see by these charts, social media, news resources, and big companies have all expressed their enthusiasm in witches and magic within the past forty-eight hours. This information has been debated over by our teachers and staff, and we have arrived at the following conclusion." The headmistress took a sip of water from a water bottle at her side, as if to drum up the anticipation more than it already had been. "We here at Luna Nova, in order to keep up with the times, and in order help make witches make a proper introduction into this new era, have decided to launch our first annual Magic Tournament!" Immediately, the audience of students went nuts.
" A m-magic tournament?" Lotte asked. "What do they mean by that?" Sucy seemed to share Lotte's confusion, but chose to express it with the same disgusted glare she used for Akko's wacky hijinks. Akko on the other hand, seemed to be over the moon.
"This will serve to solidify Luna Nova as part of this new era." The headmistress continued. "Events will be carried out, obviously, in the style of a tournament, where students participating will be eliminated as the rounds continue. Participation isn't mandatory, but it is recommended, as doing so will certainly not only net you praise from this new witch community we hope to cultivate, but also secure high marks from your classes as well. Every member of the staff will serve as the judges for the tournament. If you do well, you could receive high marks in a certain class, depending on the type of action you might be participating in, and if you mess up, you will not be marked down. In other words, you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain."
"Interesting!" Lotte chimed in. "That means I could raise my grade in Professor Finneran's class if I do well enough! Though, I'm not sure what kind of tournament event could center around her magic linguistics."
We will reveal the first round's event right now, so those who are interested, and from the looks of things that means quite a few of you, can prepare for the tournament in two weeks time." The headmistress scanned the room, and many giddy faces stared back. After a spin of her wand, the first round's name was projected on the screen floating above her. "Round one is titled: "Who You Are." It's a round where every participant, one at a time, will showcase who they are as individuals through their magic. There are no limits, as long as what you are doing doesn't endanger the audience. So please girls, show us what you've got!" As soon as the headmistress stepped down from the podium, the audience burst into one huge noise. Some were talking about how excited they were, some were still confused about the event, and some seemed entirely disinterested. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy were quiet. Little did anyone know, the three were mulling over what they would gain from participating in the magic tournament. Just as it seemed the students were about to be released from the assembly, the headmistress appeared back at the podium. "Sorry everyone, there's a few things I seemed to have left out!" A resounding sigh poured over the room. "I'd like to reinforce the fact that it doesn't matter what background any of you come from, and it doesn't matter how long any of you have been practicing magic. This tournament is designed so any student in this room could win." The room went silent. Everyone seemed rather astounded from the headmistress' words. "Also, whoever does win, will be the face of the academy. They will serve as the school's model student for the duration of the following week. She will attend a question and answer panel about life on the campus, and the perks of studying magic. In order to be as transparent as possible, this is done to, once again, take advantage of magic's new popularity. If you are still willing to participate in the magic tournament, then all you need to do is show up in the fields outside of the school two weeks from today. Thank you all for your time. Regular classes will resume tomorrow, so please, if you do plan on participating, plan your schedule around preparation."
. . .
The lunchroom was buzzing with talk of Luna Nova's first magic tournament. The past two days had everyone in the student body acknowledge that magic was no longer rare, but this was the first sign that hit everyone hard. Magic was back! Along with it came a chance for everyone to shine! Akko sat down with her fresh school lunch, and was instantly involved in the very popular topic.
"So, Akko, what do you think of all this?" Amanda asked, as she leaned back in her seat with her shoes on the table. "Do you think you're going to participate?" She barely had a chance to raise a carrot to her mouth from her tray before Akko's response caught the entire table's attention.
"ARE YOU KIDDING? I'M SUPER PUMPED FOR THIS!" Akko yelled back as she threw her tray down and twirled around three hundred and sixty degrees. "I was just wondering if I'd ever get a chance to distance myself from the shiny rod, and this is the perfect opportunity!"
"You're only thinking about making your own magic more distinct because I said it to your face." Sucy interjected as she ate a bit of charred broccoli with a grin on her face.
"Sucy! You're being too mean to Akko again!" Lotte said as she looked to her left, lining up her and Sucy's eyes.
"No, Sucy was right, Lotte!" Akko said as she put her hand out towards the two in a dramatic fashion. "This whole time, the shiny rod was my greatest way of casting spells, but by the time it disappeared a few days ago, it was my only way of casting spells!"
"I gotta say Akko, you're taking this whole, idol's iconic item vanishing into the stars, thing very well." Amanda said as she tossed a grape in her mouth. Directly after that, Constanze, who was sitting to the right of Amanda, twirled her wand. Her tiny robot, Stanbot, spoke for her in a shrill robotic tone.
"Does Akko still like Shiny Chariot?" Stanbot chimed. Akko finally sat down in her seat, and picked up a fork.
"Constanze, I'll always cherish and respect the memories that Professor Ursula's Shiny Chariot persona left me. Without her, I wouldn't have ever been interested in magic. But her reign ended long ago. Personally, I think I love Professor Ursula even more as someone I can look up to." Akko answered as she made gestures with her fork.
"That's sweet!" Jasminka shouted from the right of Constanze as she munched a potato chip from her bag. "Respecting a teacher like Ursula is something you don't see a lot from those our age. Then again, I can see why, after everything you went through." Jasminka tossed a potato chip as a small sign of appreciation, and Akko caught it without hesitation. "Keep at it Akko, and you might become one of the stand out students here one day." Akko laughed at Jasminka comment.
"Thank you, Jasminka, but I haven't really done much on my own yet." Akko replied as she chomped the potato chip in a flash. "So, what do you think of the magic tournament, Sucy?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm a little scared." Sucy responded as she looked down at her tray, rather glum.
"Huh? You scared, Sucy?" Amanda said as she removed her feet from the table and planted them firmly on the ground in an attempt to see this rare occurrence. Within a few seconds, everyone at the table was looking at Sucy.
"No, you guys misunderstand." Sucy clarified as she waved her hand in front of her face as her poker face returned. "Once my mom catches wind of this, there's no doubt she'll bring some of my family to watch."
"Your mom?" Akko asked, mouth half full of tomatoes and croutons.
"Yeah, my mom." Sucy answered. "She's the one who taught me everything I know
about witchery. I would never been interested in alchemical potion mixing if it wasn't for her. She tends to get pretty loud and annoying whenever I succeed at something." Lotte let out a friendly laugh, and attempted to clarify things for her friend.
"Sucy, that just means she's proud of you. My mom does the same thing! There's no need to be embarrassed!" Constanze twirled her wand, and Stanbot looked over in Sucy's direction.
"Why is Sucy embarrassed?" Stanbot asked as it cocked its head to the left. Sucy put down her fork and leaned back in her chair. She also crossed her arms as she tended to do when she was about to explain something.
"This is a little personal, but, well." Sucy was hesitating to get the words out. She looked away from her friends as she continued. "I'm actually not my mother's daughter." Everyone at the table stopped what they were doing as the mood shifted from playful explanation, to serious clarification. "My mother told me a few years ago that I was abandoned as a baby with nothing but a jar of poison. Apparently, that happens from time to time in the southern islands. At least where my mom was brought up. She took me in, and raised me as her own. When I was about seven, I saw her make her own potions for the first time. I asked her how she was doing what she was doing, and that came with her revealing our family legacy as witches. I thought she looked so cool when she was working with poison, which was weird since I hated poison due to being abandoned with it. I began to work with my mom more and more, and grew to love potions, and witchery. She said I had an innate talent, most likely because whoever abandoned me was also a witch. Whenever I succeeded it making a new potion, she would laugh and hug me to the point where it annoyed me. But I still love her despite that. I make my potions in the same way as my mom, I cast spells the same way, and we even have similar hairstyles. She means as much to me, as Ursula means to you, Akko." Akko flinched when she heard the comparison. "Anyway, whenever we went out in public together, I always thought that my admiration made me look too similar, so when I had a chance to attend Luna Nova, I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to express myself. Basically, when she shows up here in two weeks, I want to make it seem like I'm not some cheap imitation. But if I do too well, she'll make a scene." Sucy turned back towards her friends at the table, and put one arm down to rest her head on. She planted her chin on her palm, and let out a sigh. "My situation is too complicated for it's own good." The table was quiet for a moment, before Lotte spoke up once more.
"Sucy." She said as she put a hand on the conflicted girl's shoulder. "I'll say it again, she's just proud of you. Her loud praise means she's just proud of the progress you're making. I'm sure when she sees you participate in the tournament in two weeks, she'll see how far you've come and go through the same motions you described! But that's not a bad thing." Sucy looked down at her food.
"Yeah, I'm just a bit anxious."
"It happens to the best of us. But you're not alone, alright?" Jasminka said. Sucy looked over, right as Jasminka tossed her a jelly bean. Sucy caught it, and immediately realized that she had discarded her pack of chips, and had moved on to candy. Sucy looked at the Jelly bean Jasminka had tossed her. It was purple. She looked up at her friends, who were all smiling at her. Sucy leaned back in her chair and ate the candy bean. She closed her eyes and smiled as she digested the tiny clump of sugar. Right after that, Sucy got up from her seat, and decided to go back to her room she shared with Akko and Lotte.
"Excuse me, you guys. I'm going to go take a nap. Don't disturb me." Sucy dropped her tray off at the room's tray return and disappeared around the corner.
"Wow." Amanda said. "Has she always been that open?"
"No, not really." Akko answered.
"She's just a bit worn out right now." Lotte said. "But still, I didn't expect her to tell us her entire backstory." Stanbot suddenly interjected.
"She's most likely been meaning to share that for a while." Amanda looked down at Stanbot.
"Well, I can somewhat relate." Amanda said as she held a stick of celery above Stanbot's head.
"What do you mean, Amanda?" Akko asked.
"My dad's a corporate business head. My mom's side of the family is where all of the magic comes from, of course with the whole, witch thing and all." Amanda leaned back in her chair and put her feet back on the table. "Our family's specialty is fortune telling. He has this crappy system set up with some of my mom's sisters where the group predicts outcomes and chooses the best ways to make the company bigger."
"Really?" Akko asked as she bit into a pickled plum.
"Yeah, ever since I was a kid, I knew he was up to some slimy stuff. He sent me to this school so I could train, become a great witch, and help him with his shady business practices. That's why I tried dropping out awhile ago. But you, Akko, searching for the words with you helped me realize that this place isn't so bad!" Amanda pointed a carrot directly at Akko, then turned the stick around and ate it. She swallowed, then stood up from her seat. "If I win this tournament, I'll use that Q&A to express my distaste for his ways! Not a bad plan, right?" The table was quiet, all eyes were on Amanda's ecstatic demeanor. "Well, I think it's a good plan, anyway. I think I'll hit the hay too. See you guys later!" The sporty witch walked away from the table, leaving only Lotte, Akko, Constanze, and Jasminka in the conversation.
"Akko, are you alright?" Jasminka asked, holding out a cheese curl from her freshly opened bag.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." Akko responded as she took the snack. "I was just thinking about how magic can be used for sinister purposes as well. Before, I guess I always thought of it as this source of energy that could only be used for good. But Croix and Amanda's dad have proved me wrong, I guess."
"Don't feel down, Akko!" Lotte chimed in. "It's not like you did any of those things!"
"I know Lotte, but I guess I feel kind of dumb for being ignorant to the concept until recently." Akko looked down at her empty plate. Now all that was left on its surface was Jasminka gift of a cheese curl.
"We all have own reasons for witchery." Stanbot chirped. "Doesn't change fact that we all respect each other, right?" Stanbot and Constanze looked at Akko waiting for her answer.
"That's right, Constanze. Sucy wants to prove her independence to her mom, and Amanda want to show her dad he's using magic the wrong way. Lotte, you want to support your family's store, right?" Akko looked over at Lotte, who flinched at the on the spot questioning.
"Huh? Oh, yes, Akko. I do want to support my family and our store. Though, I predict it will do better now that magic has returned to the world and more witches will come out of hiding." Akko nodded and turned to Constanze and Jasminka.
"What about you two?" She asked. The two turned to each other, and looked back at Akko.
"Rather not say." Stanbot said. "Not as brave as Sucy and Amanda."
"That's fine, especially if you don't want to tell us for personal reasons. I respect that." Akko turned to Lotte, and smiled. "I'm going to go see if I can find Professor Ursula. I have a few things I want to ask her about."
"Alright, see you later, Akko!" Lotte said as Akko stood up from the table.
"See you guys later!" Akko responded as she walked to the tray return. Once she had placed her tray with the rest of the dirty plates, she disappeared around the corner. Back at the table, Lotte, Constanze, and Jasminka watched Akko walk away.
"Looks like Akko's lost in thought about her motivations too." Lotte inquired.
"Most likely." Stanbot chimed.
"Yes." Jasminka added.
. . .
"Huh? A magic book to study by yourself?" Professor Ursula put her books down on her desk, along with a pile of folders. "Alcor, please file these away for me while I talk to Akko." The familiar screeched, and picked up a single folder in its talons to start the job.
"Um, Professor Ursula?" Akko asked, standing in the middle of Ursula's room, which at the moment, was filled to the brim with books, papers, folders, and knick knacks. "Why is your room such a mess?" Ursula herself was stationed several feet in front of Akko beside her trusty desk. The piles of information told Akko that she better not get close, or else risk causing the stacks of paper to spill onto the ground. The last thing she wanted was to add to her favorite teacher's mess, and not have a levitation spell to help clean it up on top of that.
"Oh! I have to organize student information into a pre and post new magic era pile. I also have to dig out and update Luna Nova's policies on holding big events like the magic tournament to fit our current standards. Since I'm the newest and youngest teacher here, I have the most free time. So, this job was dumped on me."
"I'm sorry."
You have no need to apologize. Anyway, what brought this on, Akko? Didn't you want to continue tutoring sessions from me every morning?" Professor Ursula asked as she turned to face Akko from her current spot in the room holding two dictionaries.
"Yes, I do want to continue tutoring with you, Professor, but…" Akko hesitated to finish her thoughts. Her hands looked lifeless as they hung by her side, and her head was focused on the floor once more.
"Come on Akko, you can tell me, I won't tell anyone else." Ursula said warmly. She walked closer to her pupil in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable with finishing her sentence.
"Well, with the magic tournament in two weeks, everyone's going to be entering to improve their grades, but they're also going to enter for things greater than themselves."
"Greater than themselves?" Ursula realized that Akko didn't look took comfortable with the topic, due to the deep breaths she was taking in an attempt to remain calm. She wasn't used to acting this serious in front of her mentor, and with everything she had been told today, she was feeling very inconsequential.
"I guess I'm just… tired of my own ignorance." Akko felt a hot wash pour over her after revealing her current feelings toward her personal progress as a student, and a witch. Ursula stoically looked down at Akko, then turned and walked back towards her pile of books. She returned a few seconds later and shoved a book titled 'Witchery and Fear: Remarks on the Hardships (and accomplishments) of Magic.' in her face
"Huh?" Akko asked. "What's this?"
"Well, it's a present, for you!" Akko took the book in her hands.
"A present for me?" She said calm and quietly.
"Yes. I read the same book when I wanted to expand my magical horizons." Ursula blushed a bit and scratched her cheek. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure how much this will help, but if you've hit a brick wall on magic in general, I'd recommend giving this a read."
"You would give this to me?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Ursula put her hands on her hips, and puffed out her chest. "You're my pupil, so, I have to work hard to make sure you're prepared for this new age of magic!" Akko laughed a genuine laugh, and smiled.
"Thanks Professor Ursula! I won't let you down!" Akko ran off, seemingly in a better mood than when she arrived. Right when Ursula was about to get back to organization, she smiled when she remembered what the headmistress said.
"You were right, headmistress Holbrooke."
NOTE: Continued in Chapter 3.