Notes from the Author

This story is a lot of fun to write so far, so I'm trying to get new chapters out pretty quickly.

Chapter 4

The Red Sigil

"Why's it have to be raining?" Akko whined as she stared through the massive windows that ran along the outer wall of the cafeteria. Dark clouds had nestled over Luna Nova, rain pounding a steady rhythm against the glass. The wind whistled through the building as it drafted between the crevices of the school. "I was looking forward to flying today."

Lotte glanced up from a letter she'd received from her family in the morning mail. "Well, that's probably a good thing, Akko," she said. "You need to be studying anyway."

"You can't even fly," Sucy pointed out between thoughtful bites of her mushroom omelette. Her lavender hair cascaded across the side of her face as she stared blankly ahead. "The most you've done is hover for a few seconds."

Akko groaned, grabbing her fork to shovel a massive piece of French toast into her mouth. "Yeah, but today could have been the day!" she exclaimed, one full cheek puffed out like a chipmunk. "You never know!"

With Professor Nelson's flying class cancelled, Akko would be forced to use that period for study hall, as per the syllabus. It was entirely unfair. There were so many other things she could have been doing. Napping, for example. She knew that she needed to study, but the mere prospect of having her nose stuck in musty old books soured her mood.

"Man, this sucks," Amanda said as she plopped down in the chair beside Akko, looking equally disappointed in the foul weather. Constanze and Jasminka were nowhere to be seen. "I just got a new broom that I wanted to try out, too. Hand carved in Canada. Can't find better wood, eh?" Her elbow gently nudged Akko's side.

Amanda chuckled at her own joke. Akko choked on the sip of orange juice that she'd just taken and nearly spit it back into the cup.

Lotte simply blinked up at the American witch, eyebrows twisted in confusion. Sucy ignored everything.

"Amanda!" Akko said between coughs, face flushing furiously.

"Sorry." Amanda smirked, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands behind her head. "Got to take 'em as I see 'em."

A flash of wavy blonde hair drew Akko's attention away from the table. She watched as Diana, flanked by a chattering Hannah and Barbara, claimed an empty table across the cafeteria to eat their breakfasts.

Diana was completely ignoring her two teammates. Instead, she looked lost in thought, staring out the window to watch the steady rain as she ate. Her expression showed little emotion, but Akko couldn't help but notice that it kind of resembled the look she'd had at the museum in front of the Tapestry of Beatrix.

Akko chewed slowly, mind wandering to their one-on-one practice and the way Diana's breath had tickled her neck, the warmth of the other girl's hand on her arm as she guided Akko in the proper spellcasting motion. Thinking about it made the hair on her arms rise, as though even the mere memory of it ghosted Diana's touch against her skin.

With a start, she saw that Diana was no longer looking out the window—instead, she was staring directly at… Akko. Their eyes met, and Diana quickly looked away and, wait, was she blushing?

Akko hadn't even realized that she'd frozen mid-chew. Her fork had slipped from between her fingers and clattered down onto the wooden table.

"Akko?"

Lotte's voice drew her back to her friends, to the three girls who were staring back at her.

"We've been talking to you for the last few minutes, have you heard anything?" Lotte asked.

Akko picked her fork back up, feeling the heat rise to her face as she glanced back at Diana, who had taken up an active conversation with Hannah and Barbara. "Umm…"

"Typical," Sucy muttered.

Amanda ran a hand through her wild hair, eyes following Akko's as a sudden realization drafted through her. She knew that look. She knew that look very well, in fact. The corner of her lips crooked up in a knowing smirk.

She could have easily said something like she usually did. Embarrassed Akko. Made things awkward. Entertained herself. But, no, even though Amanda had a big mouth, she knew exactly when to keep it shut.

Atop the observatory, Akko gazed out over the peaceful twilight of Luna Nova's grounds. The storm had finally broken, dark grey clouds giving way to the remnants of the day's sun. Off in the distance, pale orange rays cast an eerie glow across the canopy of the Arcturus Forest. Akko hunched her shoulders deeper into her robe as the cold, late autumn breeze bit through the material. She could feel the hair on her arms rising in response to the chill that ran through her body. She kicked her legs listlessly where they hung off the edge, peering down at the empty yard below.

Akko could openly admit that the observatory was one of her favorite places on campus. The view served as a warm reminder of her achievements, validated the friendships she'd made and the hardships that she had encountered on her path to become the best witch that she could be. The lack of traffic to the top of the observatory was a mere perk, granting Akko the alone time that she sometimes craved, the alone time that she couldn't find in the bustling halls of the school below.

The observatory also held the remnants of one her fondest memories. With it came the recollection of Diana, appearing atop the observatory with her broomstick in her hand, ready to depart Luna Nova forever to become the Head of her House. Had Akko not been there, she may not have had the impulse to follow after her, to bring her back from what she could only imagine would be a lonely existence in those dreary halls of her mansion with nobody but miss no-funny-business herself, Anna, an what Akko could only define as the world's worst aunt. But she had brought Diana back, mostly for the selfish reason that in order to be a great witch, she felt that she needed to have a great rival. Though, now, Diana had become more of a friend. The notion of rivals rarely crossed her mind any longer.

Akko nibbled passively on the plum tart she'd stolen from the cafeteria as her mind wandered into the memory of the trials that she, Sucy, and Lotte had faced on that very first day at Luna Nova. Sucy, whizzing around the Cockatrice's head in sheer determination to get the feather she needed, while Akko and Lotte were forced to serve as non-consensual bait. Though Akko could openly admit that what Sucy originally set out to do was wrong, the recollection of meeting her two best friends pervaded that Sucy had used her as a sacrifice.

Breaking free from her thoughts, she had started reciting the strengths and weaknesses to the most common magical creatures when something caught her eye from the direction of the forest.

"Hmm?"

Akko clambered to her feet, moving to the railing to stand on her toes and get a closer look.

A large red sigil had appeared at the edge of the forest closest to the Luna Nova Tower. As Akko watched on, the sigil seemed to glow brighter and brighter until she had to shield her eyes as though she was peering at the sun.

Almost as quickly as it had begun, the sigil disappeared entirely.

But the spot she was looking at still wasn't empty.

Five figures had appeared in place of the sigil, standing close together in a V formation. She couldn't see who they were. Black robes were completely covering any defining characteristics, hoods shielding any kind of facial features—not that Akko would have been able to see from the distance she was at, but the very outline of the figures made her stomach turn uncomfortably. She got the distinct feeling that something wasn't right.

At first, she thought that they may have had ill intentions for the Philosopher's Stone, which was still gripped tight at the top of the Luna Nova Tower despite being completely unnecessary following the events of the Grand Triskellion. But, as Akko looked on, she noticed that their bodies weren't even oriented in that direction. No, they were looking at something else. Something close to the school.

Leaning over the railing, Akko looked down.

It was hard to make much out from being so high up, but the thick blonde hair gave it away. Diana was patrolling the yard. They were watching her.

She glanced back up. Had they moved closer? Yes. They were moving. Towards Diana. Akko felt her adrenaline surge. Every fiber of her being was screaming that something was wrong. Their intentions were anything but benevolent. With her heart pounding in her throat, Akko bellowed out above the silent grounds of Luna Nova.

"Diana!"

She felt a hand slam hard against her back.

Akko had no time to think, no time to make a grab for anything before her stomach lurched and she found herself plummeting, head first, from the observatory.

She strained against the wind and gravity to reach her wand, to try to cast the metamorphosis spell, but the ground was coming fast, too fast, and she was going to hit it, she was going to—

Her entire body jerked uncomfortably as a hand snaked out of the air to grab her wrist.

Her eyes followed the pale hand that was clutching her with a grip so tight that she felt like her arm was going to burst. Diana. She'd taken flight and was pulling Akko up, back to the safety of the observatory. From where she hung, Akko could see Diana's jaw clenching, her gaze set straight ahead.

Akko felt her knee scrape against the hard stone as Diana released her arm and dropped her before landing with a huff. Akko could still feel her body quivering as though she was still plummeting through the air. Out of sorts, she clambered to her feet and tried to compose herself, ignoring the sting of her knee and the fresh blood that trickled down the front of her calf.

"Diana," she breathed, steadying herself on the rail. "Diana, are you okay?"

"Are you?" Diana whirled, knuckles white against her broomstick. "What do you think you are doing, Akko?"

Akko reached up to rub the back of her neck. "They were coming for you, I was—they were—someone pushedme," Akko said, remembering the flat palm that had struck her back and sent her flying over the edge.

Diana took a deep breath. "Akko, I saw you fall. You slipped. There is no one else here." She gestured around the empty observatory for emphasis. "No one but you, Akko. Past curfew. Again. With stolen goods from the cafeteria." She pointed out the half-eaten tart that Akko had dropped.

"No, Diana, there were—" she pointed to the edge of the Arcturus Forest, where the red sigil had appeared an, along with it, the five figures. The sky was rapidly darkening, but Akko knew that was where they had come from. Only… there wasn't anyone there. "I swear," she groaned. "There was this bright red glow, and these guys appeared and they were cloaked and they were—"

"Akko," Diana snapped. "There's no one there." She waved her hand in the direction of the Luna Nova Tower with the hand that still gripped her broomstick. "So either you're making up stories to get yourself out of trouble or you're seeing things that aren't there, and I'm not entirely certain which one is worse."

"But—" Akko could feel herself growing impatient with Diana's disbelief. "Diana, you were in danger!"

"The only thing I seemed to be in danger of was you falling on me from three hundred meters above," Diana stated, struggling to maintain a steady voice despite just nearly seeing Akko die, among other things.

Akko shook her head. "Diana, please," she pleaded, inhaling deeply. "Listen to me."

"No, you listen to me for once, Atsuko Kagari."

Ouch, whole nametreatment?

"You have, once again, in spite of my warnings, gone against the rules of Luna Nova and broken curfew. Along with that, you haveonce againstolen from the cafeteria after hours. I have told you time and time again to get your act together. None of this reflects well on the school andespecially you as a student. Your lack of compliance not only shows complete disrespect for myself, but for Luna Nova." She tossed her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "And do you even know what kind of danger you were just in? You're blowing it off as though it's just another day in the life of Akko. What would you have done if I hadn't been there? You don't have your broomstick and you certainly don't have the skill as a witch to even begin to know the spell to lessen your fall or shield yourself in the least bit." She looked away, across the grounds of Luna Nova, in the direction that the sigil had appeared. "You could have killed yourself, Akko. Youwould have killed yourself."

Akko could have killed herself, she repeated in her head as she tried to steady her breath.

"I—but—" Her gaze followed Diana's to where the figures had emerged from the red sigil. Nothing. She couldn't even feel the fear that had gripped her before. No, they were gone. She turned her crimson eyes back to the witch in front of her.

"I may have saved you from death," Diana stated, shifting an icy blue stare back to Akko. "But I will most certainly not save you from Headmistress Holbrooke."

"Miss Kagari. I see you find yourself here again."

Headmistress Holbrooke sighed deeply as she leaned against her heavy oak desk, setting her chin in her hand as she stared at the students before her. One bewildered and shifting, the other clearly annoyed, but composed. The smell of what Akko could only describe as musty books and old people stung her nostrils.

"I've told you," Akko said, not even bothering to hide the desperation in her voice. "There were these people and—somebody pushed me and—," she felt a heavy whine leave the back of her throat. "Why will nobody believe me? And besides," she added, "Diana was out there, too!"

Diana cut a sideways glance at Akko, brows furrowed. She said nothing, but kept her arms firmly folded across her chest.

"She was performing her duties as the evening monitor," Madame Holbrooke stated. "And as you heard, she informed us that there was nobody on the school grounds aside from yourself. I believe that Miss Cavendish would have detected these perpetrators, had they been there, or at the very least noticed the placement of a sigil, especially if it was as bright as you say it was. Miss Cavendish has shown herself to be quite adept at reading magical signatures." She tapped her quill against the stack of parchment that was Akko's disciplinary record, sighing once more. "But you. What are we ever going to do with you, Miss Kagari?"

"She has time and time again showed herself to not be worthy of Luna Nova attendance," Professor Finnelan said, glowering down her hooked nose at Akko from behind Madame Holbrooke's desk. "I believe it is about time we explored the option of expulsion."

"Expulsion?" Akko's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "You can't be serious? No one got hurt!"

"Someone could have very well gotten hurt," Professor Finnelan stated. "As Miss Cavendish tells us, yourself specifically."

Akko tilted her head back and rocked back onto her heels as she took a sharp breath of air. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't possibly be getting expelled for staying out past curfew or taking a tart, even if she had done it, well, multiple times.

"I hardly think that's necessary," Professor Ursula said as she stepped into the school counseling office, clearly fighting back sleep. She raised a closed fist to rub her bleary eyes before sliding her glasses onto her nose. "Akko has accomplished too much as a student here to be subject to that kind of punishment."

Thank the Nine. Akko let out a sigh of relief at Professor Ursula's appearance. Beside her, Diana let out her own breath that she'd been holding.

"I agree wholeheartedly with Professor Ursula," Madame Holbrooke said with a nod. "Imagine the headlines that would result from that outcome?" She stood and spread her palms out before her, as if displaying a banner. "Luna Nova Expels World Renowned Witch Who Stopped Missile." A small smile etched across her lips as she dropped her arms. "While it does seem that Miss Kagari will continually refuse to abide by Luna Nova policies, we can, at the very least, balance the disobedience out with a little bit of hard work."

Akko could feel Professor Finnelan still holding her in a stare that didn't bother to hide her detest for the student. She was wholly aware that if Finnelan had been the Headmistress, she would have been expelled long ago.

"You can join Miss O'Neill in her dish duties this upcoming week," Headmistress Holbrooke said.

Diana hummed at Akko's side, nodding in agreeance.

"The dishes?" Akko groaned, bringing her hands up to her face. "You mean the dirty dishes for the entire school?"

"I mean precisely that," Headmistress Holbrooke confirmed.

Akko felt a growl rise from the back of her throat.

"Now, Akko, this is a light punishment," Professor Ursula pointed out. "You broke not one but two school rules, both of which you've broken previously. Take it as a learning point."

Akko visibly deflated. "Yeah, learning how gross everyone in the school is," she grumbled.

Ignoring Akko's comment, Madame Holbrooke leveled her gaze at Diana. "Now, Miss Cavendish. I would like you to oversee both Miss Kagari and Miss O'Neill in their duties. Now, please, both if you see yourselves off to bed. The hour is late."

Diana opened her mouth and then shut it, disdain leaving as quickly as it came. "Yes, Headmistress Holbrooke," she replied.

As the two stepped from the counseling office, Akko could hear the angry voice of Professor Finnelan rising from behind the heavy wooden door that they quietly shut behind them. An air of discomfort bounced between herself and Diana.

"Diana—" Akko started, still determined to get the other girl to believe her. Or, at least, start to believe her.

"Akko." Diana raised her hand, keeping her gaze locked firmly ahead. "Please. I no longer wish to hear about it. Now, if you'll excuse me."

She watched as Diana quickened her stride and disappeared down the stone staircase that would lead to the second floor dormitories.

Akko had seen the sigil. She had seen the figures. And she had felt a hand push her from behind. There was no way she had imagined all of that. And, if there was a danger, or even the possibility of one, why was nobody taking her seriously?