Notes from the Author

Had to stay up late to churn this one out before the weekend so I can spend time with my wife. I'm looking forward to tackling a bunch more of this plot in the upcoming week.

Chapter 5

Ancient Magical Cults

"Maybe it was just a trick of the sun, Akko," Lotte offered. Akko had just relayed the entire events of the evening, leaving out no details. Well, except for the part where she snuck into the cafeteria to steal a tart. "And what you saw were shadows."

"And the hand that pushed me?" Akko said, feeling heat rise to her cheeks at the realization that her friends didn't believe her, either. "Are you going to tell me that was just the wind?"

Lotte shrugged, jaw clenching as she fought to hold back a yawn that ended up winning. She covered her mouth with her fist. "That's likely, being up that high," she finally said.

Akko flung herself back onto her bed, groaning. "Aw, you guys! How can you not believe me, either? I know what I saw. There's no way I was seeing things."

"Well, how come Diana didn't see, then?" Lotte asked.

"I don't know." Akko sighed. "It all happened so fast. She might not have noticed."

"I believe you, Akko," Sucy said. She finished watering her mushrooms and shoved them into the darkness of her bottom desk to grow.

"Eh?" Akko sat up, lips parting in disbelief as she stared at Sucy. "Really?"

"Sure." Sucy shrugged, looking over at the Japanese witch with her tell-tale smirk as she climbed into her own bed. "I believe you may have had a little something in your orange juice this morning."

"Sucy!" Akko shrieked, grabbing her pillow and chucking it at her roommate so fast that the other witch didn't have time to dodge. The pillow smacked into the side of her head where she grabbed it, chuckling, and threw it back at Akko.

"Sucy, you're kidding, right?" Lotte asked, her voice wavering with uncertainty. She drew her legs into her own bed as she removed her thick glasses and placed them next to her pillow.

"Maybe, maybe not," Sucy said, rolling over to face the wall and shoving in her earbuds. Not even a moment later, even breaths rose from where she lie.

Akko buried her face in her pillow. She hadn't thought she was hallucinating. It had seemed so real. But, if Sucy had snuck something into her drink, again, she might find herself actually getting expelled for morphing her roommate into something that would likely get her stomped on by another student.

Ignoring Headmistress Holbrooke was a rare occurrence for Diana, but it had to be done. So, instead of going to her room to get sleep as ordered, she went right on past the stairs to the second floor and instead she pushed through the large doors of the library.

If Akko had seen what she had seen—if Akko was right, that meant that Diana's fears were confirmed. She had felt danger looming with the onset of the Martian Eclipse. And, that very evening, she had felt the familiar prickle of fear that came with the signature of malevolent magic.

Diana had been on her regular evening patrol of the school grounds. Everything had seemed quiet after the storm. Peaceful, even. And, of course, no students were violating the rules to be outside as the rain had just ended, so she was taking advantage of the alone time to let herself drift into her thoughts.

Which, as it happened to be, were of the exact witch that had screamed her name from so high up.

Diana had looked up just in time to see the arm retreat back to the shrouded figure that seemed to evaporate into a mist before her eyes. Just in time to see that Akko had been flung forcefully from the edge of the observatory.

"Tia Freyre!" Diana had screamed as she leapt onto her broom and flew towards Akko's tumbling body. At first, she wasn't sure that she was going to catch her. For a brief, painful moment, the image of Akko's crumpled form at the base of the observatory flashed through her mind. But when her arm flew out and magic sparked at their connection, her entire body had sighed with relief.

Yes, she was upset with Akko for being out after hours, but it was something she had come to expect of the other witch. She was furious that something—no, someone—had put Akko's life in danger, had attempted to harm her in a way that would have had fatal results. If this was what she thought it was, then Akko had nothing to do with it, she would have been nothing but collateral damage.

Diana locked the library door behind her with the master key she'd been given as one of the school's monitors. The library was still, silent. Dark. The rain had resumed once more since their time in Headmistress Holbrooke's office and fell heavily against the cathedral windows that stretched across the walls. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance, but no lightning came.

Taking a deep breath, Diana closed her eyes and painted a picture in her mind of the red sigil that Akko had described. The section that she needed would be in the back of the library, in the Ancient History section that students only visited with a groan when they had a report to write on long-dead magical practices.

But Diana didn't step forward with the groan of a jaded student. She stepped forward with fear coursing through her bloodstream, with a lump in her throat that told her that as much as she didn't want it to be so, the evidence spoke otherwise.

She traced her fingers across the old, tattered spines of thick tomes from long ago, blue eyes scanning over the barely legible titles of each. And there—there it was. Nearly out of reach, but not so if she carefully stepped onto the second shelf and stretched.

Her finger snagged the top of the book just as the shelf shifted beneath her. She tumbled backwards, back striking the hard ground in a way that forced the air from her lungs. Taking a few deep breaths, she sat up and looked around her.

The book had come down with her. It lay on the ground at her side, the front cover nearly ripped from the spine with the force of the fall, but the red lettering etched into the leather glared out at her.

Ancient Magical Cults

Diana would usually scold someone for damaging school property and would never have done it herself, even on accident, but the drive of fear overcame the drive of her good conscience and she simply grabbed it and headed to a desk. Flicking on the lantern, she let her body crumple into a hard wooden chair as she flipped through the old, yellowed pages of the text.

It took longer than she thought to find what she was looking for. Her eyes had grown weary by the time she turned the page to see the familiar sigil. The sigil that Akko had seen.

It was as she feared.

Diana read no further. There would be time for that, which was the only small comfort Diana could offer herself. Slamming the book shut, she tucked it into the inside of her robe and rushed from the library, making sure to wave her wand in a concealment spell to hide the sound of her hurrying footsteps.

"This is the absolute worst," Akko moaned as she grit her teeth and powered through the pain in her shoulder.

"You're telling me," Amanda said, sweat dripping off her forehead as she tucked what felt like her millionth clean plate into the drying rack. She let her body collapse against the sink. "I don't know what I did to deserve this!"

"According to Headmistress Holbrooke, you skipped Magical Linguistics to fly your broomstick to an undetermined off-site location," Diana said matter-of-factly from where she sat in the corner of the kitchen with her nose tucked into a book. "Therefore, in my opinion, this punishment is rather lenient."

"No one asked you, Cavendish," Amanda grumbled. "Akko, can you hand me a clean sponge? This one's disgusting."

"Sure." Akko tossed Amanda a brand new sponge and quickly got back to work scraping burnt bits of potato off a massive baking sheet. "Where'd you go, Amanda? You never told me."

Amanda quirked an eyebrow, snickering as she dunked the sponge into the sink full of warm, soapy water. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Well, yeah," Akko said. "That's why I asked."

"Not sure Miss Goody-Two-Shoes would want to listen to that," Amanda replied, raising her eyes pointedly at Diana. She grabbed another plate that still had chunks of what looked like chicken that had been chewed up and spit out. She made a face, but started cleaning it regardless. "It's not exactly something you would see on The Brady Bunch."

"First," Diana said, lowering her book to look over at the two girls. "I am not familiar with whatever The Brady Bunch is. Second, I have no interest in the semantics of your conversation."

While Akko and Diana weren't often together, it had seemed like Diana had been going out of her way to avoid Akko as much as possible since the night she fell from the observatory. Akko's hand paused on the baking sheet as she looked at the studious witch. She couldn't help but notice that she looked a little bit tired.

Diana glanced over, met her eyes. Then looked away quickly, burying her face back into the thick old book Akko had seen reading almost the entire week.

"Remember when we went to Blytonbury the other weekend?" Amanda asked Akko, tossing the last of the plates into the drying rack and getting to work on the silverware. "We should use plastic. That would save a lot of man-hours," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Akko said, raising her arms above her head in a long stretch before putting her aching arm back to work. The sheet was absolutely caked with burnt potatoes. She was starting to think she needed a chisel to get everything off.

"Remember that girl from the ice cream shop? The one who was running the register?" Amanda flashed Akko a devious smile.

"Maybe? Y—yes?"

"Asked her out." Amanda rolled her shoulders in an effort to fight off the ache in her muscles. "Anyway, she lives a town over. Skipped class and went to her place."

"Uh…" Akko scrunched her eyebrows together, paying very close attention to a particular spot on the baking sheet, which she used to shield her face and the blush that had cropped up on her cheeks. "Oh?"

"Yep," Amanda said, grinning as she dipped her hand into the sink and pulled out some forks to toss into their container. "Totally worth it."

In her corner, Diana buried her nose deeper into her book to hide the furious shade of red that had worked its way into her face.

"I, uh…" Akko swallowed hard, hand moving in a mechanical rhythm, "I didn't know you were seeing someone. That's cool."

Amanda hummed. She grabbed a handful of spoons and dropped them haphazardly into the container next to the forks. Turning to where Akko sat, she let her mouth spread into a wide grin and lowered her voice. "Well, guess we don't tell each other everything, now do we?"

Akko suddenly realized she'd been scrubbing the same place on the baking sheet for a while. One small spot was sparkling silver while the rest was soot black and coated with potatoes. She sighed. "Guess not," she mumbled as she let the sheet fall into her lap.

Amanda sidled up next to Akko, leaning in so close that Akko could feel the tips of Amanda's wild hair brush against her forehead. "So, Akko," she started, keeping her voice low. "Who is it that you like?"

Akko felt her breath hitch. She threw a desperate glance at Diana, swallowing hard before looking back to Amanda. "Uh… no one?" she finally said.

The slow smirk that tugged at the corner of Amanda's lips told Akko that the other witch was unconvinced. "Hm, is that so? Not even Andrew Hanbridge? Seems to me like he's taken a liking to you. I mean, what a good looking guy. He's got half the girls at Luna Nova positively swooning."

"Definitely not," Akko replied, her tone sliding back into its normal volume. She brought her voice back down to a whisper. "Andrew is just a… friend. He's a friend, Amanda. I have never—ew. No, ew." She waved her hands in front of her face for emphasis.

Amanda rapped her fingers against her knee. "Hm. Maybe someone else, then? Someone of equal… prestige, maybe? A particular blonde... witch? Goes by the name of Ciana Davendish?"

Akko could feel the flames licking at her cheeks.

"C'mon, Kagari, I'm not dumb. I've seen the way you keep looking over at her every chance you get." Amanda couldn't hide the smile in her voice. "It's been months. You can only hide something like that for so long. Of course I've noticed."

Akko swallowed hard, picking the baking sheet back up and scraping at the potatoes with gritted teeth. "There's nothing going on," Akko whispered, though she couldn't stop her voice from wavering. Chancing another look at Diana seemed to only fuel Amanda's mischievous smile. "Shut up about it, Amanda."

"Pardon me, but what are the two of you whispering about?"

Akko was so flustered that she hadn't even notice Diana approaching. She nearly fell backwards where she sat, which sent Amanda spiraling into delighted laughter.

"Bet you feel left out, huh?" Amanda asked, quirking an eyebrow at Diana.

"No," Diana stated, folding her arms across her body. "I'd simply like to return to the comfort of my own room for my studies. Are you girls nearly finished?"

Akko looked down at the potato covered sheet in her hands. "Uh..."

"Honestly." Diana sighed, pulling out her wand and flicking her wrist gently. A soft green light crept from the tip of her wand to the baking sheet, engulfing it in a gentle glow.

Akko waited until the tingling had left her fingers before looking down to find that what she had been working on for the better part of an hour was now sparkling clean "Seriously?" she grumbled. "We could have been done a long time ago."

"Yeah, what gives?" Amanda asked, looking equally perturbed.

Diana rolled her eyes, shoving her wand back in its holder at her side. "In that case, this would not be a punishment," she said, snatching up her book to shove underneath her arm. "Now, if you don't mind, I would really like to return to my studies in a more suitable environment."

It was a good thing that she chose to leave first, because Akko was pretty certain the crude gesture Amanda made behind her back would not have had a positive outcome.

"You're doing well, Akko," Diana said without glancing up from the text she'd been fully immersed in the entire evening.

Akko took a deep breath, tossing knotted strands of brunette hair over her shoulder as she readied herself inside the chalk circle. Dominant foot forward, toe pointed at the target, shoulders square, head held high-

"Murowa!"

The old copy of Night Fall that they'd found in the corner of the room flew off the chair, flames gently prodding the pages before engulfing the entire piece of literature (if Akko could even call it that) and rendering it to nothing but a pile of still smoldering ash. Ashes from other books scattered around the room from the various items they had been practicing on. Parts of the chair beneath the book were scorched from Akko's numerous mishaps, not to mention a large portion of the chalkboard that Diana insisted she would mend at the end of their practice sessions.

Akko tucked her wand away. She'd hardly spoken to Diana the entire evening and couldn't escape the tension that had settled thick between them. She could feel her own magic seeking Diana's whenever she was within her proximity, only to jolt back into her body like a magnet being repelled.

The same uneasy feeling quivered beneath her skin once again as she threw herself down in a chair, swiping her sweaty fringe out of her eyes "How would you know," she muttered. "You haven't even been watching."

Diana glanced up, raising an eyebrow. "If you weren't doing well, that atrocity that someone dared called a novel would still be there." She directed to the chair with the flick of a finger. "But I see that it is no longer," she said, before adding in a lower tone, "What a shame."

Akko rolled her eyes, yanking a bottle of cucumber infused water from her bag to take a long swig. Her mouth was dry from shouting so many spells. "What now?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked. She turned her deep blue eyes to Akko, slowly shutting the thick book that she had been reading for... well, since forever.

"I mean what I said," Akko said, pursing her lips and shrugging. "I've gone through every single magical creature in the textbook so many times that if I have to do it again I think I'll snap. I've done all the spells you told me I needed to learn. Well, except that water spout one, but that one is really hard and I'm pretty sure isn't in the curriculum-" Akko stopped herself, taking a breath and leveling her gaze to Diana's. "I mean, what now?"

Diana hummed, slipping her finger between the pages of where she'd left off and turning her attention back to her book. "It's whatever you like, Akko," she said. "If you don't know it now, then you won't know it for the exams next week. There will not be any miracles between now and then. So, it's whatever you like."

Whatever I like, Akko thought, crossing her arms over her chest. I'd like to go do something else! Anything else!

She rose from her chair to go practice the barrier spell Diana had taught her, but paused to chance a quick look at what Diana had been reading the entire time.

And... wait. Was that...

"The sigil?" Akko said, confusion lacing her voice. She scrunched her eyebrows together as she glanced from the book to Diana's face. "That's the sigil I saw."

Diana slammed the book shut and threw it next to her, but not before Akko caught sight of the red words that seemed to glare from a front cover that was hanging on by a mere thread.

Ancient Magical Cults

"You saw it too, didn't you?" Akko said, unable to hide the accusation in her voice. She planted her palms on the edge of the table and leaned in to Diana. "You saw it!"

"I saw no such thing," Diana replied, blowing a piece of blonde hair out of her eyes and looking away. "I'm merely doing some research for a personal... project... of mine."

"You threw me under the bus!" Akko shrieked. "You made me look like I was crazy!"

"Akko- wait, what bus?"

Akko huffed angrily, stomping her foot. "It's just a saying!"

"That's a ridiculous 'saying'."

"Stop trying to divert my attention!" Akko cried out, reaching for the book. Diana's cold fingers snaking around her wrist stopped her instantly. Akko groaned, yanking her arm away. "What's going on, Diana?"

"Akko." Diana took a deep breath, closing her eyes to take a moment before opening them again. "It doesn't concern you in the least. Please, for once, just stay out of the affairs of others."

"Oh, the affairs of others?" Akko threw her hands in the air. "So someone shoving me off the observatory counts as the affairs of others now?"

"You don't understand." Diana's tone was harsh, almost demeaning. She rose, and Akko got the distinct feeling she was trying to use her height to intimidate her.

Akko refused to let it work. She held her ground, glaring into the face of the other witch. "I understand that whatever is in that book of yours tried to kill me. I may be a space cadet, but I'm not an idiot!"

"I know you're not-" Diana sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "That's not what I'm saying, Akko. "It's just that this is a very serious matter. Not even the staff knows about this. This is something that has to be controlled by somebody who, well-" she trailed off, struggling to find the right word.

"By who?" Akko demanded, a dark red flush rising into her cheeks. "By who, Diana? A smarter witch? Someone who can do all these stupid spells with their eyes closed? Someone like, oh, I don't know, you?" She began haphazardly tossing her belongings into her bag. "We've done a lot of things together, Diana. I was hoping you didn't still think I was stupid like everyone else, but I see that I was very wrong."

She tossed her bag over her shoulder with an angry huff before storming to the door.

"Wait, Akko! I don't think you're stupid, I just don't-"

The door to the practical room slammed shut behind an uncharacteristically angry Akko. The very foundation of the building seemed to shiver in her wake.

"-want you to get hurt."