Chapter 12

Tracker

As much as Diana wanted to, as safe and comfortable as she felt against Akko, she didn't want to stay too late into the afternoon. The darkness brought shadows, and Diana wasn't keen on finding out what lurked in them.

"Let's get back," Diana said, pushing herself up and running a hand through her hair to pick out any pieces of grass. She turned and looked down at Akko, her insides twisting at the sight of those large red eyes staring back at her.

"Aw," Akko groaned, sitting up. She lifted a hand and reached toward Diana, thumb gently brushing against her pale jawbone, threading into a lock of hair.

"Uh, A—Akko?" Diana choked out, watching Akko's gaze trail over her face and land on her lips. Her cheeks flared. "What are you-"

"Oh. Sorry," Akko mumbled, pulling away and brandishing a long blade of grass as her own face turned a light shade of red. "Um, this was in your hair." She scrambled to her feet, reaching up to nervously scratch at the back of her neck. "Sorry, Diana."

"It's—it's alright, Akko," Diana replied, rising after her and swiping the grass and dirt off her body. She turned to try to hide the heat in her face. "We should get back," she said again. "How would you feel about flying?"

Akko nodded, untying her sweater from her waist and slipping back into it. "Sure."

Diana hummed, picking up the broomstick and turning it in her hand. "I have an idea. How would you like to try? This is where I learned to fly, after all. I like to believe Beatrix was offering some guidance."

"Er-" Akko hesitated, glancing between Diana and the broom. "I guess so. I can try. Why not?"

She took the broomstick. With a small nod of approval from Diana, she mounted the broom and took a deep breath. "Tia Freyre!"

Nothing.

"I don't think she's going to do much for me," Akko said with a chuckle. "I'm starting to think I'm beyond help."

"Of course you're not. I've seen you at least hover." Diana placed her hand on Akko's lower back and gave a gentle push until the other witch straightened her posture. "Remember what I said about confidence, Akko?"

"Yes," Akko replied, though she was more concentrated on how Diana's hand lingered against her back. "Alright, I'll try again. Tia Freyre!"

The broom shuddered, but nothing more.

Diana squinted her eyes, bringing a finger to her temple as she studied Akko's form on the broom. She looked fine, just like any other capable witch, so Diana didn't understand exactly why Akko couldn't fly.

"I... have an idea," Diana said at last, cool blue eyes flicking up to meet red. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Hold my hand."

Akko scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Um, okay," she murmured, lifting one hand from the broom and offering it to Diana.

Diana slid her fingers through Akko's, lips twitching into a small smile at the familiar flow of energy passing between them. "Try now."

Akko took a deep breath.

"Tia Freyre!"

The broomstick quivered with energy.

"Aw, nothing happened," Akko said, pursing her lips in disappointment.

Diana shook her head, smile growing. "Look down, Akko."

Akko looked to her feet to find that the toes of her sneakers were gently brushing against the grass. The broomstick swayed softly beneath her.

"Diana!" She shrieked, flashing a wide grin. "I'm doing it! I'm flying!"

Diana felt herself grinning back. "Almost," she said. She grabbed Akko's sweatshirt and pulled her back to the ground. She swung her leg over the broom and set her hands on Akko's hips, smiling into Akko's ear. "Try now."

Akko wasted no time. "Tia Freyre!"

The broom lifted slowly into the air. Diana felt Akko's body tense with excitement.

"Yatta!" Akko hollered, pumping a fist into the air and jerking the broomstick wildly from side-to-side with the motion. "I'm doing it! I'm flying!"

Diana squeezed the fabric of Akko's sweater in her fist, laughing openly as she tried to keep herself from being thrown off. "Yes, you are. But please, Akko, take it slow, would-"

Before Diana could finish, Akko dropped her torso forward and sent the broom hurtling into the air. She pressed her eyes shut and threw her arms around Akko's body, squeezing so hard she was sure the other girl couldn't possibly breathe. She wasn't used to riding passenger, and certainly never on the a broomstick being handled by an excited beginner. She struggled to keep the nausea at bay as Akko flashed through the sky with the grace of a giraffe with newly sprouted wings.

"Akko, please," Diana called into the wind. "This is great, but please, for the love of the Nine, put this thing down!"

Akko tensed her jaw and nodded, turning in a jerky half-circle and angling the tip at the ground. And that's when Diana realized far too late that, first, Akko wasn't slowing down, and second, she had forgotten one huge detail – Akko had no idea how to land safely.

Diana felt her breath jolt as the broomstick crashed into the ground and both witches went hurtling through the tall grass. Luckily, the surface she landed on was relatively soft. She took a shaky breath before lifting her eyes to look for Akko.

The gleeful laughter accompanied with cries of, "Ow, ow!" made Diana realize that she hadn't landed on the ground at all. She looked down to find Akko grinning, hand still clutching the broomstick, which she raised in the air. "I did it!"

"Yeah," Diana said, smiling. "You did."

She planted her hands in the ground and started to push herself up, but the sudden sensation of fingers wrapping around the buttons of her shirt and pulling her back stopped her. She looked down.

Akko was no longer laughing, no longer smiling. Her bangs were splayed across her forehead, quick breaths slipping from parted lips. Akko's half-lidded crimson eyes gazed up at her.

All at once, Diana's body went into overdrive. A nervous energy unlike any kind of sensation she'd ever felt surged beneath her skin. Her heart was beating like she was midway through a triathlon. Her blood was rushing, hot and throbbing, into her temples.

"A—Akko."

Akko leaned forward, eyes drifting shut.

"Stop," Diana said quickly, pressing a hand down on Akko's chest. "Stop."

Akko's eyes snapped open and the flicker of hunger was gone. Instead, startled confusion blinked back at Diana. "I—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's not that." Diana took a sharp breath as she stared down at a brilliant glow of red. "Akko... your mark."

Akko's hand flew to her neck. In one swift movement, she rolled out from under Diana and pushed the other girl to the ground beside her, lowering deep into the tall grass. She could hear the crack of a branch from the wood line, the shuffle of slow, searching footsteps through weeds.

"What do we do?" Akko whispered, peering into the nervous blue eyes inches from her own. She pulled the broomstick in close to her body, trying to make as little sound as possible.

Diana reached for her wand, desperately scanning through the gently waving grass. The light of dusk was casting a tall dark shadow in their direction, and she knew he couldn't be but 20 meters away.

"We run," she said at last. "Get the broomstick ready."

Diana filled her lungs with air and, in one swift, confident push, launched herself to her knees and threw her wand toward the origin of the shadow. "Murowa!"

The cloaked figure was blasted backwards in surprise. A loud shout came from the wood line, followed by a spell that whizzed inches from her hair. Akko could see the glow of the red sigil rise beneath her blonde hair where it hadn't been before.

Before their assailants had any more time to react, Diana leapt to her feet and threw her leg over the broomstick behind a waiting Akko. "Go," she said. "Now!"

"Diana, I can't-"

"Akko, go!"

"Tia Freyre!"

Just like before, the magic coursing from Diana mingled through their bodies and the broom jolted into the air. Without hesitation, Akko leaned forward and shot into the air, jerking hastily at the tip of the broom in an effort to steer away from the barrage of spells flying at them. She could feel Diana twisting behind her, shouting spells back at their attackers.

"Akko, we have to get back to the manor. There's a—Murowa!-a protective barrier," Diana urged, stomach lurching as the broom veered to the side. "And, please, don't kill us!"

It was getting darker, but Akko could see the manor rising a few hundred meters away. Just across the moat. Gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and angled the broom toward it. The yelling behind them was growing louder, closer, the oncoming spells a rapid fire.

"There's more," Diana panted.

"Diana, stop casting spells!" Akko shrieked.

Diana pressed closer to Akko, screaming into the wind, "What?"

"It's a tracker!"

Akko was furiously struggling to maintain control of the broomstick amid the chaos. There were way more than two now, Akko wasn't sure how many, but they were descending on them faster than she could react. It didn't help that Diana was moving so much. She didn't have the aptitude or the experience to adjust their trajectory without a wild over-correction.

Akko had no time to respond as a figure shot straight at them, slamming into the tail of the broomstick so hard it started to spin wildly in the air. The broom bucked wildly and Akko pressed down hard, too hard, until the two witches were barreling straight to the flat, still surface of the moat.

"Ak-" Diana's scream was instantly drowned out as the two crashed into the moat. She felt her fist jerk open as Akko's sweater slid from her grip, the swirling water pulling them deeper, deeper. Her lungs throbbed as water impaled her airway and she knew she had to get to the surface, fast, but she couldn't tell which way was up. The water was murky with the silt that was rising from the bottom in the wild disruption and she couldn't see anything. Her arms flailed wildly, she had no idea where Akko was, nor the broomstick, nor the attackers, but, oh, Nine, where was Akko?

She could barely make out the hand that shot through the water and grabbed her arm. She was being pulled up, or down, she wasn't sure which, but her chest was burning for oxygen.

She broke the surface with a gasp. Her lungs heaved and she opened her mouth to gulp in much needed air, but the same hand that had been holding her arm smacked hard over her mouth. She heard herself make an animalistic noise that she would later be very embarrassed about.

"Quiet," she heard Akko say into her ear. "Quiet!"
Diana's nostrils flared as she struggled to get air through her nose. She felt Akko's desperate breath on her cheek as the other girl strained to breathe in heavy pants. Akko was dragging her, the surface of the water drifting lazily around their shoulders, lapping quietly at their faces. Above, she could hear muffled shouting as their pursuers desperately searched for them.

Reeds scratched against her face. She could finally feel the bottom of the moat squish beneath her shoes. Akko guided her beneath the overhang of an embankment, where the smell of muck was so strong that Diana had to force herself to keep from retching.

Akko's hand finally slid from her mouth and she sucked at the air in relief.

"Don't move," Akko whispered. She held Diana close to her, knowing that any splash would attract the footsteps she could hear rustling through the grass just a few feet away on the bank. Eventually, the footsteps fell away to silence.

They stayed there until the moon was reflecting patterns across the now-still surface of the water, until the voices of the figures were the phantom echoes of two hyper-aware minds.

"Are—are they gone? Do you think?" Diana whispered after quite some time. Akko could feel the blonde's body shivering hard against hers. Her own teeth rattled as the cold water stung her skin.

She pushed Diana's wet hair aside with a gently quivering finger to find that the mark had finally faded. "They're gone," she murmured, water whispering around their bodies as she grabbed the bank and pulled herself out.

Diana followed, letting herself fall to her knees as her throat contracted and all the water she'd swallowed came flooding out. She spit onto grass, swiping her mouth with sleeve. Her wet blouse was clinging to her body, chilling her to the bone in the declining temperature of the night. She looked up to find Akko's hand extended out to her. She took it, stumbling to her feet as she desperately searched the night for any cloaked figures.

"Come on, Diana," Akko said, tugging her back to the Cavendish Manor with a palpable urgency. "We have to get back. Now."

The walk back to the Cavendish Manor hadn't been too far, but it had been very, very cold, and Akko had felt herself staring into the shadows of the darkness through the nervous eyes of prey. Even worse, though, was the scowl from Anna as though Diana's state of being was her fault, and Anna actually had ripped Akko's shoes from her (in which the sole of one was hanging off after their ordeal, anyway) and tossed them out.

The long, hot shower was more welcome than it had ever been.

Akko was sitting on her bed drying her hair with a towel and relishing in the warmth on her skin when Diana hesitantly knocked on her door.

"Yeah, come in," she said, balling up the towel and tossing it onto a chair.

"Hey," Diana said as she shut the door quietly behind her. "How are you feeling?"

Akko chuckled, lifting her legs up onto the bed and folding them over. "Warm. You?"

Diana shrugged. She stepped over to her old wooden dresser and ran a finger across the smooth surface, inspecting the very small amount of dust that came up. Akko could see the goosebumps rising on her arms. "I should have known," she said, dropping her hand and shaking her head. Her hair was pulled back, but a few wet strands were clinging to her temples. "Of course they locate us through our use of magic. How else?" she mused.

"How would you know?" Akko curled her toes into the clean sheets. "There's nothing out there to tell us. Just think of it as troubleshooting." She chewed her lip. "They know where we are now, though."

"They know," Diana said, standing and moving to the window to stare out at the grounds of the Cavendish property, at the nearly full moon that cast an eerie series of shadows across the moat. "But they can't get to us. I've figured it out. Our marks act like a timer. As soon as we cast magic, that timer begins. Remember those realm fissures we read about?"

"Yeah," Akko replied.

"Think of it like that. The mark seems to serve as a key to our realm."

Akko scrunched her eyebrows together and planted her chin in her hands in thought. "So they're using our own magic to get to us."

Diana turned to face Akko, nodding. "Yes, Akko."

"Then..."

"We can't use magic," Diana finished.

Silence stretched through the room. Akko stared off in thought, crimson eyes zoned on the bright blue aura of the Philosopher's stone. "No," she finally said.

Diana sat down on the other side of Akko's bed, tucking her knee underneath her. She raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Akko pulled her attention away from the window to let her gaze fall on Diana's questioning eyes. "No," she repeated. "We use it to get to them."

"Akko, I'm not certain—"

"It's a key," Akko said quickly, nostrils flaring with the sudden realization of the power they held. "You said it yourself. If it's a key, then there's a door, and that door goes both ways. We just have to find it."

"It would be a realm fissure," Diana corrected, unable to hide the tentative excitement that flickered in her eyes. "But I haven't the slightest idea of how to find, much less use, one."

A slow grin eased across Akko's face. "Diana-"

"Whatever you're thinking-"

"I have an idea."

Diana frowned. "Akko, must I remind you that your ideas tend to be very dangerous?"

Akko narrowed her eyes in thought. "Do you trust me?"

Diana hesitated, looking down at her hand fidgeting on her calf. "I-"

"It's not a hard question, Diana," Akko retorted, reaching out and delicately placing a few fingers on the other girl's knee.

Heat rose into Diana's cheeks. She brought her gaze up to find Akko's bright red eyes boring into her own. "Yes, Akko. Of course," she sighed after a moment.

"Good," Akko replied with a resolute nod, pulling her hand back much to Diana's disappointment. "Then you might want to get some sleep, because tomorrow, we fight back."