Chapter 17
Akko woke to the familiar scent of lavender and rosemary. The sensation of Diana's bare skin against hers made her stomach twist, but not uncomfortably. She pressed tighter, fingers lazily tracing the dip between her ribcage. She breathed in deep, letting Diana's hair tickle her nose as she nuzzled into the soft skin of the other girl's neck with a content sigh.
She felt Diana stir and raised her head to see sleepy blue eyes blinking back at her. "Hey," she whispered, unable to stop the smile that spread across her face.
Diana opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but instead hummed with content and leaned her cheek against Akko's forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut, relaxing beneath Akko's touch, letting herself enjoy the moment while it lasted.
"How are you feeling?" Diana finally asked, trying, without success, to slow the rise of her heartrate as Akko ran a palm over her hipbone. "Is everything… okay?"
"I feel alright, I think," Akko said. "You?"
"Fine." Diana tensed her jaw at the brush of Akko's lips on her neck. "I think," she added.
Akko hummed, letting her hand wander. "It's early still," she murmured, enjoying the feeling of Diana's body squirming beneath her. "We could—you know—again."
"Akko-" Diana began to scold, but the feeling of Akko's lips on her neck and fingers against her made her gasp. "A—alright," was all she could add as her body melted beneath the other girl's clumsy ministrations. Akko was right, it was early, and Diana would be lying if she said she hadn't woken craving the girl against her.
They had all the grace of a newborn colt testing its legs for the first time. A mess of tangled limbs, of misplaced knees and elbows, of quiet apologies and stifled giggles. Diana wasn't used to not knowing exactly what to do, she wasn't accustomed to the trial and error that came with uncharted territory. But Akko didn't seem to mind.
And, if Diana was being honest, neither did she.
Akko would have given anything to stay in bed the entire day. But, pending the dire circumstances that the two witches had found themselves in, that option proved to be entirely unavailable.
The day was bright, sunny, but the nip of cold in the air was a firm reminder that winter was on the horizon. The two stood, once more, in the old foxhunting field near the Cavendish Manor, both becoming accustomed to the new weapons they had chosen to wield in the face of the Order. Despite the chill, a sheen of sweat still glistened across Diana's forehead as she practiced swinging the broadsword in graceful arcs, ensuring complete comfort with the weapon before the later events. Her hair, tugged back into a low ponytail, framed her flushed face in messy tendrils.
Pulling her eyes from Diana, Akko tugged steadily at the bowstring, letting it dig into the pads of her fingers. Her left arm stayed locked in front of her, string brushing against her cheek as she steadied the nocked arrow. At the end of a long exhale, she paused her breath and let her fingers relax as the arrow thrummed by her ear to pierce the tree she'd been aiming at.
"You just shot one of my ancestors," Diana muttered, staring at the arrow that had impaled deep into the trunk.
"Oh. Uh, oops," Akko said with a chuckle, lowering the bow and scratching at the back of her neck with her free hand. "My bad?"
Diana stepped behind Akko and slid her sword back into its sheath. "That was a joke. It's a regular tree." She rested a hand on the hilt at her side and nodded her approval at Akko. "I see your time with the Claiomh Solais did not end without a skill transfer," she said.
Akko shrugged, flashing Diana a bright smile. "Guess not," she replied.
Diana felt herself smiling back. She cleared her throat, turning away as the heat rose to her cheeks, and meandered over to the tree that Akko had struck at what would have been center mass on a human. She wrapped her hand around the shaft of the arrow and tugged a few good times until it came free.
"Sharpshooter," she said to Akko, taking a seat on the ground with a huff and swiping her sleeve across her sweaty forehead. "Impressive."
"Hopefully in other ways, too," Akko replied, earning a blush and an, "Akko!" from the other witch. She sat down next to Diana and leaned back against the tree, taking the offered arrow and turning it in her hands.
Diana had failed to hide the amusement in her tone. She leaned her shoulder against the brunette, adjusting the sword at her side and letting the toe of her boot fall against Akko's.
Akko sighed. Though it was cold, and the icy breeze bit into her dry hands, the sensation of magic transfer warmed her to the core. She wanted to stay there, to just enjoy being with Diana. It hardly seemed the time to be walking into danger, to be putting their lives on the line for the good of magic when her emotions were so raw and intense. The timing seemed unfair, though she knew none of this would have come to be otherwise. She never would have made a move inside the walls of Luna Nova—she would have continued to let her feelings run amok in her head as she admired Diana at arm's length.
"Are you scared?" Akko finally asked, turning to study the side of Diana's pale face. The other girl was staring off into the distance, blue eyes unfocused with thought.
"Yes," Diana said. She pulled her gaze to meet Akko's and forced a small smile. "I am. Are—are you?"
She hadn't expected for Akko to say, "Yes." And, when she did, the word filtered into her mind like a foreign concept that had to be learned and understood. She swallowed, studying Akko's serious expression. "You're scared?"
"Yes," Akko said again, turning her eyes down at the arrow she was still fidgeting with. She ran her fingers along the soft, torn feathers at the end of the shaft. "I'm not… scared of the danger. I'm used to that. I mean, it does make me nervous, but what happens, happens. I've learned that I can't really afford to fret over the unknown. I just have to believe, you know?" She sighed deeply, breaking a hand away from the arrow to reach over and thread her fingers through Diana's. Their linked hands came to rest on Diana's thigh. "It's just—"
Her voice broke.
Diana's eyebrows stitched together. She brought her free hand to cup Akko's chin as she gently guided the girl's eyes back to her own. Tears were brimming at the corner of her crimson eyes, and, as soon as blue met red, one broke free and forged a path down her cheek.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just… I'm afraid I might lose you." Akko took a deep, shaky breath and gripped Diana's hand tighter. "I finally have you. I should have done something about it so long ago, but I wasn't brave enough. And now, what if—" She swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut. "What if something happens?"
"Oh, darling." Diana gently brushed Akko's hair behind her ear and planted a soft kiss on her temple. So many questions were running through her mind. How long had Akko wanted the same thing she did? Had Akko's feelings matched her own the whole time? But now wasn't appropriate. No, she could get answers later. After they both made it through the Martian Eclipse… alive. "Everything will be alright," she added, trying to force as much confidence into her voice even though she wasn't exactly sure herself.
Akko said nothing. Instead, she laid her head on Diana's shoulder and sighed, breathing in the girl's familiar scent and letting her breathing steady as quiet fingers combed through her hair. She missed her friends—Sucy, Lotte, Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka. Even Hannah and Barbara. She missed Luna Nova, she missed her classes. Even boring Magical Numerology, even Professor Finnelan's disapproving glower. She wanted to go back, but take this new part of her life—the magic she shared with Diana—along, too.
Diana just sat rigid, feeling Akko's hot tears soaking into her white blouse. Had it been anyone else, she would've found herself appalled at the prospect of her clothing being soiled. But with Akko, she didn't mind in the least. It felt right.
As she stared off over the Cavendish property, watching the sun sink lower on the horizon and bringing, with it, the foreboding oncoming of the Martian Eclipse, it dawned on her that she would do whatever it took to keep the girl at her side safe from harm.
As the two witches stood before the massive doors to the inner sanctum, Akko could feel her palm sweating against the grip of the Shiny Bow. She stared ahead, teeth clenched in resolve. The only time she had been here before was with Andrew and Anna, when she had defied tradition and burst in to find Diana engulfed in Aunt Daryl's snakes. That hadn't been too bad. After all, she and Diana were able to use magic to fight their way out. There was a single threat.
They had no idea what they would find this time.
And they couldn't use any magic.
Diana's fierce blue eyes were flashing. Her hand rested against the golden hilt of her sword, chest rising and falling beneath her white blouse and vest as she tried to maintain an image of courage. If not for herself, for Akko.
"Aunt Daryl and my cousins will be guarding the Manor," Diana stated, gaze locked ahead. "Are—are you ready, Akko?" she asked, finally turning to look at the other girl.
"As ready as I can possibly be," Akko said.
Diana nodded, placing a hand on the cold stone door. "Then let's get through this. Together."
"Right. Together."
Akko's heart was drumming loud in her ears. Sucking in air, she pressed her hands against the other side of the door and pushed.
There was… nothing.
Her bow was extended out at the ready, hand ready to reach into a quiver to pull out an arrow at the first sight of danger. Diana, too, had drawn the sword from its sheath, the silver blade glimmering in the light of the Philosopher's stone as she wielded it with a trembling hand.
Akko surveyed the dark cavern, the memory of saving Diana during her own attempt to become the Head of House Cavendish flashing through her mind. Even then, she had gone through the door to encounter immediate danger—but, here, there was nothing. No sign of the Order. No sigil. No assassins, no Damien. Nothing.
The silence was making her uneasy.
"Let's… proceed," Diana whispered, clearly just as suspicious as Akko.
The bridge that Diana had constructed in the previous ritual was still in place. Unable to cast the metamorphosis spell, Akko held her breath as she inched across after Diana, struggling to keep her eyes straight ahead and not look at the abyss below.
She sighed with relief when she felt solid ground beneath her feet and raised her bow. Turning in a slow circle as she scanned her surroundings. An echo to their 3 o'clock made her nock an arrow and draw the string of her bow, but it was just a rat scurrying into a crevice. Her gaze swiveled back to Diana and, with a sharp breath, realized that one thing wasn't right.
Diana's mark was glowing a brilliant red.
"Your mark," Akko whispered, watching as Diana's free hand lifted to rub against her neck.
"Yours, too." Diana's voice wavered with fear.
Akko cautiously eyed the path ahead that led to Beatrix and the ritual site. "What's going on? Where are they? If our marks—" her voice trailed off.
Diana turned to the sky, taking note of the small red planet edging closer to the moon with each passing moment. "I… don't know," she replied.
As they moved slowly up the path, their anxiety only grew. The quiet of the sanctum seemed oppressing, and Akko almost wished that there had been an immediate attack as the unknown bore down on them.
Akko was looking up, around, in shadows, in light. Everywhere but down. So when she felt pressure against her ankle, her eyes fell in surprise and slowly widened. She froze.
"Um, Diana," she said, grabbing the other girl's arm to stop her, but was too late. Diana's leg had already struck the wire that had been stretched taut across their path.
Her arms flew around the other girl as she shoved her backwards. An ear-deafening blast ricocheted through the sanctum. The two hit the ground hard and Akko spread over Diana, pressing hard against the other girl and covering her with her own body. She felt something sharp slice through her calf but ignored it. An unbearably shrill ring was resounding through her head. Rocks rained around them, bounced off the walls, screamed past their ears.
When the dust cleared and the sound of fragmentation pinging the ground around them had ceased, Akko raised her head.
Red sigils surrounded them.
"Get up," Akko yelled over the tinnitus that still screamed in her ears.
Diana dove to the side to retrieve the sword that had fallen from her hands and leapt to her feet. The sigils were growing a bright red. "Akko," she said. "Run!"
Ignoring the pain in her leg and the blood streaming hot into her shoe, she took off after Diana, racing down the narrow path until the stone walls widened into a massive cavern.
By then, the sound of footsteps pounding behind them were echoing, loud and foreboding, across the sanctum. Akko readied the Shiny Bow, nocking her first arrow and drawing the string, struggling to steady her breathing as her fingers lingered at her cheek.
At the sight of the first black cloak, she rapidly adjusted her aim and let the arrow fly. It struck the pursuer in the chest with a dull thud and he stumbled back and fell to the ground. Her hand flew back to her quiver for another arrow.
The Order was on top of them in a matter of moments, at least a dozen or more, wands at the ready.
A blur of light flashed by Akko's head. She dove to the side, barely missing another spell that was hurtling in her direction as she fired off another arrow and struck another cloak in the midsection. A little ways away, she could hear Diana grunting with effort and looked over just in time to see the edge of the blade sending a thick spray of red into the air as it sliced cleanly through the body of one of their attackers.
"We—get to—ritual site!" Diana screamed out amidst the chaos, though Akko could only catch a few words. She drew another arrow and loosed it in the direction of a cloak who had raised his wand at Diana, piercing through the back of his hood.
A spell struck Akko hard in the chest. She flew backwards, slamming against the wall, feeling her breath leave her body in one rapid exhale. Her bow fell from her loosened grip. She gasped, lungs heaving in an effort to return the wind that had been knocked clean out of her.
A cloak descended on her, yanking a dagger from a belt at his side and raising it over her. She desperately felt for her bow.
"Akko!" Diana charged forward, diving to the side to avoid two spells being shot at her and descending on the cloak. In one quick move and a loud grunt of effort, she drove the sword so hard through the body before her that Akko could see the tip of the blade emerge from his chest. Hot blood dribbled down onto her neck.
Akko rolled to the side, picking her bow back up and quickly nocking and firing an arrow from the ground to graze the cheek of a cloak that was on top of Diana. He stumbled backwards, giving the blonde witch enough time to whirl and slash the blade across his neck, sending him toppling backwards in a fountain of impossible amounts of red.
The metallic scent of blood impaled her nostrils, making her feel sick to her stomach, but still she pulled arrow after arrow from her quiver, starting to miss more often than not as her injured leg grew weak. She could feel the lower half of her pants soaked clean through, her shoe felt heavy and slick. Droplets of sweat and blood trickled, fast and hot, down the side of her face.
As she slid another arrow into her bow and pulled, a blow to the back of her head sent her sprawling across the floor, sliding into a motionless cloak whose unseeing eyes met hers as she desperately blinked the darkness away. He looked young, almost childish, and for a moment the idea of what she was doing hit her harder than the strike. She was killing, she was taking lives, human lives at that, even if they had been banished to another realm for unspeakable crimes.
But they were trying to kill her. They were trying to kill Diana.
A boot slamming into her back and pressing her against the stone floor made her gasp. She struggled to turn over. Her arms flew out from her sides in a desperate attempt to grab at the limb of the person pinning her down.
"You're too late."
The familiar voice of Damien Cavendish echoed through the cavern and Akko realized, with sudden clarity, that the sound of men shouting spells and magic ricocheting off the walls had ceased.
Akko strained her neck up, panting as she continued to squirm and struggle against the force holding her down. From over the dead man's blood-smeared cheek, she could see Diana. Diana… and Damien.
Damien's arm was wrapped tight around Diana's neck as he drew her into his body. Her face was bright red as she gasped for air, fighting hard against her brother to wrench free. Akko watched her fingers slowly loosen and the silver sword clanged onto stone in an agonizing ring of defeat. Diana lifted bloodshot eyes to find Akko and she struggled with renewed vigor, only to find her efforts in vain.
"Akko," she choked.
Akko felt the tip of a blade against the back of her neck, the prick of her skin and the trickle of blood as the sharp edge pressed in, ready to plunge. Her breath shallowed in fear.
But the final blow never came.
Instead, a strange, repetitive noise filled the sanctum, scattering stone around her as bright beams of light flashed everywhere. Something dove overhead, casting a breeze over Akko's face. She heard an impact above her and the figure who had been holding her down went flying.
"Murowa!" came a feminine, familiar voice, and another cloak doubled over in pain.
She watched as Damien's face molded from confidence to surprise. He tightened his grip on Diana. Akko could see Diana's eyelids drooping. Her muscles were still tensing in a futile effort to free herself, but just barely. Damien's fingers twitched and a jagged, glowing crack sprung into the air behind him. A rift.
An explosion and a purple cloud of smoke blew across the cavern and, through the stinging of her eyes, she could swear she saw the writhing bodies of snakes lunging at the cloaked men that had surrounded both her and Diana. A foul odor filled her nostrils.
Through the purple haze, Akko could see Damien stepping back and, before her watering eyes, disappearing with Diana.
"Diana!" Akko made an effort to yell, but could only wheeze as her mouth filled with smoke.
"Akko!"
Another voice, a voice so dear to her, a voice that she couldn't believe she was hearing, came from beside her. She lifted her head, coughing. Her eyes widened.
"Lotte," she wheezed.
Lotte was kneeling at her side, one hand resting on Akko's shoulder. Her magnified eyes were locked on Akko with worry. She helped tug the trembling Japanese witch to her feet.
The thud of sneakers on stone as Amanda's broom skidded up next to her and the redheaded witch did a flying dismount, hair as wild as always. Behind them, Akko could see Sucy, pocketing a vial of bubbling purple liquid. Constanze, lowering one of the massive laser rifles that Akko had once seen, at the time incomplete, in her workshop. Jasminka stood next to her, letting her hands fall from the neck of a cloak, who dropped lifelessly to the floor. Hannah and Barbara were lowering their still sparking wands.
In the middle stood a tall figure with a shock of red hair and crimson eyes brighter than Akko's own.
"Akko," Chariot said, tucking her wand into her holster and leveling her gaze on the dirty, bloody witch who was barely being held up by Lotte. "We thought you might need our help."