In contrast to a vast majority of the other students at Luna Nova, Lotte was a fairly good morning person. She considered every morning an empty canvas that was waiting to be painted on. But that was only the case when she wakes up on her own.
Unlike this morning.
Rather than the calming sound of the wind whistling past the window or the charming beams of light that showered into their room to ease her out of her slumber, she was jolted awake by what sounded like five hammers being pounded on the floor simultaneously.
Her sleep having officially been stolen with no hope of being returned until the end of the day, she stirred under her covers and reached for her glasses.
As soon as the dreariness had subsided, she was met with the sight of Akko, in her white tee shirt and red shorts, dancing like a lunatic in the middle of their dorm room.
Had Lotte not have been able to feel the vibrations from the impact of Akko's feet, the blonde would have been willing to bet that she had been dreaming. Akko never was up this early. And she would never, ever be this happy about it.
It took a moment longer for Lotte to come to the only logical conclusion as to what has Akko out of bed this early.
Lotte blinked the remaining sleep out of her eyes and smiled down at her friend from her bunk. "Excited for tonight, Akko?"
"You bet!" Akko replied almost instantly, not breaking her stride in the slightest.
The blonde was starting to fear that her roommate's antics would disturb neighboring students from their sleep. But before she could attempt to calm Akko, the brunette had already turned her attention to the still-sleeping form of Sucy, whose back was turned to the other girls and shoulder rising and falling in slow beats.
"Sucy!"
Throwing all caution to the wind, the excited witch threw herself forward with her arms outstretched in Sucy's direction.
Lotte hissed audibly through her teeth when Sucy immediately sat upright, showing no sign of having been asleep just two seconds ago, and watched with an unamused frown as the brunette flew face first into the wall.
Sucy merely snorted and removed her covers, stepping out of bed while mumbling something about how her next potion would be more painful than anything she had experienced in her life. The blonde made a mental note to prevent her pink-haired roommate from experimenting on their friend in the near future.
But she couldn't possibly be upset at Akko for waking her up this morning. Her energy was too infectious.
"You know, if you went back to sleep, the evening would get here faster," Sucy drawled as she slipped into a small corner to change.
Akko backed away from the wall and rubbed her nose, her smile never once faltering.
"I can't even think about sleeping! I still can't believe that I'm finally going to see Simon's Comet tonight!"
"I'm not sure you're aware of how many opportunities you've had to do so while you were growing up," came Sucy's nasally voice, muddled from the fabric of her robe as she slipped it over her face.
"Twice," Akko elaborated.
"I hope that it's everything you want it to be, Akko!" Lotte brightly encouraged as she made her way down the ladder, taking a spot next to her best friend. But before she could get another word in, Akko had already thrown her arms around the blonde, squeezing so tight that the girl was afraid of her eyeballs popping out of their sockets. Tears of joy were cascading down Akko's face akin to the time after their sacrifice ritual last year, accompanied with her incoherent babble and snot trail.
It took longer than they were comfortable with to settle the girl down, get her changed into her school uniform and convince her that the sooner they got done with their classes, the sooner they could get to see the comet.
Akko finally relented and did as they bid.
From what the brunette had noticed, molasses traveling uphill with a high industrial warehouse fan blowing down on it would have traveled faster than the duration of each class.
First up was magical history class.
The young witch was very disappointed to see that no more lessons were going to involve Simon's Comet, due to them already covering the subject. Rather, the class was focused on the history and discovery of Yggdrasil itself.
It took every ounce of self-control that Akko possessed to not expose the community's existence.
Rather, she bit her lip and suffered through the antagonizingly boring lecture for the duration of class . . .
Which only led to the next antagonizingly boring lecture in the next class.
And the one after that, followed finally by the final class of the day, which just so happened to be taught by Professor Ursula.
Despite currently being under the tutelage of her favorite professor and childhood icon – who did her best to make sure that Akko was truly paying attention and not daydreaming of the upcoming evening event that she knows she has been absolutely pining to experience – Akko couldn't help but daydream about the upcoming evening event that she has been absolutely pining to experience.
Her mind kept coming up with various images as to what it may actually look like.
Sure, she's seen the odd sketch here and there, including her Shiny Chariot collector's card and the detailed depiction that Finneran had drawn on the board yesterday, but those surely wouldn't be able to do any justice when compared to the real deal, Akko thought.
I wonder how long the tail really is.
Should I get a picture of it?
No, no, no. That would ruin the magic.
Her mind traveled farther and farther away from reality as it came up with more and more fantastical images of the comet. She only snapped out of her reverie when she realized that the entire room had gone silent.
Blinking herself back into consciousness, Akko looked left and right to find that the entire class had their noses dug into their notebooks, pens and quills scribbling in a symphony of scratches.
Looking forward, Akko found Professor Ursula's gaze solely on her, her mouth in a straight line, but her eyes showed signs of mild amusement.
The professor nodded to the side, diverting Akko's attention to the assignment that had been written on the board minutes ago.
Slumping her shoulders timidly, Akko clumsily grabbed her pen and dug out her notebook from the confines of her bag, beginning the assignment on the first blank page she found.
After the period had wrapped up, Professor Ursula dismissed the class while instructing them that whatever questions they hadn't answered in class was now homework for next time.
They paid her little mind as they all packed their bags and flooded out the doorway. Akko gave an enthusiastic wave goodbye before she vanished behind the door.
With the final class done with, Ursula let out an exhausted sigh as she filed her papers together into her binder.
Five hours remained until the ceremony started, and another half hour after that until the comet actually arrived, giving the young instructor plenty of time to complete her patrolling duties.
With the faculty in a mad dash to make sure that everything was set up accordingly for the evening, Ursula was actually relieved she had been given this task. It allowed her to breathe and meander the halls at her own leisurely pace, enjoying the peaceful weather that they had been given for today.
More than a few of my comet sightings have been blocked out by the clouds. Thank goodness that Akko gets to have such perfect weather for her first.
Passing by a cluster of girls who were laughing amongst themselves, Ursula patrolled by the cafeteria, where she found the workers doing their best to prepare today's meal while avoiding the multiple tray-fulls of used pudding cups which were filled to the brim with different chunks of fruit.
They all grumbled to one another, sharing in their misery over having their space used up and unanimously agreed that the next time that girl asked if she could use their stuff, it would be a no with zero questions asked.
She was only lucky that Diana happened to be with her to help. They weren't entirely sure the faculty would allow them to say no to their top student.
Despite feeling a pang of sympathy for the food preparation staff, she couldn't help but let out a small breath of laughter at their expense, praying that they hadn't heard her.
Before she could find out, she kept along her route, which took her to the school grounds.
It wasn't long after she made her way outside that she heard the familiar cries of frustration, joy and excitement of Akko.
Ursula wasn't too surprised to find her pupil passing the time with her closest friends.
Akko was currently straddling her broom and lifting herself higher and higher into the air until she was level with Amanda, who in turn lifted herself even higher, giving Akko goals to achieve.
The remainder of the group were on the ground.
Diana, as one would expect, had her focus set on a textbook that sat on the blanket she was sitting on. Also sitting on the blanket was Lotte, who was reading the latest edition of her favorite novel series while also sparing glances upwards to make sure her friend was ok.
Sucy was standing to the side with a video camera lifted upwards, her eye pressed into the view finder. Ursula quickly came to the conclusion that she was anxiously awaiting the moment Akko made a mistake and fall off her broom.
Constanze paid none of them any mind as she tinkered on another experiment of hers while Jasminka sat cross-legged next to her, munching on pretzels and holding a water bottle in her free hand.
All eyes went up to Akko after the girl let out a squeak of alarm.
They all saw her hands flail to the sides of her to keep her balance. Sucy bared her teeth in an expectant smile as she zoomed in closer.
To everyone's relief (save for Sucy's), Akko steadied herself and gripped the broom once again, pleased over the fact that it seemed as though she hadn't lost any altitude.
"Remember not to think about it too much, Akko!" Lotte advised her.
"She is correct," Diana agreed, her soft voice still carrying itself to Akko's ears despite the difference in altitude. "Don't think of this outing as a strenuous exercise, but rather do your best to feel as though you and the broom are a single-"
"I think I got it!"
Diana let out a small breath of irritation over the interruption, but quickly forgot it when she witnessed Akko raised herself higher with not as much effort as the past few times.
Ursula could almost feel the joy that radiated off of Akko's face as she raised herself up and lowered herself down like an out of whack elevator.
While she wanted to witness whatever progress Akko may achieve next, Ursula tore herself away from the scene and continued her patrol.
She hit her usual spots: the Fountain of Polaris (saying hello to Arcas all the while), the Sorcerer's Stone at the top of Luna Tower, and eventually, she made her way to the archives. Her high heels clicked against the floor with each step, the echo reverberating off of the walls of the near-barren room.
Her eyes scanned the cavities that rested in the massive pillar in the center of the room up and down as she walked around the room, glad to see that they were all occupied with the magical items that were there the last time she had checked.
She walked and looked and walked and looked, her heels never once staying silent as she swept the room.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The only thing that stopped her sweep was when her eyes landed on . . . that shelf.
She couldn't see the three items from the angle she was at, but she knew they were there.
Her mind went back a few days to when Akko hit her head after her broom incident. Amanda's words about Akko claiming to have seen a small walking tree bounced around in her head.
It couldn't be them . . .
Could it?
Much, much earlier,
"Whoo! Alright, we've got a four day weekend, I've got cold hard cash that is going to light a hole in my pocket very soon, and by the looks of it, I've also got one best friend who is in need of a few bowls of ramen and three lattes. I elect that we go into town right at this very moment!"
Chariot's march forward was halted when she realized that she wasn't being followed.
Whipping her head around, she found the girl in question walking at a far more leisurely pace than what the redhead was willing to put up with on a picture perfect sunny day, her nose buried in some boring tech book all the while.
She huffed and stomped her foot.
"Croix! Didn't you hear me? A four day weekend!" Chariot made her way back to her friend and lowered the book, causing Croix to jump in slight surprise. "This is not a time to be reading books! Come on, let's go to town!" She repeated, hoping to elicit some sort of reaction out of her friend this time.
The only thing she got was a head shake and a sigh, an amused smile was on her face nonetheless.
"Gather 'round everyone, young and old," Croix drawled. "Witness Chariot the Magnificent, Procrastinator Supreme! There's no assignment she can't push aside until the last moment."
Chariot only blew a raspberry in reply, waving off the faux introduction.
"Seriously Chariot, you're literally ten steps out the door and you're already-"
"Finals are coming up and you and I worked our butts off studying for them," Chariot interrupted. "We deserve some time to relax! Not every waking moment of every day is meant to be spent studying. I think we'd actually end up getting dumber that way."
A thoughtful look passed over Croix's face for a moment. "You know," she started, "for someone who wants to entertain the world with her awe-inspiring magic, you really don't have the right motivation to learn the . . . you know, actual magic for it."
Chariot was going to set a world record for the amount of times one can wave their hand dismissively in front of Croix's face in a single day.
"We've got the rest of our lives for it too! C'mooooooon. Let's at least go to the coffee shop. We'll be able to study better if our heads are clear."
It didn't take much longer for Croix to realize that there was no way that she wasn't going to be accompanying her friend into town. Rather than prolonging it any further, the lilac haired girl relented and the two of them began the trek into the neighboring town.
By the time the two of them got there, Croix had admittedly worked up a craving for her favorite espresso. The two girls ordered their drinks and took a seat in a vacant booth, immediately getting lost in each other's company, conversing and laughing and sharing stories of classes that one is in that the other is not.
After the bill was paid, the two friends left and continued to walk along the sidewalk, not wanting yet to journey back to school.
At least until Croix, out of the blue, took in a sharp intake of air in shock, declaring that she had 'absolutely forgotten that she had left some doohickey thingamajig plugged in and had to go unplug it before a teacher found it' . . . at least that's how Chariot's mind paraphrased it.
Before she could say otherwise, Chariot watched the retreating form of her panicked friend vanish around a corner, leaving her alone on the sidewalk.
Chariot snorted. "That's cool, I guess."
Her mind instantly did its best to distract the girl from her growing sense of loneliness by having her eyes wander the sky above her. When they found nothing interesting worth noting, Chariot absentmindedly kicked an innocent rock that just so happened to be sitting in her path.
It clacked against the cement, a welcome sound in contrast to the lack of company she was experiencing.
She took a few more steps forward and kicked the rock again.
And again.
She kept on kicking the defenseless stone until it turned into a solo session of soccer.
Angling her toes down, she scooped it up and had it rest on the top of her foot like a hacky sack. She kept her balance on one foot for a moment, hands out to the side. The aspiring entertainer looked around, and suddenly, she wasn't standing alone on a sidewalk.
She was onstage with three sets of spotlights engulfing her. Rows upon rows of seats were filled with an eager audience, starving for spectacle.
A smirk crawled on her lips.
With a flick of her ankle, she volleyed the rock over her head, added a twirl for extra flare for her invisible audience, unsheathed her wand and took aim at the now plummeting stone.
"Metamorphie Faciesse!"
To her immediate excitement (and relief, admittedly), the rock vanished in a flash of light and a puff of smoke. Her eyes went wide as the smoke was pushed away by the beating wings of a magenta butterfly, fluttering through the air without a care in the world.
Her ears rang from the deafening roar and applause of her imaginary fans.
Shrugging, Chariot decided to give the people what they wanted.
"Metamorphie Faciesse!"
Another small flash of light and another puff of smoke revealed a black capped chickadee, flapping its wings faster than Chariot could keep up with.
The bird flew to the side, then out onto the road all the way to the other sidewalk.
Panicked, Chariot swished her wand aimlessly to the side and recited the spell.
"Metamorphie Faciesse!"
To her surprise, the spell found its mark, even from this distance. The bird vanished in the same puff of smoke . . . and a red squirrel fell right in front of the feet of an unsuspecting pedestrian carrying a paper bag full of groceries.
The shopper shrieked in surprise, clutching the bag closer to herself protectively as the squirrel danced around her feet. Chariot could feel her fake audience dissipate faster than she could blink.
Her heart told her to help the poor woman, but her instincts kicked in immediately and she could feel her feet carrying her away from the scene.
Dashing behind the closest available building, Chariot panted as she came to a stop in a forest clearing not far from the town she had just fled from.
Hands on her knees to support herself as she refilled her lungs with air, Chariot looked behind her, but thankfully found no irate pedestrian hot on her tail. With one final breath in, she let it out in one slow exhale.
Thinking it best that Croix didn't find out about this incident, Chariot straightened herself out, dusted off her uniform, and jumped at the sudden shift in movement in front of her feet.
There weren't very many things in life that Chariot du Nord was positive about in this crazy life of hers, but she was immensely positive that the tiny bush that barely reached her shins just blinked.
Later,
There were still many things that Chariot du Nord was unsure about in this crazy life of hers, but there was no mistaking what it was that she had just stumbled upon:
A civilization of tiny bush creatures were living underneath their feet.
The young witch-to-be blinked away only a small percentage of the awe that she was currently experiencing while, at the same time, her mind was trying to come up with some sort of logical reason as to why it was that she decided to follow the small creature into the hole it had presumably came from.
That's when she realized that there was no logical reason as to why it was that she decided to follow the small creature into the hole it had presumably came from.
Words failed her. She wasn't sure anybody in her situation would be able to even begin to be able to form a complete sentence.
Luckily, she didn't have to.
Standing within the gathering of bush creatures came a small, yet firm voice.
"Chariot du Nord."
The girl in question nearly jumped out of her shoes.
In that instant, Chariot finally found her voice.
"Y-you know my name?"
In reply, the creature that the voice belonged to emerged from the crowd, his bushy leaf head bobbing with every step.
"Chariot Du Nord, age fifteen, attending Luna Nova to achieve your dreams of becoming an entertainer. Likes animals, children laughing, and spending time with friends. Are these accurate summations?"
Officially dumbfounded, Chariot only found herself able to nod, her mouth the slightest bit agape.
For some reason, this appeared to please the tiny creature. He blinked, smiled at her, and turned back to his fellow plant life.
"The intelligence was correct. We have found her!"
Pop!
She flinched as a sudden small explosion popped off in the corner of the strange anteroom, a shower of differently colored leaves, weeds and dandelions floated to the ground around her like confetti. The tiny creatures threw their stubby arms in the air in what appeared to be jubilation as they cheered at the top of their tiny lungs.
Chariot unconsciously took a few small steps backwards, unsure of what it was she was supposed to make of what was happening.
The lead bush creature managed to silence his celebrating brethren with a few slow motions of his arms. As soon as the underground room was quiet once more, their leader turned his attention back to the witch.
Having all but forgotten the impromptu celebration just moments ago, the leader smiled at Chariot.
"It was predicted that you would be confused by these events. Is this true?"
Another nod.
"Fair enough. This is truly a lot to take in. But Miss du Nord, we promise you, a lifetime of fame is not far from your reach."
The next day,
Croix was hardly ever surprised by anything that Chariot ever did anymore. The girl had done just about everything there is in the book to get herself into trouble with the teachers, which included turning her assignments in late, copying her homework, staying out past curfew, performing spells which weren't permitted by the faculty, and even trying to teach a raccoon how to ride a broom (the scratches were still healing on Croix's arm).
However, for as many times that her friend had gotten herself into trouble, she had also managed to keep a small handful of her petty crimes under the radar, such as smuggling a few weeks' worth of pudding underneath her bed.
But this . . . this was a new one.
"Whatcha got there?"
Chariot froze in place, her arms growing tired as she held onto the bulky paper bag. She silently cursed herself for waking her roommate at the late hour, hoping to at least sneak out of her dorm scot-free.
Sadly, Lady Luck appeared to take great pleasure in denying her of such a request.
She shifted her grip, keeping an apple from falling to the floor.
Her eyes looked left, then right, then to her friend. "Some fruit."
"Uh huh," Croix nodded, sitting up in her bed still underneath the covers. "And what are you doing with all of that fruit?"
Chariot's grip shifted again. "Would you believe that I'm going to plant a few trees with the seeds from these?"
Croix shook her head.
"What about me going to donate these to the less fortunate?"
Another shake of her head displayed her skepticism.
Chariot's nose scrunched up in thought.
"Well, what if I tell you that the sooner I get out of here, the sooner you get to sleep?" She smiled innocently and fluttered her eyelashes for additional flare.
Croix shrugged in reply. "You're just lucky I don't really care that much about it anyways. Just don't get caught again. I'm tired of letting you copy my notes over how many times you get yourself suspended."
With that, Croix laid herself back down, falling back to sleep.
Chariot thanked her lucky stars that she happened to have a very understanding roommate.
Shifting her grip on the bag again, the redhead struggled to open the door and closing it as silently as possible with her hands full.
While she wasn't overly proud to admit it, Chariot did know her way around the school when it came to sneaking out. Within a few minutes, she found herself out in the open night air, making fairly good time over into town.
Making her way over to the familiar garden patch behind the coffee shop, Chariot set down the bag of apples, allowing her arms to recover from the growing fatigue before she grabbed hold of the faux bush and lifted it up, revealing the entrance to the Yggdrasilian's home. Before long, she entered the anteroom with an armful of apples and pears.
She was greeted with an assortment of smiles and thanks.
Chariot smiled back and waved off their gratitude. "It's nothing. Really, it's nothing."
Setting the bag down, she allowed the Yiggins to tear open the bag, its contents spilling all over the dirt ground and letting them take them in their stubby arms, either nibbling on them or taking them to a specially dug hole in the ground, storing them in there to be eaten later.
Chariot took extra care as to not squeak in adoration at the sight of them 'eating' the fruit, as their toothless mouths merely nibbled at them like a puppy gnawing on a stuffed toy. She didn't think a dignified race of trees descended from the birth of magic itself would appreciate that very much.
Before she could even think of doing so however, their leader approached and stopped right in front of her feet.
"Your selflessness is unparalleled, Miss du Nord. Please keep in mind that you will be repaid for all you have done for us."
Chariot beamed at the words, only imagining what kind of spells they would be able to teach her that the teachers couldn't.
She was so lost in her reverie that she almost didn't notice when a pair of Yiggins emerged from one of the tunnels, carrying a small jewelry box as if they were moving a bookshelf. The leader nodded to them and raised his hand, gesturing for them to stop where they were. They complied and halted a few paces away from Chariot's feet.
As soon as the other Yggdrasilians were finished clearing out the remaining pieces of fruit, the leader looked up at Chariot with a kind, genuinely warm smile.
"As I'm sure you're aware, Simon's Comet passed by not too long ago."
Chariot nodded. "Luna Nova had this big viewing ceremony! They were saying that this was the closest it's been to Earth in over eighty years!"
"Then I'm sure you also know that Yggdrasil, back in the silver age of magic, drew in the magic that the comet gave off as a way to recharge its supply." This earned a nod from the witch, recalling that lesson a week ago in class. "As such, we have been, in a way, recharged."
To prove this point, the lead Yiggin turned his back to Chariot and pointed to the ground. Chariot's eyes grew wide as saucers when she saw his stubby arm glow a green aura. A moment later, a small patch of earth began to glow green as well before Chariot's eyes spotted a small system of roots beginning to sprout. Her heart began to race once the roots began to speed up, twisting and combining with one another, a series of cracks and pops was heard all the while.
It took less than a minute for a small tree to fully grow, healthy branches sprouting out in every direction and leaves formed in what appeared to be slow motion.
Chariot was now officially breathless.
The leader's hand stopped glowing as soon as he was pleased with the result, the green aura snuffed out like a light.
The lead Yggdrasilian turned back to the stunned student with what appeared to be a fairly smug smile, as if he were waiting for a very, very long time to show off his magic to someone else.
"That, Miss Du Nord," the Yiggin started, "is only a small taste of what it is that we can teach you."
She still wasn't able to answer. Instead, her feet carried her over to the tree, the look of awe never once leaving her face as her fingers reached up and brushed against the leaves ever so delicately, knowing that if she were to attempt to create something of this magnitude, it would no doubt backfire in some horrific way.
Rather than say anything, she chose to simply appreciate the tree, hoping that whatever magic it was that they taught her, she would soon be able to pull off something like this.
After a few minutes of doing nothing but appreciating the tree, Chariot finally turned back to the Yiggins, the proud smile still on the leader's face.
"Believe it or not, you aren't far off from being able to create something like this yourself, Miss Du Nord. We have specifically chosen you because we can feel the abundant potential within you. Like this tree, all it will take is someone to draw it out. But, before we start your lessons, we do have one more favor to ask of you."
It was a miracle that Chariot's head didn't fly off from how fast she nodded.
Clearly pleased with the answer, the leader nodded to the two Yggdrasilians who were still holding the jewelry box. On command, the two of them walked forward and set the box down in front of her feet, then almost immediately backed away.
Tilting her head in confusion, the witch leaned down and picked it up. It was clear that they had found the box due to pure chance. It must have been abandoned in the forest due to its weathered stated. It otherwise would've been a beautifully crafted box.
She unlatched the lid and opened the box. Inside, in lieu of velvet, the box was lined with leaves and weeds, forming a makeshift pillow for the items inside to rest on.
It was then that the lead Yggdrasilian explained to Chariot exactly what it was that those three items were.
Later,
Almost on pure impulse, Chariot made a beeline out of the tunnel and into the crisp night air, ignoring the stinging in her lungs all the while.
Cupped in her hands were the items she snatched away from the jewelry box.
There were a few things that were going through her mind as she ran back to the campus:
One of them was her berating herself for having gone along with this for so long.
The other was that she couldn't truly believe what it was she was holding . . . and what it was that they had wanted her to do with them.
She found that the one thing those two thoughts had in common was how stupid they made her feel.
Stupid.
Dumb.
Ignorant.
The three tiny coils bounced around in her cupped grip with every leaping bound she took. She ignored the growing wariness her body was experiencing with every step, knowing that every leap forward brought her closer to home . . .
And farther away from them.
Before long, she made it back to campus in the middle of the night, making the loudest ruckus she could possibly make.
She gathered an audience of tired faculty fairly quickly, stammering breathlessly about the Yggdrasilians and what it was they wanted her to do, displaying the three wooden coils to all of them.
Although skeptical, a few of the teachers volunteered to accompany the panicked student to town to investigate her claims.
She led the party into town and behind the coffee shop and removed the fake bush. Her determined look as well as her heart sank away when she found nothing there but grass.
"No . . . No, no! It was just here!"
Now officially desperate, the young witch got onto her hands and knees, looking for any freshly packed patches of grass that may have been placed in such a short amount of time.
She found nothing of the sort.
It all appeared as if the lawn had been tended to and well-kept for decades. No sign of any holes in sight.
'Could they really have covered their tracks that quickly . . ?' She thought to herself.
Before she could convince the group of teachers to follow her any further to any other entrances to the tunnels, she could see that their patience had officially run dry.
Dismissing her claims as a desperate plea for attention, the faculty practically dragged her back to campus kicking and screaming.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to predict the kind of punishment she would most definitely be receiving for this.
After a lengthy meeting in the dean's office, she was given two weeks' worth of detention accompanied with a seemingly endless list of cleaning duties.
She was dismissed from the office nearly forty-five minutes later, the disappointed and angry stares of the teachers washing all over her like spotlights.
Traversing back to her dorm room, she stopped a moment before opening her door, a new thought creeping into her mind.
Before she could be found by anybody else, the young witch ran down the hall, down the steps and back into the courtyard, away from any prying eyes.
Taking the coils out of her pockets, she tossed them to the ground, drew her wand, and took aim.
"Murowa!"
A flash of green erupted from her wand and rocketed to the stationary objects on the ground. They bounced a few feet in the air on impact, their tiny forms barely visible in the moonlight. The coils fell back to the ground, not a scratch seen on them.
Despite this, she tried again.
"Murowa! Murowa! Murowa!"
Three blasts came from her wand, but like before, no harm came to them.
Exasperated, defeated, and drained of all motivation, her shoulders slumped as she sheathed her wand.
She had one last idea, but there was absolutely no guarantee that it would last forever.
But she had nowhere else to turn.
Chariot scooped up the wooden coils and ran into the building, twisting and turning along with the hallways until she found herself in the archive room.
There were very few places in school that was as well protected as this spot right here. She was just thankful that she had a pretty good relationship with the one who guarded this place.
"I'm gonna need a favor, Arcas."
The adolescent polar bear tilted his head once he heard the request, but obliged anyways. Turning away from Chariot, he went over to one corner of the room, scooped up the enchanted ladder in his maw and brought it back to the girl.
She took it from his mouth with a grateful smile before she propped it up against the pillar that dominated the entire room. Reciting the spell, she willed the ladder to lift her up until she found an empty cavity.
Once she found one, the ladder came to a stop. Chariot reached into her pockets and fished out the coils, shamefully looking down on them one last time before gently placing them down inside, hoping they would be well protected within the walls of Luna Nova.
Presently,
Ursula wasn't sure how long she had been standing there. She wasn't even sure how long she would have stayed that way if the intercom hadn't startled her out of her one way trip down memory lane.
The feedback echoed off of the walls with alarming force, causing her to cover her ears for a brief moment until it dissipated.
"All faculty members please report to the courtyard for final preparations," came Holbrooke's kind voice. "I repeat, all faculty to the courtyard."
Ursula sighed, sparing one last glance at the cavity that the coils were resting one before turning on her heel and exiting the room, making a mental note to keep an extra watchful eye on them for the time being.
Later,
Had her shoes not been tied as tightly as almost humanly possible, Akko was positive they would have fallen off an hour ago due to her unable to keep still for five seconds.
Despite her spending time with her friends almost the moment after classes were dismissed for the day, time still found a way to move unbelievingly slow, as if the universe knew that the upcoming evening would mean the world to Akko and wanted to make her wait for just a little bit longer.
She was sitting on the edge of her bunk, her legs swinging absentmindedly as her gaze was fixed on the window above their work desk. The sky was getting darker and was void of any cloud.
Perfect for anybody's comet viewing needs.
Finally, the intercom buzzed to life, and out came Finneran's strict voice.
"All students may now report to the courtyard."
Akko, Lotte and Sucy were currently making their way down the now crowded hallway as quickly as they could (or rather as quickly as Sucy and Lotte could keep up with Akko). When Akko noticed she was leaving her friends in the dust, she stopped where she was and looked back to see the familiar orange and pink heads of hair bobbing through the sea of chattering students.
"If I miss the comet because of you two, I'll never forgive you!" She playfully threatened, though not without a hint of impatience.
As soon as her friends caught up with her, the trio made their way out the door and into the evening air.
Akko tried (but failed) to contain her excitement at the view before her.
Students were making their way to the center of the courtyard like lines of worker ants, filling into the rows of white fold up chairs that inhabited the grounds. To the sides were tables that displayed the pudding cups that contained the fruit chunks that Akko and Diana worked on the previous night.
Two poles were set up with a banner with the comet painted along the length of it strung between them.
All the way at the end was a stage that was no doubt set up for the teachers, a podium set up in the center of it.
The brunette looked up to the sky as if to check if clouds had formed within the past two minutes that would hinder her view.
Thankfully, that didn't appear to be the case.
Akko squeezed her hands into fists and hopped from foot to foot, ignorant to the confused glances she was receiving.
"C'mon! Let's go find Amanda and the others!"
Without waiting for them to respond, Akko took a firm hold of her friends' hands and dragged them into the crowd. As they walked, Akko lifted herself up on her tiptoes to try and find their friends amidst the other students.
"Akko, you shouldn't walk on your tiptoes like that!" Lotte chastised. "It's bad for-whoa!"
Her warning fell on deaf ears as Akko began to charge headlong into the fray, having seemingly found who it was she was looking for.
Lotte and Sucy found themselves being sequestered over to the hors d'oeuvre table, where Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze were. Amanda and Constanze each had one cup of fruit in their hand while Jasminka appeared to be examining the fruit inside, poking at an apple chunk with a toothpick and holding it close to her face.
Shrugging, the pink haired girl deemed it worthy to eat.
Amanda was the first to notice her extended group of friends. "Yo, Akko! We were wondering where you were. Figured there'd be no way you'd miss this." She was forced to take a step back once Akko made her way up to her and brought her face a mere few inches away from her own.
"No chance at all, Amanda! What do you think of the fruit cups? Pretty festive, if I do say so myself," she proudly pointed her thumb at herself.
Amanda shrugged in reply. "They're cool I guess. I think I'm gonna make my way over to those fancy cakes Diana brought though." The jock made her way to the far side of the tables where the decorative boxes sat, Diana distributing the treats on paper plates to the students who requested one.
Jasminka was quick to follow.
Grabbing fruit cups of their own, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, and Constanze followed their friends. Diana smiled kindly when she found her friends approaching.
"I'm pleased you're all here. I've reserved seats so we may all view the comet together. I hope that-" Amanda was quick to interrupt her by reaching forward and plucking a prepared plate of cake from her hands.
She was about to scold Amanda for it, but thought against it in Akko's presence. The last thing she wanted to do was tarnish the girl's night with a petty argument. Instead, she rolled with the punches and plated another few pastries, offering them to her friends.
"I'm glad to see that your previous attitude towards this evening has changed," Diana almost deadpanned.
"Eh, as long as there's sweets like these 'round," she mumbled through her full mouth, then finally swallowing, "spending time outside on a nice night like this isn't so bad. 'Sides, her energy pretty contagious, ya know?" She pointed her thumb over to Akko, who was gesturing wildly with her arms as she talked with the others.
Diana smiled and was quick to agree.
Amidst the chattering students surrounding them, and along with the conversation that they themselves had started up, the girls had failed to notice that the front stage was now occupied by the teachers. Holbrooke stood on top of the step behind the podium so her small form could reach the microphone on top of it.
Giving it a few taps, the eldest professor cleared her throat.
"Now, if I could have your attention," her soft voice echoed through the night. A few moments later, the chit chat had died down and all eyes were facing the stage, a spotlight shining down on Holbrooke all the while.
She cleared her throat once again before continuing. "Speaking on behalf of the Luna Nova faculty, we thank you for celebrating this night with us tonight. It demonstrates your commitment to our beliefs, your studies, and to preserving the witch tradition." She politely clapped her hands and the teachers lined up behind her followed suit.
Akko's face lit up once she found Ursula smiling down on her as she clapped. She waved excitedly to her mentor before sending up her own round of applause as well, prompting Lotte, Sucy, Diana and the others to follow suit.
It was exactly as they had predicted.
Akko's childlike enthusiasm for tonight was officially beginning to rub off on them. They had found themselves to the point where even they were beginning to look forward to viewing the comet despite having seen it before.
She was like a child on Christmas, whose vibrant passion for the holiday hadn't been snuffed out just yet like the majority of other adults.
After another speech from Finneran (which nearly bored Amanda to the point of tears), the students were instructed to find their seats.
Diana lead her friends to the seats she had previously preserved and sat them down, ensuring that Akko had the seat that would benefit her the most out of the others in the group.
In a few minute's time, all of the students found a place to sit.
Akko's heart threatened to jump out of her chest with how quickly it was thumping in excitement, but held her composure to the best of her ability.
Her self-control was further challenged once the spotlights onstage had died down, opting the students to gaze up at the oncoming night sky.
Ursula stood up from her seat and made her way over to the microphone. "Young witches of Luna Nova, I ask that you now remain silent for the duration of the ceremony. The comet will be here within the next few-"
"Look! There!"
A voice from the audience snatched away the attention that was previously being held by Professor Ursula, a stray hand in the ocean of students pointing up towards the sky.
All heads obediently craned upwards, and Akko's jaw came close to dropping.
It started off as a small twinkle of red and white, nearly imperceptible from this astronomical distance.
But within a few seconds, the twinkle had grown slightly bigger.
And bigger.
And a little bigger still.
Diana, Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze directed their own eyes over to Akko, their hearts warming once they saw the transfixed expression on her face.
An air horn could go off an inch away from her ear, and the chances were good that she wouldn't have even heard it.
Genuinely happy for their friend, they turned their own eyes upwards, ready to take in the sight of the comet passing by . . .
At least for as long as they could before a nearly blinding flash of light washed over the sky, the comet vanishing completely out of sight in an instant.
A collective gasp of surprise traveled through the students as the rubbed their now irritated eyes, black dots dancing in their vision.
Ursula and the other teachers gazed at one another confusedly before Finneran stood up and pointed back at the academy.
"Look!"
Following her pointing finger, the teachers found the source of the disturbance, causing their hearts to sink in mortification.
A series of spotlights were shining as brightly as possible at the base of Luna Nova as an airship began to descend, lowering itself onto the landing pad that was reserved for supply drop-offs.
The airship came in for a soft landing, but the spotlights still dominated the sky, even as the groundskeepers and other helping hands began to wheel out the crate-fulls of goods, loading them into the storage sheds.
Holbrooke placed an embarrassed hand over her forehead.
"Oh dear. I had no idea that the mandrake shipment was tonight."
Professor Nelson was the first to act. "I'll see if I can't speed it up over there."
Without waiting for any confirmation from Holbrooke, the flight instructor grabbed hold of her broom and zoomed off toward the school.
Any previous signs of joy and euphoria that Akko was displaying earlier was all but gone, having since been replaced with dread and paranoia. She stepped on top of her chair, whipping her head back and forth to try and find the comet, but the light prevented her eyes from opening all the way.
Her friends exchanged helpless glances, silently trying to come up with a solution for Akko's sake, but they all knew that the precious little time that they had was quickly running out.
"C-can anybody see it?" Akko asked hopelessly, her hair whipping around her face as she desperately tried to find the comet amidst the blanket of light. "Which way did it go?!"
"Akko, you should get down from there," Lotte gently pressed, trying her best to distract Akko with something else.
But they all knew that there was absolutely nothing that any of them could offer her in terms of a distraction.
After what felt like an eternity, the spotlights dimmed down, allowing the stars to be visible once more.
But, to Akko's horror, it was too late.
She was lucky enough to have caught the literal tail end of the comet however, watching as its red light dwindled to nothing more than a tiny flicker before vanishing entirely.
Akko remained standing on her chair, gaping slack jawed up at the sky, hoping against hope that the comet would somehow make another lap around the Earth.
For a solid two minutes, not a single person in the audience was willing to break the nearly deafening silence. It was then that professor Nelson returned on her broom, eyes closed shamefully as she stepped off of her ride, knowing that her effort had been in vain.
The faculty all exchanged an unsure look with one another until Holbrooke finally decided that the silence had to be broken. She stepped up to the podium once more and awkwardly cleared her throat. "Erm, th-thank you all for having attended tonight's main event. Though I am truly sorry for having thoroughly wasted your time." The teachers were about to dispute her last comment, but were stopped by her lifting her hand.
"To any one of you who was lucky enough to have fully seen the spectacle, I sincerely hope that you gained something from this experience."
It almost pained the students to see Holbrooke up there. Her usual kind eyes still sparkled, but they were filled with what appeared to be remorse, and even a hint of embarrassment. Her smile was forced and sad as well, they observed.
With one final nod, Holbrooke allowed the students to return to their dorms.
The students raised themselves from their seats en masse and shimmied themselves out of their aisles, picking up their casual chit chat on their small trek back to the school. As they did so, the airship ascended ever so slowly and flew away no faster than a snail.
Within a few minutes' time, only a select few students remained in the field. None of them were willing to say a word, feeling as though the slightest change in tone would result in a cataclysmic breakdown from the brunette girl.
Akko, with the dream-crushing experience still numbing her mind and body, was all but dead to the world around her. Her eyes were seemingly glued to the sky as she stood on top of her chair, shoulders slumped and knees clearly weak.
Diana, Lotte and the rest of her friends exchanged looks, silently swapping ideas on how to snap Akko out of her trance.
Finally, the last of the students and faculty had dispersed, leaving the group alone in the quiet evening.
Only Professor Ursula remained onstage.
No amount of magic in the world would be able to pick up the pieces of her shattered heart at the sight of her pupil so emotionally broken.
She couldn't quite hear from this distance, but Ursula observed as Lotte tugged at Akko's sleeve, offering her a small smile while doing her best to console her. Whatever it was she said didn't appear to offer any solace to the brunette, but it did snap her back into the present.
Finally casting her gaze away from the sky, Akko stepped off of her seat and slowly marched herself out of the aisle, her arms limp all the while as if she were still partially in a trance. No one decided to go after her, but they somehow all came to the same conclusion that whatever it was that Akko needed at that moment, it wasn't anything that any of them could offer.
The next day,
The forecast for the morning called for heavy overcast. Diana peeked outside and deemed it to be true.
After climbing out of her bed, the young prodigy then went about her usual routine:
Get changed, prepare her bed for the evening, eat a fairly wholesome breakfast, get her teeth brushed, organize her book bag, wish Barbara and Hannah a good day of studying, and then make her way to her first class.
Everything appeared to be going as well as any other day.
Until she noticed a slight anomaly in first period.
Quill in hand and prepared to jot down whatever notes the teacher would instruct them to, Diana's gaze fixated itself a few rows down, taking notice of the empty seat in between Lotte and Sucy.
A/N: Uff da! This one took a while. I've had this chapter spinning around in my head for quite a while, so I hope you guys enjoyed it! (Though I'm not sure how pleased I am overall with the whole flashback sequence. I may go back for some tweaking in the future).
Be sure to drop off a review!