After last night's performance, Akko came to many conclusions:
One of them was that she promised her friends that she would do her best to never let anything affect her that negatively or to make them worry ever again (though they remained skeptical on that last part, due to Akko's colorful track record of getting into trouble). Another conclusion she came to was how amazing her friends are.
She already knew she had some pretty incredible people in her life, but there aren't many people in the world who would go to the lengths that they went to just to make somebody else smile.
But these people who she called her friends were those kind.
The last thing that Akko declared was that, no matter how boring, or energy draining, or tear-your-own-hair-out frustrating classes could be, she was not going to miss another one.
Because she had a lot of classwork to make up for.
The next day, she got herself out of bed and, with her usual cheerfulness, was prepared to take on the challenges that the day may or may not bring. She sat herself down in her usual seat and opened her notebook . . .
Only to realize that she had no idea what the heck the teacher was talking about.
Jotting down the notes regardless, Akko did her best to fill in the blanks. The young witch made a mental note to take up Lotte's offer of copying her notes afterward.
Once the final class of the day concluded, Akko, Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Constanze, Jasminka and Diana all made their way into town and stopped at the café to celebrate Akko's return to form. They talked and laughed and swapped fairly mundane stories of today's lessons, followed up by Akko describing her favorite parts from their performance.
The girl was in her own world now as she described how she felt. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was eager to share how much it all meant to her.
Despite the evening growing late, the group stayed for as long as Akko desired, allowing her to spill her guts out to her heart's content. She deserved it, the others thought.
After finally finishing her drink, she let out a satisfied breath and deemed it time to head back to their rooms. As they walked, she hung her head low once she remembered the large amount of homework that she needed to catch up on.
As if it were rehearsed, Akko quivered her bottom lip and made her eyes as sparkly as possible until Diana finally agreed to help her catch up.
The brunette pumped her fist in victory.
Once they reached the school grounds, they all went back to their respective dorms, everyone wishing the other a good night's rest.
Akko closed the door behind her and the three of them began to wind down for the night, changing into their night gowns and preparing for sleep, though Akko was still struggling with calming her nerves down with all that has happened from the past two days.
Within a half hour, the three girls were in their respective beds, two of the three of them out like a light.
A smile not ready to leave her face until she was fast asleep, Akko silently thanked who or whatever it was that was looking out for her and gave her friends that she wasn't at all sure what she had done to deserve.
Her breath finally slowing and her heart beating at a calmer pace, she finally felt her eyelids growing heavier. Letting out a deep breath through her nose, she closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for the onslaught of homework that was most assuredly coming her way in the next few days.
She could only imagine how much more she could possibly learn with the knowledge that the Yggdrasilians promised to teach her.
. . . Her eyes shot open faster than a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun.
Heart beating rapidly once again, she did a small jump in her bed once she realized that it had been nearly a week since the last time she had visited them.
Thankful that her stir hadn't disturbed her friends' slumber, Akko reworked tomorrow's schedule in her brain, making sure to head to the woods as quickly after classes had ended. She also thought that maybe bringing in at least one more bag of apples might appease their potential frustration at having been forgotten.
Akko's heart began to grow heavy with guilt at the thought of them waiting for her, prepared to teach her magic that only they knew how to do, but only to not have her arrive. Especially now that Simon's Comet has passed by the Earth, recharging the green boulder that she had put back into place.
Hmm, maybe two bags of apples would be better.
The Next Day,
School had gone almost exactly as Akko had predicted it would that day - confusing.
Same as yesterday, due to Akko's absences, she was behind on her studies, leaving her virtually unprepared for any future assignments and tests. Thankfully, Diana was true to her word and assisted her in catching up.
Akko usually looks forward to lunch period, as it allowed her to socialize without having to worry too much about her classes for forty-five minutes (which always went by way faster than she liked). But after Diana's insistence, she persuaded the ever stubborn brunette that the fastest way to catch up was for the two of them to work together during lunch.
Seating herself next to Akko, Diana opened her bag and laid out her notebooks and worksheets, Akko following suit.
Taking stray bites in between her lesson, Diana grimaced in annoyance at Akko's sloppy table manners, wiping off stray crumbs of biscuit from the paper.
"Akko," Diana chastised, "please control your eating."
"Phorreh Dianah."
Diana grimaced again. "And don't talk with your mouth full. You're getting food everywhere."
Akko swallowed, then gave Diana a sheepish smile.
The young prodigy sighed, but felt no need to go further into her dining habits. This was a bigger fish to fry.
"Now then," Diana continued, "as I was saying, this symbol is the magical script of creation." She pointed to a specific spot in her textbook. "Faefae Anupalla."
"Faefae Anupalla," Akko repeated.
Diana nodded. "Very good." She pointed to another spot in her textbook. "If that was the ancient incantation of creation, then can you tell me what this one means?"
Taking in the clues that Diana laid before her, Akko nibbled another bite of biscuit and scratched her head in thought.
"D . . . Destruction?"
"Correct. Faefae Anupalla and Sobenebrei haven't been used since the age of Yggdrasil. Be sure to include this in your notes. It is almost guaranteed to be on the upcoming test."
Without question, Akko took in Diana's advice and scribbled it into her notebook.
Once she was done, she quirked her eyebrow in thought.
"If it hasn't been used since Yggdrasil, then why am I learning it?"
"It is important to remember our history, Akko. Though certain practices are outdated, they served as the stepping stones to the magic that we practice today. To forget them is to turn our back to what the nine witches gave us."
Akko nodded in understanding.
Taking a bite of her meal, Diana returned her focus to the book in front of her, swallowing before she continued.
"As for these incantations, one would require three leaves of basil, two drops of . . ."
Diana continued to list off the ingredients necessary for this specific concoction as if she had read it a thousand times before (Akko didn't immediately dismiss that thought). But as she went on, something else grabbed the girl's attention.
The cafeteria workers behind the serving counters hauled in a large basket of apples and oranges and set them on a table.
Her eyes widened and she stood from her seat, stopping Diana's lesson.
"Hold that thought," Akko requested before walking over to the workers.
Passing through the other students like a devoted shopper on Black Friday, she reached her destination, palms flat on the counter and her body leaning forward, earning the attention of the magical creatures.
"Are there still apples left over from the ceremony?"
Later,
It took some coaxing, but Akko finally managed to get away from Lotte and Sucy for the evening. The former had wished to go into town once again to visit the bookstore, but the brunette convinced her that it would be ok to do so without her. Lotte did her best to change her friend's mind, but Akko, attempting to put her mind at ease, had told her that she would be catching up on schoolwork with Diana.
Somewhat disappointed at Akko's absence, Lotte and Sucy left for town.
In all honesty, Akko would love nothing more than to go with them. After everything they had done for her, she wished she could be there for Lotte to pick up the latest volume of Night Fall. She adored seeing the look on her face every time the next chapter was released.
But Akko had also known that the Yiggins couldn't be pushed aside any longer. They had been waiting for her for a week now and she hadn't so much as told them where she was. It was time to reconnect.
Akko wished Lotte good luck as the two of them closed the door behind them.
Waiting a few minutes to ensure that the coast was clear, Akko reached underneath her bed and pulled out two paper bag-fulls of fruit. Her peace offerings firmly in her grasp, Akko made her way to the exit. She barely made it a few steps outside until her grip started to falter.
Readjusting her hold and her stance, she did her best to hold the fruit in place, but she quickly came to the conclusion that she couldn't make this trek on foot.
Thankfully, she had a plan to remedy that fact.
One trip to her room and back was all she needed to grab her broom and make her way back.
Looping the handles around the end of the broom, Akko levitated off the ground, performing a fist bump as she successfully got airborne on the first try. Setting her sights on the line of trees before her, Akko gently flew into the forest, softly turning this way and that as to not spill her cargo or break the bags.
Not to mention that it was also solid solo practice.
She'd be kicking Amanda's butt in no time.
While she was smirking to herself at the thought of beating Amanda at her own game, she almost missed the entrance.
Slowly floating to a stop, Akko lowered herself to her feet and grabbed the bags. Before she lowered herself into the hidden entrance, she thought of what it was she was to do with her broom.
Would it be rude to leave it leaning against one of their walls?
Wait! I got it . . .
Flipping the broom bristle side up, she shoved the tip into the dirt until it stood on its own.
Nodding in approval, she wiped her hands together and picked up the bags, climbing into the hole.
The familiar earthy scent filled her nose the moment she touched the tunnel floor, bringing back almost nostalgic memories of her falling inside of it on accident during her first venture out to find them.
Hopefully they won't be too mad about her not visiting them. They could be surprisingly volatile . . .
Her small seed of anxiety slowly swelled with each step she took that brought her closer to the anteroom.
Finally, she rounded the final corner and found herself in their home.
At first, none of them noticed her enter. They were all focused on their tasks; each chore ranging from farming, to transporting food, and even building new housing developments and restructuring the still-damaged silo.
But there was something different about it all . . .
They were using real magic to help them.
The past few times Akko had come down to their home, they had been going about their chores with a much more physical approach; from digging holes with their own hands to plant seeds, to creating makeshift scaffolding so they could improve upon their homes.
But seeing them now, the way they dug entire trenches with nothing but a mere thought, and then lowering the seeds into their resting place was downright incredible.
Her awe is ultimately what gave her away as she didn't notice her grip failing her, resulting in her dropping the two bags and spilling the apples everywhere.
Every Yiggin stopped what they were doing and turned her way, their eyes growing wide in surprise.
Fully aware that all eyes were on her, Akko smiled and waved awkwardly, her shoulders shaking with each nervous chuckle she pushed from her chest.
"Hey guys. Eheh. Miss me?"
It took a few moments of nothing but awkward eye contact for the Yiggins to fully register who it was that was standing there. It almost reminded Akko of the first time she stumbled into their home by accident.
After a few blinks, one of the Yiggins pointed at her, his tiny eyes about as wide as they could go.
"She's back!"
With that, a collective cheer erupted, forcing Akko to cover her ears. The Yggdrasilians rushed over en masse to the girl's ankles and hugged them tight, their leaves tickling her legs.
Akko understood that these were legitimate intelligible beings who deserved respect and could sometimes be easily offended, but it was hard to restrain herself from releasing a coo of adoration when they were so darn cute!
They all huddled around her until she was surrounded by a puddle of green and brown. When they broke apart, some of them picked up the spilled bag of apples and brought them over to the fruit's designated spot while others hung around and bombarded Akko with a plethora of questions.
"Miss Akko, rumors had left us to believe that you abandoned us!"
"We knew you would never do that!"
"Does this mean we can start?"
"Did you die?!"
Akko waved her arms in a vain attempt to silence them. As soon as the chatter died down to a manageable level, she tried to come up with the best response for them.
"No, no, no. I'd never abandon you guys!" She rubbed her elbow. "Sorry I haven't been over in a while. Some stuff got in the way. But now-" She silenced herself once she remembered one of the questions that was thrown her way.
"What do you mean by 'can we start'?"
"I believe he means whether or not we can begin your training, Miss Akko."
Ears perking up at the sound of the familiar voice, Akko turned to see Tilly approaching the gathering. Her eyes lit up at the site (and her gut untangled itself from its worried knot after seeing that Tilly's face showed no signs of anger or frustration at her elongated absence).
"Tilly! What's up? It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Six days, seventeen hours and thirty-five minutes."
"Eheheh. Yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry about-"
"There's no need to apologize, Miss Akko," Tilly held up a stubby arm to silence the girl. "While we were growing restless during your absence, you are your own person with your own life to live. And after all that you've done for us, it wouldn't be our place to pass judgement on something as trivial as this."
Akko sighed, another weight being lifted from her heart.
"Besides," Tilly continued, "with how your busy your life is about to become, I felt it best that you spend as much personal time as possible."
Her head tilted. "Eh? How busy?"
Tilly smiled. "Follow me."
Akko obeyed, stepping over the congregated Yiggins carefully and making her way up to their leader, matching his pace at his side. The two of them walked along the winding dirt path until they came up to the large emerald stone.
The first thing that Akko noticed about it that the light emanating from it was no longer blinking slowly, but rather it held its glow consistently like a translucent bulb, the green glow reflecting on the soil around them and the ceiling above.
"Simon's Comet has made another pass around Earth," Tilly stated, unintentionally bringing up sour memories for the witch. "Our stone has been recharged; meaning our magic has been fully restored." To emphasize his point, Tilly reached his arm behind him and pointed directly at a Yggdrasilian who was carrying an apple to what appeared to be the storage hole.
His tiny eyes squinting in concentration, Tilly summoned the apple over to him, a shriek of surprise was earned from the Yiggin as the fruit was yanked from his hands unexpectedly. Akko would've felt bad for him had she not been so transfixed on what was happening.
The apple floated above the leader's head, a green aura surrounding it kept it afloat. Tilly, raising one arm, brought it down in an abrupt vertical motion. The apple, in response, was sliced clean in half as if it were chopped through with a freshly sharpened knife.
Akko blinked and step back in surprise. Inside one of the halves, Tilly dug out a seed. The tiny brown dot floated above the sliced fruit, only just visible to the naked eye if one were to squint hard enough.
The seed then slowly descended to the ground, digging itself deep into the dirt. The two halves floated down as well into the awaiting arms of two Yiggins. They caught their respective pieces and began to nibble at them.
Tilly turned back to face Akko, a smug look on his face as if he had performed a great feat; which, for all Akko knew, he just did. Before the stone was recharged, she doubted they would be able to do much outside of the most basic of magic.
Even during the first time she found one of them, after she flew off her broom and she was gently lowered to the ground, the Yiggin looked as if the task was too much for him and looked as if he would pass out at any given moment.
Akko blinked, unsure of what to say at the minimal demonstration.
Sensing her hesitation, Tilly laughed. "Don't worry, Miss Akko. Your training will go beyond the mere everyday levitation spell. You will learn spells and magic that haven't been seen since the days of the Nine Olde Witches."
The young girl rubbed the back of her neck.
"I've gotta warn you, I can be kind of a slow learner. I'll do my best though! You can count on that!"
Tilly nodded, clearly satisfied with that answer.
"Good. Now, let's get started with your very first lesson."
Meanwhile,
Ursula's heart was aflutter with pride and a small trace of giddiness as she walked the halls of Luna Nova, passing by students who were preparing to settle in for the evening.
She had no idea the kind of impact it was going to have on her at seeing Akko back in class; to see her face so bright and eager to learn, no matter how much she may struggle with it. If there was one thing that that girl was good at, it was persevering.
And performing for her had delivered her a thrill that she had not experienced in a very, very long time. Getting back onstage in her old costume opened the floodgates for an oncoming flood of memories of her very first performances.
But this audience was by far her favorite.
The teacher clutched a stack of papers that needed to be graded close to her chest as she strolled. Flipping through them until she saw Akko's name written at the top of one of them, she prayed that she would be able to give it a passing grade.
Shaking away her doubts, she was reassured by reminding herself that as long as Akko puts in a hundred percent of her effort every single time (which she knows she does), then she'll do nothing except get better over time.
Turning a corner, she saw Lotte and Sucy sitting on a bench together, the blonde haired girl halfway through what appeared to be the newest addition to the Night Fall series she knows she loves.
But she was slightly taken aback by Akko's absence from the group.
She would never have passed up an opportunity to be with her friends unless something more important came up.
And Ursula knew that there was nothing more important to Akko than her friends.
The blue haired teacher came to a stop in front of the two girls.
"Good evening, girls."
Lotte looked up from the book and Sucy appeared to have snapped out of her bored trance, the former smiling brightly.
"Hello, Professor!"
"Where's Akko?"
"She said something about getting extra lessons from Diana. I'm surprised that Diana's been able to stomach her inability to retain information for so long," Sucy sniggered, earning a protest from Lotte.
Taking no mind to the comment, Ursula thought back.
Strange. I had just passed Diana a few minutes ago. But I didn't see Akko with . . .
Shrugging it off for now, the teacher wished Lotte well on the book and continued on her way over to her office to begin grading her papers.
Her previous elation having vanished, Ursula couldn't help but wonder about Akko's whereabouts.
At the same time,
When Tilly mentioned that they would begin her very first lesson, Akko wasn't all too thrilled to learn that it was a history lesson.
She understood the importance of learning history, but it was never among her strong suits.
Yet, she retained her professional composure as she sat cross-legged in the dirt, taking in Tilly's words as well as she could.
"There are very few people, heck, very few beings in the world who are aware of Yggdrasil's other location in the world."
Akko's head tilted.
"Yggdrasil was in two places at once?"
"Not quite," Tilly corrected. "More so, it has existed more than once. Its first location was set in the southernmost part of Africa. But, due to humanity's lack of knowledge of magic, combined with the fact that those who practiced it were burned alive," Akko gulped at that last part, "it wasn't utilized for much magical use. Therefore, the first Yggdrasil faded from history."
Akko's eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"Then how did it come back?"
"Well, what do all plants start off as?"
Great, a botanical question. Although, this one seemed pretty easy . . .
"A seed?"
"Correct. Yggdrasil was a magical being, but it was plant-based nonetheless. The seeds of the first Yggdrasil found their new home and were buried, giving birth to the Yggdrasil that we come from."
Akko could barely detect it, but she could've sworn that she saw a small scowl on Tilly's face.
"And the same one that witches killed with their overuse of magic."
Taken aback by the comment, Akko was about to refute the accusation, but Tilly continued.
"Yggdrasil would still be alive had they all not gotten greedy. It would still be standing proud and tall for another five thousand years. That's where you come in, Miss Akko," Tilly's sudden malice had melted away. "With our help, you will learn a more conservative way of harnessing magic and spread that knowledge all over the world. You will be the poster child for the new wave of magic."
Akko twiddled her thumbs together nervously. "But . . . it's not the witches faults that Yggdrasil-"
"Look at where you are right now, Miss Akko," Tilly interrupted. "You are literally sitting in the previous home of Yggdrasil, and the cause of its death is right across the forest!"
Akko blinked.
"L-Luna Nova?"
"Not the school itself, but those who reside inside. The teachers, filling those student's heads full of nonsensical gibberish of what they think is real magic. But then . . . there's you, Miss Akko. Every student inside those walls have previous magical experience, but you are most certainly a special case."
Akko's heart began to beat faster. She wasn't all that sure what exactly that was supposed to mean.
"Due to your lack of experience, you were a clean slate. An untainted specimen that is more than ready to learn our way of magic. We can't even begin to count the amount of blessings that have been bestowed onto us because of you. But there's a problem."
Tilly walked over to the green stone that was idly humming. Inside, an image flickered and swirled to life, taking the likeness of the Sorcerer's Stone.
"One can't spread knowledge of magic across the world with this over glorified triple A battery. You'll need something bigger. Something fairly more . . . traditional."
Meanwhile,
Ursula's stomach began to speak to her as she walked, leading her to the decision to swing by the cafeteria as she made her way back to her office.
Stepping inside, she made her way over to the counter, where the magical workers bustled about on the other side. Their backs to her as they worked, Ursula politely waited until they noticed her, not wishing to disturb their workflow or conversation.
"Has anybody heard what was decided on for next Monday's dinner? I kept hearing it was a tossup between lasagna and fried maceral," one goblin asked his fellow workers.
"It's fried maceral," another confirmed, earning a sigh from another.
"Again? We're gonna run the ocean dry of 'em with the amount that we serve here. What about dessert?"
"That day is cook's choice. If you guys don't mind, I was going to make an apple tart."
The others shrugged. "S'ok with me. So long as we have enough apples."
"That Kagari girl took a good amount, but we should still have enough."
It felt like a fist made of ice seized Ursula's heart at that moment, her grip on her papers faltering.
Akko not with the others . . . taking fruit along with her . . .
Caught in the moment, Ursula dropped her bundle of papers and made a beeline for the exit, leaving a cluster of confused cafeteria workers in her wake.
At the Same Time,
Akko stood in front of the group of Yggdrasilians, her back to them as she looked at the flickering image inside of the green stone. Tilly observed as well as it changed from the Sorcerer's Stone into three individual coiled sticks, each of them no longer than an inch and a half. Her audience behind her looked from the three coils over to Akko, then back and forth and back and forth again, as if they were expecting her to do something with this information.
Stunned to silence, Akko could only listen to Tilly as he described what they were.
"The Seeds of Yggdrasil. After the magic is depleted, three seeds are formed and wait for someone to plant them once again. It has happened before, and now it is ready to happen again. And the person who is going to be responsible for it will be you, Miss Akko. Now then, do you have any questions before we continue?"
It felt as if her arms had been filled with lead as they drooped to her sides, her knees weak and her jaw slack.
Tilly had been offering her a long overdue explanation for what seemed like an eternity. The further the leader of the Yiggins went along in his speech, the more and more Akko attempted to deny what she was hearing.
But there was no possible way to misinterpret this.
Rather than ask a question as Tilly had openly invited, she could bring herself to do nothing more than to say it out loud, as if it will help her brain wrap around it all.
"You're going to build a brand new Yggdrasil . . . With Luna Nova as ground zero . . ."
Tilly positively beamed upon hearing this.
"And you say you're a slow learner," he giggled lightly. "With your contributions, Yggdrasil will be fully grown come sunrise. That's when the fun will begin, Miss Akko. We will waste no more time and dive head first into our lesson plan. You will master broomless levitation by next week, be able to summon anything from around the world – provided that you know where it is, of course. Magic is all powerful, not all knowing after all. And by the end of the month, the entire country will know your name.
"Your celebrity status will rival that of Shiny Chariot's ten thousand fold! The new wave of witches will appear in no time, with you as their inspiration. Believe you me, Miss Akko, this Yggdrasil will be around for generations to come. And it is all thanks to-"
"Murowa!"
The incantation left her lips with so much venom that she was surprised that she hadn't poisoned herself.
In an instant, the ground at Tilly's feet exploded in a flurry of flying dirt clods and dust clouds. He was propelled back and landed in the dirt a few feet away. Pushing himself back to a standing position, Tilly's surprised eyes gazed at the teenage girl, whose wand was poised and prepared to attack at a moment's notice.
"Like hell I'm going to help you! Had I known about any of this I wouldn't have even bothered coming back! I won't let you get away with something like this!"
Tilly blinked, thoroughly looking unprepared for this turn of events.
"So," he started, noticing that all the Yiggin's eyes were on him, waiting for him to make some sort of move. "You don't wish to help us?" He attempted to clarify.
Akko rolled her eyes. "Of course not! Luna Nova is my home! It's a part of who I am! I'm not going to have any part in destroying it and I'm most certainly not going to plant those seeds for you!"
Tilly twiddled his stubby arms together.
"Well, this is most awkward." He cleared his throat. "You see Miss Akko, the thing about that is . . . You already have."
Meanwhile,
Ignoring all the strange looks she was receiving from students and her fellow faculty members, Ursula tore through the halls at a frightening pace. She ignored her burning lungs and propelled herself onward until she came across the relic room, the large pillar in the center standing tall and proud, housing an assortment of trinkets.
Wasting no time, Ursula grabbed the enchanted ladder from its resting spot against the back corner, leaned it against the pillar, and willed it to lift her upwards.
She came to a stop at the very shelf she was looking for, the three wooden coils sat there, undisturbed, same as before.
Unsatisfied, she reached forward and grabbed one of them, bringing it close to her eyes as to determine its legitimacy.
Immediately, she noticed the wooden texture it was supposed to have against her skin was not present. Rather, it was cooler and hard.
In her haste, she readjusted her footing on the ladder but overcompensated. Losing her grip on the coil, it plummeted twenty feet down, her hand outstretched in a vain attempt to save it.
But the moment it struck the ground, it confirmed her worst fears.
It shattered upon impact against the concrete floor, little brown shards scattering all around.
Her heart seized once again; her eyes as wide as saucers.
They're fakes.
Not even bothering to have the ladder lower her down safely, she leapt from her perch and landed clumsily on the floor.
Ignoring the sharp pains in her ankles, she rushed out of the relic room and up the closest set of staircases she could find.
At the Same Time,
Once again, the image inside of the green stone flickered and changed. This time, rather than a static image, it displayed a familiar scene; Akko and Ursula walking down the courtyard with two bucket-fulls worth of fish, making their way down to the Fountain of Polaris.
Akko, taken aback once again, watched the stone with rapt attention.
They've been . . . spying on me?
"You see, Miss Akko," Tilly began as the scene continued to play out, "we've run into this problem in the past. A young, aspiring witch fell into our midst, but she too wished to back out at the last moment. She even stole the Seeds away from us. We were forced to flee our old home and set up camp here."
Akko listened to Tilly's confession, but couldn't find the strength to look away from what was unfolding before her.
"If you think about it, it is rather an amusing coincidence. The very day one of my scouts successfully switched out the real Seeds with decoys was the day of your impromptu broomstick race with that O'Neil character. He made it back, but, unfortunately, we knew we would be unable to sneak in a second time. That would simply be pushing our luck."
In the stone, Ursula and Akko drew closer to the Fountain's entrance.
"We couldn't risk being seen by the faculty, lest we blow our cover. But, if we were to find someone who could walk through their halls without anybody so much as batting an eye and have them do it for us . . . well, no doubt you can see the convenience of that scenario. And thankfully, fate appeared to be on our side that day. We were given you."
Ursula stepped inside the ancient entryway and Akko followed closely behind. But the moment before Akko entered, the image drew closer to Akko's form.
"And with your assistance, Miss Akko, we were able to cut out the middle man."
The image inside the stone zoomed closely to Akko's feet. The moment before her foot stepped inside, a nearly imperceptible thin figure crawled out of her shoe. She immediately recognized it as one of the three coils.
Crawling like a worm along her shoe, it dove into the ground and dug itself into the soil, vanishing completely.
The scene inside the stone shimmered until it changed once again, this time it showed Akko along with Lotte, Sucy, Diana, Amanda, Jasminka and Constanze, the red head assisting Akko with her broom flying.
Once again, a tiny sliver of movement directed her attention to her foot, where another Seed crawled its way out and wiggled into the dirt, the small group of teenagers none the wiser of its presence.
Finally, the stone showed her what appeared to be the entirety of Luna Nova sitting outside in the late evening, awaiting the comet's arrival. Akko could see her inconceivably anxious face amongst the crowd. But, like the previous two, the stone zoomed in on her shoes.
The final Seed crawled out and leapt into the lawn, vanishing entirely from sight.
With nothing left to show, the images inside the stone swirled away, reverting itself back to its original state of dormancy.
The scenes had finished playing in front of her, but they were constantly playing on repeat mode inside Akko's head.
This whole time . . . This whole time . . .
"You've been . . . Using me?"
"I wouldn't particularly put it that way," Tilly carefully worded. "I'd say that you have been helping us."
Akko physically couldn't even bring herself to look at Tilly. Her gaze was still fixed on the stone in front of her.
"You've been lying to me all along . . ." Her voice was distant, hollow.
"Now wait just a moment, Miss Akko. Not once ever did we lie to you."
Akko finally found the strength to tear herself away from the stone. "No, but you just so happened to leave out the part when you destroy the school and you felt like you didn't need to bring up the part where I'm the one who ends up being responsible!"
"Responsibility is a key to controlling magic, Miss Akko. Coming to terms with these actions will significantly improve your ability to manipulate magic," Tilly reasoned, as if he were explaining how two and two equaled four.
"And what about my teachers? What about my friends?! Everybody's still in there!"
Tilly smiled, looking genuinely excited to explain this part.
"Oh, there's no reason to worry about them. Yggdrasil will simply be their new home. And in a way . . . they will always be with you. You'll be able to think of them with every swish of your wand."
Akko's heart plummeted.
"I'm going to be using them like batteries?!"
Detecting the outrage in her voice, Tilly stepped forward, starting to appear impatient.
"Those witches in there have no trouble using the leylines as if they were batteries. It's the same basic principal. Now, Miss Akko, this is my final time offering." His voice was affirming and showed no signs of regret or remorse.
"Are you going to help us?"
"NO!"
Her answer came just as quickly as the words left Tilly's mouth, her voice echoing all around the walls. Nostrils thinned to nothing more than two slits and her hand white-knuckling as she gripped her wand, Akko commenced an all-out staring contest with the leader of the Yggdrasilians, daring him to make some sort of move.
Tilly's response was nothing more than a disappointed sigh.
"Alright."
FWIP.
In the heat of their argument, Akko failed to notice a root emerge from the ground and slowly raise itself until it was level with the girl's hand. It flicked itself and dislodged the wand from her grip. Akko let out a surprised guffaw and clumsily attempted to catch it, but only succeeded in pushing it farther away from her.
Before she could even attempt to make a mad grab for it, the root swept low and knocked Akko's feet out from under her, sending her sprawling flat on her back.
Groaning, she rubbed her sore back and pushed herself up on her elbow, but only made it that far before the entire tribe of Yiggins dogpiled on top of her, pinning her to the ground.
She fought back as best she could, blindly swiping her arm left and right in a petty attempt to knock them off. The only thing she succeeded in was scraping her hand against their wooden bodies and scratching her face against stray twigs.
Finally, she found herself unable to move, her energy officially spent.
Akko was splayed out helplessly on the ground, arms and legs pinned down with no hope of breaking free.
With a few halfhearted struggles, Akko felt two feet walking up her leg and stopping on her stomach. Looking up, Akko found Tilly looking down at her.
Giving a nod, the Yiggins responded by lifting the girl off the ground and carrying her backwards as a pack of ants would for a fallen crumb.
Unable to see where they were taking her, Akko had no choice but to meet Tilly's gaze.
"Please don't make the same mistakes as Miss Du Nord did. She could've avoided the ridicule she faced had she done what we asked of her."
Akko's eyes went wide.
"Y-You knew Professor Ursula?" Her voice was choppy as her body was jostled this way and that.
Tilly responded in what she assumed was a snort of amusement.
"Is that what she's calling herself now? Well, it'll be certainly fun to catch up with her tonight."
Before Akko could say anything remotely threatening back, she found herself sequestered inside of one of the tunnels. Tilly leapt off of the girl moments before the Yiggins tossed her inside. She came to a clumsy halt and landed face first in the dirt.
Growling in frustration, Akko planted one hand on the ground to push herself upward, but nearly jumped out of her own skin when another root began to wrap around her wrist. She squealed in fright as more poked out of the ground and held her securely in place.
She squirmed and grunted tiredly, but she found herself unable to break free.
The Yiggins exited the tunnel and reentered the anteroom, watching Akko.
"Don't worry, Miss Akko. Once you see Yggdrasil restored, you'll come around. I'm sure of it."
"I'm gonna use you like a toothpick!"
"Charming. See you in the morning!"
With a raise of his hands, Tilly willed a wall of dirt to rise up from the ground and seal off the entrance, drowning the restrained girl in total darkness, her cries of protest cut short once the twelve inch thick wall was fully grown.
Dusting off his hands, Tilly returned his attention to his fellow Yiggins.
"I believe now is a good enough time to get things started. Everyone form a circle."
Letting out a jubilated cheer, the small tribe did as they were told, forming a circle in the middle of the room, hand in hand with Tilly in the center. Akko's cries of protest were barely audible behind the mounded wall of dirt, but it wasn't enough to break their concentration.
After a few moments of Tilly murmuring incantation after incantation under his breath, their chests began to glow a brilliant green. At their feet, a system of roots snaked their way around their tiny bodies and slowly pulled them into the dirt until their bushy afro-like leaf hairs stuck out from the ground like misplaced shrubs, then vanishing underground altogether, leaving the entire anteroom in silence, save for Akko's squirming and curses behind the wall.
At the Same Time,
Her heart was pounding, but she hardly even noticed.
Her lungs were burning, but she didn't at all care.
She was receiving even more strange looks from passing by students, but that didn't matter.
"Please! Head outdoors!" She would insist to them as she ran, but all she succeeded in was leaving a trail of befuddled students in her dust.
Finally, the door she sought after came into view.
Without so much as knocking, the instructor all but kicked it in, startling Professor Holbrooke to her core.
"M-Miss Ursula? What on Earth is the matter?"
There was no time for anything else. Explanations would have to come later, she decided.
"Professor Holbrooke, we must get all the girls out of the building this instant!"
The elderly professor blinked. "All of them? At this time? But we haven't-"
"There's no time to ask questions! I'm begging you, we must-" Her plea was cut short once movement behind the window at the end of the room caught her attention.
Her blood ran cold once she figured out what it was.
But she could do nothing as the behemoth-sized root zoomed straight in and shattered the window, wrapping itself around Professor Holbrooke's ankle.