Yahallo! Round 2!
Thanks for the follows and reviews! And wow, even favorites! THANK YOU! Wait, I should take the tsun approach . . . Baka! It's not like I wanted your approval . . . but seriously, thanks!
I forgot to mention that I read up on formatting over at members. Madasafish ~cj_whitehound /Fanfic /ffn_how-to. htm (delete spaces please!). It was super helpful. Although I still ended up needing to play around with it myself in the end, it was a good starting point.
Episode 1: The Legacy of the Claiomh Solais
Part 2
Just like the rest of the girls that had helped stop an ICBM and prevented a war, Diana didn't consider herself a hero. She helped—perhaps she could even say she helped Akko the most out of everyone, but that was because Akko asked. Every decision, every single thing they were able to accomplish, all of it was because of Akko.
Diana was honored to have been a part of that day; to have been able to help Akko when she needed it most; to be able to jumpstart the World Reconstruction Magic.
But she knew none of it would be possible without Akko. Kagari "Akko" Atsuko. That Diana was getting attention that Akko deserved on account of her family name and—probably—her nationality was a slight she could not forgive.
Maybe it is for the best now. If Akko knew of a town reaching out for help, she would go there even without any magic and do whatever she could to save them. And she'd probably be successful on sheer stubbornness, Diana thought fondly.
"Tia Freyre." Diana cast the spell stoically, but with additional power to kick off from the ground at breakneck speed. Akko. Wait for me. I will make you proud. And I'll do it before you notice I'm gone.
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"That's it, Akko. Drown your sorrows in ice cream," Hannah encouraged. She turned to Jasminka, "By the way, how did you get so much ice cream in here without melting?"
Jasminka shrugged with her mouth full, "Hmm? Mmm."
"I'm not complaining. This is great," Hannah shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. They were huddled in the Green Team's room, away from Lotte and Sucy and in the presence of Jasminka and Constanze. At last, Akko tossed her container across the room into the trash, sinking it with ease.
"Ahhhh!" She screamed as she started rolling back and forth on Constanze's bed. Sitting up suddenly, she grabbed Constanze from the ground and plopped her down in front, before wrapping her arms around her. Constanze started to complain, thought twice, then settled in and resumed eating her ice cream.
"Akko, you can't just steal Constanze like that." Hannah scolded her gently.
"I can't help it. She's the perfect size for this."
"Just because she's smol is not an excuse," Akko looked up with teary eyes once more and Hannah relented. "Sorry, Constanze, please bear with it for now."
Constanze flashed her a thumbs up and went back to eating, ignoring the larger witch enwrapping her. Hannah could tell Akko wanted to talk more, but didn't want to say anything in front of the others. Hannah decided to wait for her to speak. As much as Akko wanted to talk about her own situation, she couldn't help it when her thoughts turned to a certain blonde witch. "What's Diana have to do even before the semester starts? She's too nice to take on everything the teachers want her to do. She has her own responsibilities to worry about without Luna Nova adding to it."
Hannah was a little stressed at Akko's words. Jasminka's smile faded for a moment before deciding to switch to eating her ice cream with chips. "Jasminka, how am I supposed to be stressed about not telling Akko about Diana when you're eating ice cream with potato chips!"
"Ohhh?" Jasminka replied.
Akko snapped her attention from Jasminka's eating habits to Hannah, "Wait. What was that? What aren't you telling me?"
Hannah hung her head in frustration before snagging a potato chip to try on her own. Jasminka was never one to begrudge a friend. Her "mmhmm" was all the encouragement Hannah needed.
"She went to some town that asked for her to save them . . . ohmigod, Jasminka, this is amazing!" Hannah was distracted with her first bite of ice cream and chips.
"WHAT!" Akko screeched, unknowingly squeezing down on Constanze too hard. Constanze began struggling before a Stanbot activated and walked over to Akko, smacking her in the head.
"Ow!"
"bzt that's right bzt" the Stanbot replied.
"Oh! Constanze! I'm sorry!" Akko released the smol witch and watched as she scrambled to get away. Akko reached her hand out after, "Come back."
Constanze hid behind her Stanbot and shook her head at Akko. She sat down to start tinkering with some metal backpack looking thing. Akko hung her head in depression for a moment before turning back to Hannah, who was busy chowing down on chips and ice cream. "Hannah!"
"Ah! Yes. As I was saying, Diana went to . . . where was it? Wasdale Head I think it was?"
"But why would Diana do that? Is it something to do with the Cavendish family?"
"Um . . . not exactly." Hannah looked around uncomfortably.
"Then what!"
"She did it because they wanted the Hero of Luna Nova to come save them. They sent the request through the school, and for some reason the school didn't want to turn it down."
"The Hero of Luna Nova? But that's me!" Akko screeched, "I mean, I'm not a hero, but I'm the one that should be getting bothered, not Diana. She's got enough to worry about!"
Hannah shrugged her shoulders and gestured vaguely at Akko, as if to say that Akko knows why Diana might take things on her own shoulders—especially after just their last conversation.
"Oh!" Akko erupted from the bed. "I need Lotte and Sucy!"
Jasminka and Constanze ignored Akko as she bolted from the room. A Stanbot stood up and shut the door behind her. Hannah stared after her perplexed. "Um . . . is it OK to let her go like that?" Constanze gave a thumbs up without lifting her head from her work and Jasminka hmmed in agreement before offering Hannah some more chips. "Wow, I never noticed how quiet your team is without Amanda."
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"Guys! We have to go to Wasdale Foot!" Sucy didn't even turn her head from where she lay on her bed in some painful looking yoga pose. Lotte turned around at her desk calmly to look at their panting teammate.
"Wasdale Foot? What's there?" Lotte asked. Sucy opened her uncovered eye to look blankly at Lotte when she spoke.
"Diana! She's in trouble and needs me to save her!"
"That's unlikely," Sucy offered.
"I mean, Wasdale needs me to save them and Diana went in my place. I can't fly, so I need you guys!"
"This still sounds unlikely."
"I'll let you try out your next potion on me!"
"Come on, Lotte. We need to help Akko." Sucy slowly untangled herself and stretched her neck.
Lotte turned back to her desk, pulling out a map of England. "Lotte, there's no time for maps! We need to go after her!"
"Do you know how to get to Wasdale Foot, Akko?"
"Oh, OK." Akko dropped down on her bed. "But as soon as we find a path, we'll go?"
Lotte ignored her and started examining the map. "Akko, there's no place named Wasdale Foot. There is a Wasdale Head."
"Yes! That's it!"
Lotte didn't even blink in surprise, expecting the answer. "We'll have to go through a couple leyline terminals. There's no direct path."
"Alright Lotte! I knew I could count on you! Let's go go go!" Akko jumped up, grabbing her broom and all but pushing her teammates out the door.
"What are you going to do with your broom, Akko?" Lotte asked.
"This is the one Constanze made for me. I figured it would go faster if you two towed me on it instead of having to ride double."
"Have you been eating my mushrooms? That's not an idea you would normally have."
"We don't have time to waste. You know how fast Diana is on a broom!"
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"Chariot, you know I left Luna Nova the way I did so you wouldn't have to see me like this." Croix said without looking up from her reading.
Croix was in her once normal everyday wear of hoodie and sweatpants and surrounded by computers and books. Everything was as you'd expect for a research witch . . . minus the bars on the door. Chariot unlocked the door with a wave of her wand and entered to face her once closest friend. "I've been meaning to come."
"You say that like it's easy," Croix stopped reading and turned to face her. "Don't tell me you broke in to see me?"
"They owe me." Croix was unsure of how to respond to that revelation. "I did a lot in the ten years between my last performance and taking the teaching position at Luna Nova, you know. I wasn't just sitting around. Where did you think I learned to fight like that?"
"I just thought, 'she's Chariot, she can do anything.'"
Chariot blushed. "Ahem. Anyway, I need you, Croix." Croix raised her eyebrow at that declaration. "Not like that. Listen. I can't stop trusting in you. Even after everything that happened: what you tried to do to Akko, how you tried to release the Grand Triskelion, everything. I can't stop trusting you."
Croix's eyes softened as she listened to her old friend. "A believing heart . . . "
"I know I shouldn't trust you anymore, but I need you now. Croix, will you help me?"
"Chariot . . . " Croix broke their gaze, afraid of what her friend might see in her eyes. "I-I have a long way to go. I'm seeing a therapist," At Chariot's gasp, she continued, "It's not as bad as you might think. Therapy is a good thing in spite of the stigma. I'm twisted Chari. Even if I was trying to do good, I was doing it for the wrong reasons and I went about it the wrong way. My entire life was lived in pursuit of that. Being here helps. Researching to try to undo the harm I've caused helps. But I have a long way to go. I don't know what you're expecting."
"Croix, this isn't something abstract I need your help with. You don't even need to come out with me. I think it's something we've both done and I need your knowledge."
"What?"
"Dream Fuel Spirit."
"Akko? Something's happened to Akko?"
Chariot sniffed and nodded, "She's lost all of her magic."
"No," Croix spun away, lifting her head and staring into the distance as though looking at pages of information in her mind. "That can't be. Not from Dream Fuel Spirit."
"Are you sure, Croix?"
"How can I be sure? I wanted to hurt you when I gave you that spell. This hurts, that's for sure. But Dream Fuel Spirit doesn't have a persistent effect. Once she overcame it there's no way it would affect her again unless someone cast the spell again."
"That's what I was afraid of," Chariot replied, even as she felt the relief that it wasn't because of her sin.
"What about the other one?"
"Diana? She's fine. She left Luna Nova flying away on her broom, so there's no question that she still has her magic."
"Then I'm sure it wasn't from our spell. What could be . . . oh no."
"What is it?"
"Claiomh Solais."
"The Shiny Rod? It returned to the sky. Akko let it go."
"Chari, do you remember what happened when I tried to take it from you? Just from touching it?"
"It hurt you."
"Only the Chosen One can use the magics of Claiomh Solais," Croix said it as though it were a death sentence.
Pensively, Chariot responded, "But Diana used it alongside of her. All of their friends rode the Shiny Volley with her."
"I have a theory."
"Tell me."
"Akko must have taken it all on herself. Redirecting the magic through herself before exposing the others to it. I'd be surprised if it was anyone but Akko, but she probably didn't even think about it before doing it. After going through that, channeling the power of seven witches through the Claiomh Solais and taking all the feedback onto herself, and then the full power of a witch like Diana—when the Claiomh Solais released, it may have taken too much of her with it. Including her magic."
"The Balance." Chariot turned away. "How sure are you?"
"I'd have to see her to know for sure."
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I think we'll get through the first episode in the next chapter! What's Diana saving the town of Wasdale Head from? Will Akko be able to make it in time? A ton of dialogue and exposition this chapter, but next chapter should have some action! And doesn't everyone want a Constanze to snuggle? Thank you for reading and reviewing!
