Yahallo! I'm really working on getting these chapters out, I can't wait to get to the mid-cour climax! This chapter has a little bit more strong language than previous chapters, but it's been rated T since the beginning so, yep, you've been warned.

Our Magic!
Episode 04: Reason and Feeling
Part IV

"Woodward, how lovely to see you again," the raven-haired, alabaster-skinned witch with lips the color of blood said with a smile.

"You are not welcome in my sanctum," Woodward greeted her brusquely.

"Come now, I've come alone. My sisters don't even know I am here." Woodward's size trebled at the statement, "But they will find out if I do not return."

Woodward slowly retreated to her natural size, "Of course. For what purpose do you defile this hall?"

"I have claimed Croix as my own."

Woodward scoffed and smiled, "You may want to tell her that."

"Do we have to be so antagonistic? We were allies once."

"I am on the side of Yggdrasil, of magic. You have no place here."

"That's where you've always been mistaken. Magic has no sides. Bring her out to me, you cannot deny my claim."

"I deny your claim with every fiber of my being. Croix is mine."

"Twice do I say, Bring Croix to me."

"Say it as much as you like, silly faerie, you have no power here."

Her voice rung out, "Thrice spoken, BRING CROIX TO ME."

Woodward shuddered and seemed to shrink in on herself. Her opponent smiled in victory, not noticing the roots racing along the floor towards her. Woodward could not help but smile and the sharp-eyed witch realized her folly at the last moment. With a shout of pure power, she extended her aura to turn aside the roots of Yggdrasil. "Fool! You dare defy me under the Old Accords?"

"I am the fool? You demand something impossible! Croix is not here, I have not broken the Accords."

"Dammit! We traced her to you, where is she?!" The witch's power flooded the hall, forcing Woodward to her knees.

"How do you possess such power?"

"Where you have allowed others to share in your power, we have coveted and hoarded it. You will never defeat us." Woodward looked up stoically at the gathering power between the witch's fingertips. She knew what would come next. "Murowa!"

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"Um, excuse me. We are here to speak to the Kagari's," Chariot leaned in to speak into the intercom outside Akko's home.

"No soliciting, thanks!" the cheerful rejection came clear through the intercom.

"FOOLISH MORTAL, YOU DARE DENY US ENTRY? I WILL WIPE YOUR HOME FROM THE MAP!" Lotte shouted into the air, thankfully not pressing the button on the intercom.

"We're not soliciting, we're here from Luna Nova."

"Luna Nova! Just a minute!" Lotte and Chariot stepped back from the door as they heard crashing from within the home. The clear sound of someone tumbling down the stairs and into a wall before the door was slammed open startled even Takeminakata.

"Oh. My. God." The harried appearance of a panting Atsumi Kagari filled the doorway imposingly—as much as a small, skinny woman can.

I SENSE A DISTURBING FORCE FROM THIS ONE, LITTLE MAHOU. BE ON YOUR GUARD, Takeminakata spoke within Lotte's head.

Ouch, you even think in a shout? Really?

"Ah, yes," Chariot continued, "As I was saying, we are from Luna Nova. I am Ursula Callistis and this is Lotte Yanson and we are here to speak about Akko. Is she here?"

"Ursula. Callistis." Atsumi said disbelievingly.

"Yes," Chariot avoided looking in Atsumi's eyes as she answered.

"You knowww," Atsumi drawled out, "My daughter has been obsessed with Shiny Chariot for as long as I can remember."

Ursula gulped, "Oh? I think she may have mentioned something to that effect at some point . . . "

"Lotte-chan, you're welcome to come in, but I'm not sure I can let an imposter in my home."

"FINALLY!" Lotte pushed her way past Atsumi, "SLAVES! BRING ME MEAT AND ALCOHOL!"

Dazed, Atsumi turned from Lotte to face Chariot, "Somehow she's not what I was expecting from Akko's description of her. But anyway, back to the imposter."

"I am Ursula Callistis," Chariot said stubbornly. She hesitated before acknowledging, "But I also have been known by Chariot du Nord."

"I knew it! Oh my God, you're even hotter in person!" Atsumi grabbed Chariot by the arm and dragged her inside. "I have so much to talk to you about! Can I get your autograph? Can I take a selfie with you? What's your dress size? Do you want to wear some of my clothes while you're here so you don't look so witchy?"

Chariot could only mutter, "What?" in surprise as she was dragged along.

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Leylines functioned as the literal branches of Yggdrasil, transporting magic across the planet. Witches, wizards, and some other creatures could tap into them at certain points and ride the leyline at speeds much faster than they could normally fly.

Croix was falling through the leyline.

Although it seemed to have air and behave like one would expect from anywhere on the planet, in truth, the leylines were composed entirely of magic. There was no air resistance like there would be if Croix had fallen on Earth.

She continued to accelerate, drawn inexorably to her destination.

That was before the leyline began to unravel. The jolt ran through the magic comprising the leyline and sent Croix into a stomach-churning spin. "Shit! Shit, shit!"

Croix cursed as she righted herself during the fall. She could see the leyline shift and move unnaturally as though she had brought salt into it. Drawing on the magic all around her, she pulled it into her wand to accelerate her even faster.

The exit to the leyline loomed ahead, "Thank God!"

As she was about to shoot through at her current impossible velocity, another jolt rocked through the entire leyline. If before, the leyline had an upset stomach, this jolt was its death throes. Croix was forcibly ejected as the magic died.

Shot up into the air, Croix underwent the extreme deceleration that came from the drag of the Earth's atmosphere. Using the last of the magic she had gathered, she managed to catch herself and bring herself to a stop without going splat on the sidewalk.

Shakily, she looked at the street signs that greeted her, Japan, thank God. Thank Woodward. What the hell happened?

"Professor Croix?!" Diana, with a gaggle of Japanese girls surrounding her looked on in horror. Croix's vision slanted and spun before she vomited noisily on the sidewalk.

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"Seriously Amanda, you do not understand what my mom is like, we have to go go go!"

"I understand, but don't you want to tell everyone you're coming back and reassure them? They're closer than your house is."

"We can do that AFTER we rescue Ursula-sensei from my mom."

"Rescue?"

"My mom is probab—ahhh!" Akko's frantic voice turned into a scream of pure terror as the pain of a dying leyline filtered through her. She gasped as the aftershocks coursed through her body, trying hard not to reveal how much pain she was in. "Oh. Oh."

Akko collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain, as Amanda looked on in horror. "What. The. FUCK?!"

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Lotte sat with her feet kicked up on the table and her fingers interlaced behind her head as she reclined on Akko's chair. Atsumi was holding on to Chariot's arm with an impossibly wide smile on her face as she sat inappropriately close to her on the couch diagonally from Lotte. Every few minutes, Lotte would realize how she was sitting and rush to sit up straight with her feet on the ground, only to immediately start lounging once she stopped paying attention.

"Your skin is so pretty up close, what products do you use?"

"Um, magic?"

"Yeah you do."

"What?"

"THE MORTAL WOMAN IS CLEARLY IN HEAT."

"Heyyy! That's not nice," Atsumi complained, "How often do I have a lesbian idol in my living room?"

"Huh? Lesbian? Lesbian idol?" Chariot gasped, "How do they know?"

"What are you surprised by? Shiny Chariot is huge in the LGBT+ community! I think you're more popular now than you were when you were touring! It's camp now."

"She is?" Chariot coughed, "I am?"

"Yes! I'm sure millions of little girls had their sexual awakening because of you, not just Akko."

Chariot spit out her tea at that revelation, Lotte-Takeminakata raised a curious eyebrow. Sputtering, Chariot responded, "A-Akko did what?"

Atsumi waggled her eyebrows at the flustered idol, "What do you think an adoring fan might do if she looked up to a lesbian idol as she was going through puberty?"

"Huh? She. Akko wanted to do magic like I do?"

"Well yes, obviously. But I'll give you another hint, she has your poster above her bed," Atsumi said with a wink.

Chariot slowly boiled over until she was red from her chest to her ears. She stubbornly denied what she was being told, "I don't. I don't understand."

The slam of the door thankfully interrupted them, "Honey! I'm home!"

Atsumi shouted from the living room, "Welcome home!"

"Atsumi? What are you doing?" Atsumi's husband's voice trailed off as he came into the living room, briefcase and newspaper in hand. "Shiny Chariot?"

The beet-red Chariot nodded once, embarrassed she was instantly recognized again. I should have left my hair blue.

Chariot was not prepared for his reaction, instantly, he rolled up his newspaper and started smacking Atsumi with it, "No! No! Bad!"

Atsumi pouted, "Honey, that's not really fair. I haven't even tried to seduce her yet!"

"Whaaaaat?" Chariot screeched.

"I TOLD YOU SO," Lotte-Takeminakata gave Akko's father an appraising glance, "I APPROVE OF THE WAY YOU KEEP YOUR WOMAN IN LINE."

He shook his head in denial at being told that from a little girl, "What?"

"It's OK honey, they don't know that we play like that sometimes."

"What?" he eeped.

Atsumi pouted, "You mean you weren't playing?"

"Stop trying to sleep with Akko's teacher!"

"I told you, I haven't tried to sleep with her yet!"

"There's that 'yet' again!"

Chariot fainted. "I CANNOT APPROVE OF SUCH A DEFENSIVE TACTIC IN THIS SITUATION, GREAT MAHOU. AWAKEN!"

Startled awake, Chariot squeaked out, "Akko!"

Akko's parents and Lotte-Takeminakata stared at her, waiting for her to finish speaking. Chariot thought quickly, "Let's talk about Akko. Specifically, I cannot approve of her leaving Luna Nova. Luna Nova is the best place for her."

"I agree," Atsumi said while her husband nodded in agreement beside her.

"Huh?" Chariot said, "You agree?"

"Yes, we have forbidden Akko from leaving Luna Nova. She'll be returning there at the end of break."

"So all of this was unnecessary?"

"It was completely necessary to meet you," Atsumi said dreamily while simultaneously evading the rolled up newspaper of her husband.

Takeminakata suddenly called to Lotte, LOTTE-CHAN, SOMETHING HAS DISTURBED THE MAGICS OF MY LAND. I MUST LEAVE YOU TO INVESTIGATE.

What? Are you going to be OK?

FEAR NOT, FOR I AM GREAT SHINING DEITY TAKEMINAKATA. I MUST ASK YOU TO RELEASE ME.

Is there anything else you can tell me? Can I help in any way?

TINY MAHOU, THANK YOU FOR BEING MY VESSEL.

I understand, thank you for your service.

With tears in her eyes, Lotte came back to the present. Chariot had moved to behind her chair, while Atsumi was being held down from pursuing her by her husband. "Excuse me, I missed what happened the last few minutes, but Takeminakata-sama has left, so I won't be able to understand anything in Japanese."

Atsumi blinked at her from under her husband, "You're speaking in Japanese now, Lotte-chan."

Lotte smiled in surprise, "Really? Thank you, Takeminakata-sama!"

Chariot asked, "Why did he leave?"

"He said something about the magics of Japan being disturbed."

"The magics of Japan?" Chariot asked in surprise, "We need to find Akko immediately!"

Akko's parents slowly sat up in confusion, "What's going on? Why are you worried about Akko?"

Chariot looked at them sadly, but before she could respond, the intercom buzzer went off and several hands started pounding on their door.

"Chariot! We need you! It's Akko! If you don't open the door, Jasminka is going to knock it down!" Sucy shouted through the intercom.

Chariot jumped into action, sparing a glance at Akko's parents, who nodded in permission without understanding Sucy's words. With the door opened, Jasminka entered first carrying an unconscious Akko, followed by the remaining five witches.

"What happened?" Chariot asked. Sucy saw the horrified Lotte and fell into a tight hug, trying to distract her from the sight of Akko. Jasminka set Akko down on the couch, and everyone could see her spasming in pain. "Oh my God, what happened?"

Amanda spoke up, "She just collapsed. She said she had to get here to rescue you from her mom and she collapsed in pain. She passed out right away and it was all I could do to get her to everyone."

Lotte distractedly translated the conversation for Akko's parents, allowing Sucy to continue to cling to her. Constanze alternated between staring at them and staring at Akko. Hannah and Barbara held hands and looked like they were about to collapse themselves. Jasminka stayed on her knees in front of Akko from when she brought her to the couch.

Chariot narrowed her eyes in concentration, trying to figure out the closest magic source. She whipped her head to stare at Lotte. "How much magic did Takeminakata leave within you?"

"What?" Lotte asked, "I don't think he left any? He seemed like he would need all of his power."

"Damn!" Chariot swore, startling all the girls with her uncharacteristic outburst. Pushing up her sleeves, she pulled out her wand.

"What are you going to do?" Amanda asked dismayed, "There's no magic here."

"I was a wielder of Claiomh Solais, you know," Chariot responded.

"What does that . . ."

Chariot reached out with her magic, touching for the first time in over a decade the power of Yggdrasil directly. Her scream of pain erupted from her throat as magic filled her, lifting her from the ground.

Lotte murmured, "Great mahou."

"Nooooooooooo!" Chariot screamed herself hoarse, clutching at her head in pain, before finally dropping to the floor.

Jasminka was too slow to catch her, but picked her up from the ground and cradled the red-haired witch in her arms. Surprised at how light and tiny her professor was, Jasminka asked, "What do I do?"

Chariot moaned in pain and opened her eyes. The chorus of her students' voices greeted her.

"A branch of Yggdrasil has been cut," Chariot announced darkly.

Unsure what to make of her declaration, everyone looked around at each other hoping someone would explain. Atsumi tugged on her husband's sleeve, "Maybe we were too quick to force Akko back to Luna Nova?"

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. . . to be continued!

Ack! Things got intense there! I know, I know, hardly any Diana in this one either, but I promise she's going to have a big role in the next episode! Diana/Croix team-up anyone?