Thursday, 1 November 2018, Arcturus
The days went by, the whole preparation was still going on, with the whole issue of preparing to face the cultists, in the middle of this time there was also a small Halloween party that the girls at the mansion took the opportunity to deceive the cultists by dressing up the dolls, serving very well the purpose of deceiving, but for the leader Daryl, they weren't deceiving that much. While in Arcturus things kind of went on the same, mainly around the training and the MGE that was getting a major upgrade, which the girls were getting their fill of.
The day was like any other, they kept on doing what they always do, training hard, after training to take a rest or help with the construction of the machines, where halfway through the day the staff started to glow while they were in the middle of it all, which soon Diana made sure to pick up to see what had happened.
" One more of the words, we can find out one more of them now " Cavendish said.
" At last! I thought you weren't going to show up " Amanda said.
" Ohhhhhh, so that's a good sign, you guys are already going for the fifth word and will soon move on to the next words " McLaren said.
Akko takes the book and starts leafing through the last few pages, where he begins to find out what it says about the fifth word, which speaks of the transformation of the staff, but to achieve this it would be necessary to understand the meaning so that the book will grant the word.
" Here you are saying that when traditional and modern forces combine, the gates to a world never seen before are opened, I wonder what that means? " asks the Japanese woman.
" We are practically doing that now, joining the traditional forces with the modern ones, will we have to go to the minotaur factory to open any gate that is there? " said the Scottish woman.
" I don't know, but we can go there to see it " Kagari said.
The trio takes the brooms, together with the book, and they fly to where the minotaur city is, arriving at the factory where they are received, until they are very remembered for the victory they had in the summer after the mecha battle.
" Have you come here for another round? " asked the minotaur.
" We have come for another reason, it's about a gate, is there a gate hidden around here, or one that has never been opened? " Diana said.
" Ohhhh, it is not here in the factory that you will find what you need, I know what you are talking about, in this case it is following to the mountains, inside a cave you will be sent to a strange place, where I don't really know, but the legend says that a witch many centuries ago went to this place to conclude this same mission " said the minotaur.
With that the group goes kind of flying with the brooms to those mountains, where they arrive at that cave and it was even with a hole where it had the shape of the staff, in which each ball of light was lighting up, in this case being five, that opened portals, to where the girls passed, it was a half flowered and open field.
" Where are we? " Akko asks.
" I have no idea, but it gives me great peace of mind," Diana said.
Then a girl starts to appear, still in a spectral way, until she takes shape, a red-haired girl, short in stature, who gives a glance at the trio, just as another appears who was an elf, even shorter, with black hair, already giving a look of strangeness to the trio that was getting a bit confused with the presence of both.
" So we have three new girls wanting to find the words? It's been a long time since we've seen any new girls around here, welcome to the world of the dead, I'm Kara and this is Madeleine," said Kara giggling.
" Kara! Don't scare our newbies, they need to feel comfortable here, we've really died, but we have to give them a hand," said Madeleine.
" Madeleine and Kara, you two are of the nine witches " Cavendish said.
" Look someone knows about us, what do you know, at least the staff knew how to choose a smart witch this time " Said the elf with a bit of debauchery.
" It's us, you've come here for the fifth word ordeal from what I can imagine, so prepare yourselves for it, we will test your witch skills here, but there can only be one, you will have to trust her " Said the redhead who snapped her fingers.
Suddenly the open grass field, amidst an immense white immensity, began to change its landscape, taking on a sky similar to the earth, where a strange place began to form, as if it looked like a race track, only with a lot of earth, even reminiscent of ancient times, since there were improvised grandstands, flags, hay and everything else, which even gave the environment an atmosphere.
" What does that have to do with the meaning of the word? " Cavendish asks.
" Well with the meaning you have already found, the transformation of the staff itself will involve all of this, if you manage to pass this challenge we will pass the fifth word to you and entrust you with the power, but for that you will have to win this race.
" Only one of you can be chosen for the challenge, if you fail, the staff will return to our hands and go after another witch to be the chosen one, for then think well, it is a complicated decision and a race where you only have a minimal chance of survival " Kara said.
" Diana! " They both said.
" Me? But why me? Do you really think I could be the possible winner of this? " asks the Scottish woman.
" You're the only one of us who can drive and you're going to be a future rally driver, plus when it comes to broomstick flying you're the only one who comes close to your own mother," Atsuko said.
" You're the only one who knows more, even in training you can see that, go out there and kick some ass Diana, we trust you " Amanda said.
" All right! I'll go! You can give me the broom! " Said the motivated platinum haired girl who then gets a leather helmet and a well improvised goggle.
" Well that will be just your protection, the rules are as follows... There are none, just stay on the track, if by any chance you stay too long off the track you will be carried back and may lose positions, your goal is to win and also survive, will be 15 laps on the classic broom race track that had in our beloved Hibernia " Madeleine said.
" It doesn't protect anything here... But wait a minute, if it has no rules, that means... " Diana said until it was completed.
" Who's going to eat their fill in this broomstick race, that's how it was back in the day, witches died almost every day! Hahahahaha! So be very skillful or else you will lose " said Kara.
Then Cavendish is transported, already mounted on the broom, as there were other witches that were also being transported there, staying by the side, being 34 competitors in total, in the middle of a track all made of dirt with some mud puddles, the whole field full of hills and slopes showing that it would be very intense.
" And here we are! To start the challenge! To relive this emotion once again! Let's start this race which is going to be the most exciting thing! " said Madeleine into a sort of improvised microphone.
A shot is given and all are starting to drop, Diana ends up not having as much time as the others, staying behind, but even so she shows that she is not so bad, starting to pass at the beginning, but soon comes the first corner and it's remarkable the fight, where even the Scottish girl gets a kick and starts to be dragged on the wall, but she goes flying trying to recover.
" Damn, they really do take it hard " said the Scottish girl.
" Go Diana! " Amanda and Akko said.
" Ouch! Looks like someone forgot how the contestants are all here fighting for real! " Kara said.
The platinum haired girl is in the last position, but even so she is recovering, starting to climb little by little, where she was dodging among the other competitors that were trying to hit her, but either ended up out of the track or hitting the wall. A smile on her face was even noticed by the girl that was starting to get the hang of each one of the curves of the track that resembles a four"leaf cloverleaf, showing how it was being very clean, while passing one by one.
" Ohhhhh It looks like Diana has a kind of clean style, strange to see a competitor like that keep climbing the pack! " Said the redhead.
Lap 1 of 15, Diana went up to 28th position, kind of continuing to go full speed picking up lines where the others just couldn't get the grip, or pick up at a higher speed, she was finding her way. Even with the accident at the beginning she was working a miracle and showing why she was the chosen of the group.
Lap 2 of 15, the climb continued, but as she was getting closer the runners were more aggressive and also more skilful, but this wasn't a difficulty for the Scottish girl that kept on dodging as if it was nothing, raising dust everywhere, the two girls were jumping for joy seeing how they were doing until she managed, in that same lap the Scottish girl climbed simply to the 20th position.
" And apparently this Diana is motivated enough to get that word! Woah! By being clean and avoiding all the accidents that come her way, she'll soon get ahead! But will it hold? " Madeleine said.
Lap 3 of 15, there Diana was, climbing 5 more positions in the lap, already starting to notice how even the front runners were going really aggressive in a complicated way to dodge, the difficulty was increasing with each lap, but she kept getting some space in the middle of the track to climb the pack.
Lap 4 of 15, Cavendish passed 3 more competitors, she was about to enter the top 10, finishing the lap in twelfth position, almost being hit by a broom hit, where she surprisingly used the wall to dodge, keeping her concentration, still not hitting back at any competitor.
Lap 5 of 15, it's time for the Scot to reach the top 10, she passed the eleventh on the outside and was almost hit by a touch that could spin her, but luckily she remained stable, going towards the tenth placed girl that this time in one of the corners hit her with a blow that made her broom slide, but instead of sliding and losing the platinum haired girl simply slid and was doing a drift passing with style at the end.
" Woah! Now that's an amazing manoeuvre! This girl really deserves that word indeed! " Said the redhead.
Lap 6 of 15, Diana climbed up to ninth place by overtaking well in the final curve, where she arrived by sliding, passing on the inside and thus giving a beautiful deception in the opponent raising dust, since it was a tight curve.
Lap 7 of 15, Eighth position, it was pretty much a lap for every position as each competitor really was further apart and in turn more aggressive too, which was quite an accident that could roll with the competitor being passed on the outside by Cavendish who was almost hit to be thrown on the outside of the corner but she kept her cool going forward.
Lap 8 of 15, Seventh position, the climb went on and on, the Scot was even hit by a kick but simply kept going, even managing to unsettle the other who didn't brake enough when it came to the corner, being too distracted by the blows.
Lap 9 of 15, Sixth position, this was a challenging one, the competitor was all the time closing the way but simply went into the wall where the platinum haired girl found her way, managing to use it to sort of do a somersault and so secure herself in front by almost doing a somersault towards the turn.
Lap 10 of 15, The arrival in the top 5, was where the blue-eyed stayed in the greatest concentration, noticing that the fifth placed girl had very aggressive lines, as she was skidding in the turns generating dust, which even leaving slow, was where Diana found an opportunity amid all the dust passes at full speed, but still gets side by side with her that gets to hit the body giving a squeeze on the wall what Cavendish brakes at the end and makes her own hit the wall and the passage to the turn is free.
" Woah! And she is getting closer and closer! Diana is in the Top 5! She will soon be in the lead! " Said Madeleine.
" That's if she survives," Kara said.
Lap 11 of 15, Fourth position was challenging, the runner was cleaner than the others, but even so she still had very aggressive lines, knowing how to defend very well from any arrival, what the Scottish girl was taking advantage of to keep behind her, until she found a gap, in the final curve, where she skidded side by side.
Lap 12 of 15, Third position, was very close, by the riding of the fourth placed, what Diana fought practically for this position, taking a lot of beating of the competitor to be able to climb, but even so she was keeping cool, finding a gap where she ends up hitting the fourth placed in place and thus guaranteeing the place already in a podium position.
" Third position! And only three more laps to go! Will Diana make it? " Said the redhead what the other two were a bit apprehensive.
Lap 13 of 15, the fight for second position, showing the coolness and tranquility, Diana was imitating the lines of the second placed, without any dirt finds a line to pass the last corner, where it becomes her overtaking point, missing only one.
Lap 14 of 15, penultimate lap of the race, the concentration of the Scottish woman was reaching its peak, she was entering the corners with all the aggressiveness, still to reach the first place, it was evident that it would be a question of time, making that the best lap of the whole race until then and that running for the first time, everybody was jumping with excitement.
Lap 15 of 15, the first placed stays in sight, Cavendish sticks to her position, she goes flying with all speed, her lines were very precise, as well as her aggressiveness, so much so that she collided with the Scot at the right time making her hit a wall on the inside line, the collision shocked by the amount of hay that she raised, even so she was getting out of there the witch with all speed, full of injuries even so, was following in the concentrated line, where she stayed in the whole track behind the first one, until the last curve, where she gave a skid, being hit well behind, but she kept the control, sliding and blocking the front line, to the point of receiving some beautiful kicks, but that still held the position where she was thrown out of the broom, in a way that she ended up passing in the finish line in the first position and thus guaranteeing the victory.
" And the winner is Diana! The contestant from outside the house wins! " Said Madeleine.
Diana is even disbelieved, but notices all the celebration about her victory, getting up limping from the floor, since she was very injured, was received with a kiss and a hug from Atsuko.
" Congratulations to you, you have really proved yourself, you only lacked aggressiveness, I am impressed with the amount of beating you take and still remain a clean runner, in my day they would have thought you were crazy " Kara said.
" By the way, Sybilladura Lelladybura! " Said Madeleine who then cast a spell on the three that sent them outside the place with staff in hand.
" Yay! We made it Diana! " Akko said.
" Now let's go back, first of all, take that Cavendish " Amanda said giving a potion to the healing Scottish girl.
" Let's try it with our new word, just to see what it is," said the Scot.
" Sybilladura Lelladybura! " The staff transforms into a broomstick, which gets them even excited, then the trio mount their own and note the instant acceleration that is given.
They go flying in an instant to the base in the tree house, where finally they discovered the fifth word, excited even Laura goes to see what it was and noticing the broom begins to get all the smile on the face when seeing that it was a broom, arriving even to take the hand even if they tried to prevent.
" What? Nothing happened " said McLaren sitting on her broom.
" What do you mean nothing happened? " Kagari asks.
" I think the staff knows who deserves to pick it up or not " Diana said.
" Woah! this thing is powerful just sitting on it, if you mind I'm going for a walk, and you behave yourself thingy, don't make me up to fail because the mother here takes it hard " Said the Irish girl stroking the broom.
Laura simply goes playing with the staff transformed into a broom, where she goes touching the edge of that thing, where it was possible to hear her screams of animation all over the place, until after a while she returns the staff in the biggest animation of the world, noticing afterwards the rips in her daughter's clothes.
" Who did this to you Diana? " asks her worried mother.
" Our mother, it's not like it didn't happen all the time being witches, it was the challenge they gave me, a broom race, only everyone was beating me, I just won still being clean, but that it hurt, it hurt a lot, it just served to learn " Cavendish said scratching the back of her neck.
" Anyway it's good that you're ok, you should have hit back, if you could, you should take advantage, against cultists there's no such thing as a clean fight, either you survive or you die, you better be warned about that " Laura said with her hand on her daughter's shoulder who agreed with her head.
Then came a hug all tight and affectionate of a mother, they went about relaxing and resting for the rest of the day, as it was another conquest that was coming, with the fifth word.
Diana showed her skill on the broom and since she was still alive, she wasted no time, gave it her all and got the much deserved fifth word, which opened more doors for this journey that is being a ticking time bomb to face the much feared cultists.
See you, racer witches...