POV Narrator:
Wednesday 28 March 2018, Loperèc, France
Chariot, Diana and Akko went to visit the Du Nord family in France, where some revelations have already come, but not only that, they also got to know details of the French witch's childhood, how she lived even before Luna Nova and also that the family is all caring, giving a lot of love and care to the girl who was to become some day a witch known worldwide for her performances, the day after arriving, more things will happen and more conversations next to the matriarch of the family who is a descendant of the Cavendish family as well.
POV Akko:
I wake up first thing in the morning, I look at the mattress next to me and see that Diana was still sleeping, gee we really played a lot yesterday, it was fun coming here to Chariot's family home, everyone is really nice here, I decide to get up, where I see that she was awake, coming to her side, kind of to talk a little.
"Good morning Professor Chariot" I say to her.
"Oh Akko, good morning, just woke up too" She said and I could see how she was just practically staring at the window, kind of at the sky.
"You have been very thoughtful lately teacher, is it all because of Croix?" I say to her.
"Yes... I've been thinking about how she must be spending her time in Arcturus and honestly, I think I'd better give it even a break, she's already hurt me a lot, I know she's shown she's changed, but I want to be that sure anyway" She said as she placed her hand on her shoulder.
"For you to be there at the window, your courtship must have been very good" and she even laughs.
"Not at all, she was a little bit toxic, a bit needy for attention, an idiot sometimes, lacked maturity in relationships, but she was all that and I still loved her company..." She said.
A while later in the kitchen, with everyone awake...
I love how here there is plenty of food and very well made, gee Chariot must be very lucky that her mother is a pastry chef, there is always good food to eat all the time, I haven't had something this good for breakfast since I left Japan, I even remember my family... I can't wait for summer to come and I can visit my mum and dad again.
"They slept like rocks that night" Chariot's great-grandmother said.
"Tell me about it, we play so much that we get tired at some point, after nine hours of travel the tiredness hits" said the Chariot.
"And then, Mrs Adeleine, do ye have more of the family tae tell us?" Asks Diana who is very curious these days, but also, who wouldn't be, it's her family that she wants to know how it is, even I get curious.
"Ah I have many, but I will tell you later" she said to us.
"Alright girls, in a little while we're going to take a walk around the city, kind of to revisit it" said Chariot and I cheered up a bit.
The croissants are very good, my favourite food here, I love how soft they are and the taste of the cheese and ham practically melting in your mouth... Hmmmm... The Du Nord must be the best cooks in the world, Diana is getting her curious face on, not hiding her intentions one bit, a cutie, she really wants to know a lot about the past, but she really deserves to know, I think this summer she'll find out, I hope, I really want to take a walk around the city with Chariot.
After breakfast...
We left the house and the day was having a nice sunny day, even if it was a bit cold, it was nice, Chariot was taking us to a part that looked like an old shed of the house, when we entered there were several dusty things and everything else, it must be the Du Nord family's stuff, she was taking some bikes, including for us, what Diana was using the spell to repair, that left them brand new.
"Let's walk to town, do you know how to ride a bike? - Chariot asks and I excitedly get on one.
"Yay! I love it! I've tried to fly on a broom so many times when I had one, I hurt myself really badly - I say as I bike along, kind of getting used to it.
Heh, it's actually quite easy, so much so that I decide to risk doing some tricks, which I at least never unlearned how to do, the two of them stare at me with a puzzled look on their faces and I just enjoy myself, the bike is heavy, but I'm strong, yay, I love doing that, then I join them and we ride more calmly while we get closer to the path of the city.
"And from the looks of it it seems that someone gets too excited about the bike" Chariot said and I was still pushing the bike on the way.
"You'll say you can't do it too, Chariot, you're the acrobatic witch" I say this and she starts to do a wheelie, which I'm loving, but Diana is the only one who just bikes normally.
"Ye two really like tae show up with those bikes, can ye ride normally" She said and we teased some more.
"That's the talk of someone who doesn't know how to bike," I say teasingly, and then she picked up the pace.
"So the last one tae arrive is a stinking witch" she said.
Oh no, now she asked, I started to pedal faster too, and Chariot, we started to do a race, a little following the way to the city, my legs will soon get tired this way, but Chariot's seem that they never get tired, she was accelerating and wow, I could see that she has plenty of muscle in those thighs, I wish I could have those legs.
So much that she passed Diana, we were coming to the curves, they lay the bike down a lot, almost side by side, I also did the curve in a nice way, but not to the point of looking like a race bike, these two are taking the race too seriously.
"Don't you get tired?" I say this still pedaling rapidly and already feeling the fatigue coming.
They apparently didn't care, they kept pedalling at full speed, I just followed them, I'll just wait for them to lose pace or get tired, then I can pass her, but it seems that I'm really staying behind, the city was getting closer, which was a relief, I'm already getting tired legs, seeing the city towers and everything else.
"I won!" said Chariot.
"Also your legs are practically two of ours" I tell her who keeps laughing.
"I always train hard, I work out whenever I can, so I keep my body healthy and in proportion, it's been a long time since I rode a bike like this" she said.
When we arrived in town we continued to ride our bikes, where on one of the walls we saw a graffiti with Chariot's face, I was delighted, I didn't know that people here are in awe of her, so little did she even admire the beautiful art on the wall, what a beautiful thing, I never thought I would see such a thing, I would easily have it on the wall of my room.
"Wow, they did it right on the wall of my mother's confectionery shop" she said and I didn't even notice it, I just stood there admiring it.
"Whoever did it, that's the greatest work of art, it looks like you're not that bad looking" I say looking at the art on the wall.
"That's a sign of admiration and enormous respect, I imagine the locals must feel honoured tae have a grand witch as a citizen" Diana said and on the spot also came her mother coming out of the confectionery shop.
"They did that 10 years ago, they always touch up when they can, when we heard about your disappearance we wanted to somehow repay that admiration, we never forgot you Chariot, you are an important part of Loperec," Mrs Ellie said.
"I am amazed, you are amazing, really" Chariot said.
From there we rode our bikes towards the centre of town, with Chariot waving to the people that were getting happy with each one of our steps, I couldn't believe how good it is to pass in a place where people love us so much, when we got to the square there were some statues, one of them is of a short witch that was next to others, including a Cavendish.
"Wow there's a Cavendish here" I say impressed.
"Oh the town was renamed Terre Sapphique in 1752, and that was the witch behind it, Loperèc was the town where witches who were hunted for simply loving other witches, were sheltered, by the great Victoria McLaren, these are Victoria's other friends, who were allies in that great struggle, including Cavendish, who is called Diana as well" Chariot said and I'm like really shocked.
"What do you mean Diana? And how do you know these things" I say in shock.
"Oh Diana Cavendish II, I know her story, she was the one who moved tae France and was an important ally in the fight for the right of witches in the 18th century, unfortunately that is what I remember and was told, impressive ye know these things Chariot" Diana said.
"We learn this at school here, to respect tradition and everything else, those were the times when Loperèc flourished the most, it had up to 2531 inhabitants, it was a paradise for witches, this place was the safest in the world for them, so much so that Diana II lived her whole life here beside Maria Du Nord" said Chariot.
"Sae ye lassies know these stories fae the real version? When ye say on the side ye mean, like, did they have a romance? I remember they said that Maria was friends with Diana" Diana said.
"Specifically romance, here we are not prejudiced by such things, we go by the true history and is where more births conceived by the stone of fertility in the whole world, more than 400 children in all that time were conceived here, using the magic and love of two witches, each of them recorded here" Chariot said showing us a mural
I love how these stories reveal themselves more and more, it's more common than it seems to be this kind of thing, on the wall I was looking and there are little boards with the name and picture of each one, there are even their dates of birth and death, wow, some of them really lived a long time, Diana was the one who looked attentively trying to find some recent date, how cute.
"And Diana, that mural only has the witches born at that time, we don't have the recent ones" Chariot said and I notice that there are several Du Nord Cavendish, they are really several.
"Diana II and Maria really didn't have a television set by the looks of it" I say shocked.
"There were nine daughters, they were the ones who had the most children here in Loperèc, each one was very different from the other, I was also impressed by how many, they must have had a lot of fun this couple hahaha" said Chariot.
"This here is like filling in the holes in the Cavendish family history, there are a few names here that I remember appearing, but I never saw that they were the fruit of that relationship, that means relationships like my mothers are more common than it seems in the Cavendish family and they made sure to erase and still teach me that it's the total opposite," Diana said.
From there we walked around the city, this time we went downtown where there are some shops, people are taking selfies with Chariot that is making sure to take it with each person, apparently that's how the fame must be.
I feel all full of heart when I see that people really respect Chariot, we arrive at a shop and when we enter there we are assisted by a girl that looked a little bit like Barbara.
"Chariot! I heard you're back" said the girl.
"How are you Estelle? I missed you too" said Chariot.
"I've seen ye a few times, ye were on the Chariot team winning the Luna Nova broom relay" Diana said.
"I'm Estelle Lavigne, I'm Chariot's teammate, one of her childhood friends, we kind of came to Luna Nova together" She said and I remembered too, so the little girl who looked like Barbara wasn't one of her cousins, how weird.
"Before Croix I had Estelle, although you were always chatting more with the others than with me" she said.
"Ah you who were shy, I who even had to call Croix to come and talk to you, Hailey's colleague who was all in the corner, together with my friend who was all extrovert, but suddenly became the most shy, I remember I was all the time rooting for you, I'm sorry for what happened..." She said and Chariot herself shrugged, not caring much.
"Ah it happens, but at least Croix can pay for what she did, redeem herself after all, anyway, how's life?" said Chariot.
"Very well, I got married, I have a younger daughter, it is very good to be able to live and have a family, my husband is the most understanding person in the world, you must have sucked a lot of thumb, even more that you still think about Croix I know" Estelle said teasingly and I just kept laughing with Diana, noticing how Chariot was blushing.
"Croix is water under the bridge, I'm over her" she said lying to her face.
"Oh really, you look like you're not over it at all hahaha, look at your face all flushed hahaha, but seriously, you have to get over it, Croix is now lost" Estelle said and I think so too.
"Don't exaggerate, she made a mistake yes, she has to pay, but she is not totally lost, I saw her redeem herself in front of me, one day I will visit her to be that sure, but I know Croix will get out sooner than was said, I know she will cooperate to lessen the sentence" Chariot said and we will just watch.
After this gossip we leave the shop, where we go for another walk in the city, admiring the landscape, taking pictures, I never thought I could have so much fun, Diana even closed, is loosening up little by little, she's a cutie, it's good to see that she's also having fun here with us, always so closed and shy, but now I see her opening up much more than before.
We go to Chariot's mother's confectionery, where from there we sit at a table and are quickly attended by her.
"Oh girls, you are going to love what we have here, I sell a few interesting things" said Miss Ellie.
"Ye talk about us, but ye like Croix, ye dinnae even hide yer feelings" Diana said.
"I even try, but you know, she was important in my life, without Croix I wouldn't be here, she did the things she did, but you know, I don't believe purely that she did it because she wanted to, there's something very strange about it, because until then we were at peace with each other in the revelation of the sixth word, knowing Croix as she is, I'm sure she would work with me, unless someone... Someone paid her" Chariot said.
"Sae that makes her even worse Chariot, she was paid tae do this, she took money tae ruin yer career, but it makes sense, I wonder where she got all that machinery from? There is something very dirty behind it" Diana said.
"Wow it's true, these things are expensive, the presentation itself was very impressive, so this implies the existence of a boss who wanted to take you down Chariot - I tell them.
"I don't know who she is but I know Croix's family isn't, the Meridies disowned her, Croix has always talked about her family as not being the family that conceived her but April Jordan and Laura McLaren, they helped her with all the knowledge around mechanics and also programming, I had no idea she even had that connection as I know both of them... As you may already know Croix is trans, it was thanks to April Jordan that she got her start, she started very early, at 14 she was already doing the transition magic, so much so that they never realise that she is actually trans, but that implies the issue that she doesn't have much money, her family doesn't accept her, April and Laura aren't that wealthy, they're both focused on independent games since I was born, they have Saoirse Games and you know it's not the most money-making market when you're making games in the back of your house, so there's someone bigger behind it" Chariot said and I was getting impressed, what do you mean Croix is trans? I never had a clue about that, it kind of shocked me.
"What do you mean Croix is trans?" I say in shock.
"I found out from her computer, never noticed on the buttons she was wearing too, it had the trans flag on them" Diana said.
"It's a shock to know, but for me I never gave a damn, she was always beautiful and was never very different from what she always was, even before she started transitioning she already looked like that, anyway, back to the subject, I think she was paid by someone bigger, the case is not over here, we will have to find that someone" Chariot said.
"Now I will be with you on this, don't hide anything from me, like you did with Croix's case, I want to be involved and also find out about this certain person" I tell them.
"Don't worry Akko, in this you are with us, just don't do anything stupid without thinking, this is a serious matter, if someone has money, that person has power, convincing Croix of such a thing is a sign that this may be something bigger than what we can walk, even being the same person behind imposing that the system of magic remains antiquated and always sabotaging the technology together of magic" Chariot said.
After this conversation Ellie arrives with the food, where they go enjoying some snacks, besides cakes, with a delicious juice made by Du Nord, then the three get the bikes, going back to the family residence...
What a day... I still can't believe it's only been one morning here, I can't wait to see what else we have to do, we go inside the house, it's a bit cold outside, but inside the house it's warm.
"Here we are! Arrière grand Mère!" Said Chariot warning her great-grandmother who always stays at home, as Chariot's grandmother is still working and so is her mother, only her great-grandmother stays at home.
"Come with me" She said appearing in the corridors.
We were following her up the stairs, we were passing in the corridors, arriving in a room, where there were several trophies, including banners, many of them champions, I was even impressed by the amount of 1921 champion, 1923 champion, 1925 champion, 1928 champion, 1931 champion, someone here won several trophies and I see that there are several frames with black and white photos was someone who looked like Chariot, how incredible.
"That was the great Louise Du Nord, a story we don't talk about much in magic class, but I saw a lot of it, I remember her always kissing my forehead before every Gran Prix" Adeleine said.
"I remember something about it being mentioned, but as a passing fad the broomstick Gran Prix, they talked about it as if it was the greatest sacrilege, the newspapers of the time spoke very badly of it, but ye couldn't lie it was popular with the mundanes, they loved the entertainment" Diana said.
"As always every attempt to change the status quo of magic is seen as passing fad and sacrilege, what they never tell is how they sabotaged the event until the last few years, it was the best broom racing event I've ever seen, we travelled all over Europe and also to the United States, on the huge broom track at Salem countryside, which to this day is the most coveted witches' competition," she said.
"I remember well how it was one of the reasons for the Cavendish fortune drying up, the family had invested rivers of money, tae this day we have nae repaired that damage, sae much sae that the following years were very difficult - Diana said.
"Do you think I don't know that? They had to kill my mother, I am sure that Margaret did not kill my mother for love, she wanted Diana in her arms at all costs, but it is one thing to kill the love of your life, and I know that this has a lot to do with the Broom Gran Prix, the BGP was a success, It was from 1921 to 1935, and the two greatest champions were my mother Louise and the Brazilian Giovanna Bianchi, both with five championships, it was dangerous and we did not lie about it, so much that Giovanna died in 1929 in a racing accident, being the only posthumous champion, my mother Louise only raced the following year and retired, she was so sad about her loss... And worst of all is that most of the money came from us, the Cavendish family took money from us, few witches supported us and with that less teams were entering, since the prize money was less as it passed, so much so that we closed in the 1935 season because the Cavendish family would go bankrupt if they continued to pay for another season, We stopped because of my mother's health condition, she died, I was forced to live in France, years later the war came and in the middle of it, my mother Louise committed suicide with potassium cyanide, I was already a WCI agent at the time, I kept the cyanide for critical situations, when I went to see, I lost my mother, almost killed myself, when the war was over I tried to contact all the witches behind the BGP and none wanted to talk to me, I found out years later that they were paid not to create another event, since there was all the technological research behind producing the best brooms and attracting more public, more worldly witches, not to mention the foundation of Formula 1, people would no longer be interested even in broom races that are silent when you have noisy cars and that show the limit of the engineering behind it, we had no chance, that is what ended our attempt to change the status quo once and for all... That's why I feel for Chariot's pain, for what happened to her, for the vision that other witches are talking about, we live in a system sent by conservative witches that haven't let go of Jennifer, which will still kill magic - She said and I was impressed with the whole story, I didn't even know that in the past this Louise represented what Chariot represents today.
"I had nae idea the hole was this deep, I thought the Cavendish family had always been fervent traditionalists" Diana said, also impressed.
"They never were, this is the idea imposed and put on top of you, what happened to me in the past would make you disgusted, the plan to change the perception of the Cavendish family is also old because she is the richest, until then at the time, Margaret disguised as a maid made the head of my sisters and influenced them in this way of thinking, what passed to your grandmother, who only did not go ahead because her mother Bernadette was contrary to all this, she represents the true spirit of a Cavendish ... Beatrix the affectionate is demonstrably a lesbian, she was married to Woodward, this is evidenced even in the books of the history of the nine witches, but they pass a mystified vision of them, as if it were something only for witches with a goddess status that they had, which is not true, Beatrix also fought hard for progress and all the Diana Cavendish in history too, The first one brought the knowledge of the fertility stone, the second one fought alongside Victoria and expanded the fertility stone to a whole town the third one has pages and pages of studies about how it works, come with me," Adeleine said and I'm getting impressed, I always thought the Cavendish were closed minded, but that is changing.
POV Diana:
All this time I was living a lie, my family is more progressive than I thought, my mother was nae the only one erased, but the whole Cavendish story, then Mrs Adeleine picks up a book which she hands me.
"You look like you like books, so... Here you have studies and proof of everything about how the fertility stone works, just an important warning... I'm not sure if it's a good book, there's plenty of explicit drawings" she said.
"I am shocked, my family is painted in a very different way, I even thought it was normal, tae find out these things shock me, I dinnae know anything about this story, they always show in a negative way the attempts tae change" I tell her.
"That's the tactic, conservative witches don't want anything to change, they just want everything to stay as it is, because this is profitable, there is even the involvement of worldly ministers in the middle, the government pays witches very well to be traditionalists for fear that our presence is a risk to their market or bring revolutions, they don't want to let the witches advance" Adeleine said and everything was becoming clear, I already knew there was something wrong, but it's all a manipulation "We have always been taught here to go against the system, so much so that you don't see the Du Nord family mentioned in the history books of magic, even though we are important, we are even descended from Anna Arnoux, one of the nine witches"
I really shock myself with these things, after this conversation, we leave the room, where Louise's stuff was, we go tae the living room, where Adeleine goes tae watch a bit of TV and Chariot gets the car key, I was a bit confused, but it's still daylight, sae we're going tae do some outing apparently.
"Oh girls, do you want to learn to drive?" Chariot said and we both nodded excitedly.
"They're going to smash the car into the tree" said Madame Du Nord mocking us.
We go out tae the yard, where she takes the car out of the garage and then we get in, this time I go in the front seat, Akko goes tae the back seat, I go in the front, we walk to an open corner, a field full of dirt, where she stops the car and opens the door.
"Who will be the first?" Chariot asks.
"It could be you Diana" Akko said and I am even grateful.
I get in the car, sit on the seat and adjust it, it is very different sitting on the driver's seat than on the passenger's, there are more things, it even feels more comfortable.
"All right, now you step on the clutch, turn the key, start the engine" said teacher Chariot.
"And what is the clutch?" I ask a bit confused.
"It's the left pedal, you have to step all the way down, then you start the car" I felt all excited about the car starting.
"And how do you get it out of place?" I ask even more confused.
"You put it in first gear, apply the handbrake, accelerate and take the clutch off, but do it nice and smooth" she said and luckily I know that the accelerator is on the right, this isn't like a racing game, it's a bit different.
In the first attempt Diana made the car die, in the second also, so in the third, until in the fourth she got out of the place, but when she stopped the car she made the car die when she stepped on the brake, but soon with some classes she managed to move forward and backward, until she stopped and then it was Akko's turn...
Now it's fucked, I hope she's learned something, she enters with a smile on her face, I'm even scared of what might come, putting the belt, I know there's going to be something, so much that she decides to put a tape that she had in the glove box written "Super Eurobeat Remix", what's this lass going tae do.
"So Akko, it's not anime here, you heard what I taught you..." Akko starts the car, puts it in gear and starts accelerating with everything, which I go sticking tae the seat.
"Akko! This is nae a race!" I say with fear.
She is simply demonstrating the greatest tranquility, coming with everything towards a tree, where she pulls the handbrake and with this she skids around her and even seems a drift, which continues tae accelerate, even Chariot herself is frightened as she gives several skids.
"Akko are you crazy?" Chariot said.
"I learned these things from my friend Keiko, she taught me how to drive and also how to drive dangerously" she said, making the car skid from one side tae the other to the point where it spins and almost misses a crash.
"I think I'm going tae throw out all my lunch" I say in awe as Akko burst out laughing.
POV Narrator:
Another day at the Du Nord family house where they are enjoying their holidays, this time with a tour around the city and also the driving lessons with Chariot Du Nord that ended up leaving both of them with traumas of Akko's driving, noticing that she not only knew how to drive but also how to manoeuvre, putting that Mini to do things that no one imagined it could do.
See you, spring witches...