POV Narrator:
Monday, 25 June 2018, Chiba, Japan
The summer holiday started, and with it also the first trip to Japan where Akko, Diana, Lotte and Sucy spent a good time, having the first day getting to know a little of the city, besides meeting Akko's friends, and going out with Keiko who showed them a place where she practiced drifting with other colleagues, and thus showed the girls how it was, even delighting Diana a little, who had been afraid to be inside the car, but began to find it interesting, On the second day the girls went walking in a summer festival that happened at the town square, buying some more souvenirs from Japan and watching fireworks being shot in the hot night, they were amazed by the charms that Japan had, besides having fun playing, since Akko also had a PS3 and a PS2, and the second one she started playing Shiny Chariot's enchanted world, which was one of the games she was very fond of. It was getting closer to Kagari's birthday that would be on a Monday, which was about to begin.
POV Akko:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I wake up from my bed, I turn to the side seeing the girls sleeping on the mattresses nearby, I even think it's weird, them around here, the good side is that my mum didn't know that Diana was coming, so she shares the bed with me, it's really nice to sleep next to her, I get up and walk to the bathroom, where I brush my teeth and also do my personal hygiene, I even look at myself in the mirror... This is the face of someone who just turned 16, kind of finished for waking up now, but this is me haha, I give a little corner smile, comb my hair. Then I go down the stairs, going towards the kitchen, where I see a whole table organized for me, what I honestly didn't expect, I sit there, my mum comes and gives me a kiss on the forehead, I feel all happy for the affection.
"Happy birthday my little bunny, you're up early even" said my mother.
"Thank you mum... I kind of got used to it after having to get up early for classes, I can't sleep late... And all this? Is it for me?" I ask my mother, who nods her head in agreement.
"Of course, your father and I prepared everything for you, he just left for work, he wished you a happy birthday too dear" said my mother, while I went to eat.
Pancakes, the chubby ones, I love them, rice cakes, I've been eating one by one delighting myself, besides having some wafers, my mother made a real feast first thing in the morning, the cute food, even the potatoes with a smiley face have around here, what a wonderful thing, soon Diana appears too, she strokes my head, sitting next to me.
"Happy birthday Akko" she said half sleepily.
"Thank you Diana" I say cheerfully with a huge smile on my face, she even runs her hand across my cheeks, giving them a little squeeze.
"Ye're very cute, ye're radiant every day, it even amazes me" Cavendish said looking delighted with me.
"Ah Akko has always been like that, she never let herself down, even on the saddest days Hayato and I were there to cheer up everything, she would wake up all radiant and cheer everyone up, even on the most stressful day, now this little girl has turned 16, it doesn't seem that until yesterday she was my baby - said her mother.
"Lotte and Sucy tell you, they wake up all the time next to this little sun" said the cabbage head passing her hand on my face blushing me.
"You two seem to get along very well too, just to make it clear that I support if my little girl likes girls, I really don't see a problem in that, because my sister-in-law likes girls and she is married, we even have a cousin, they both live very well there in San Francisco on the other side" said mum.
"Oh sae another couple of two lassies who had a child?" Diana said.
"We don't know how, they both say it was magic, which makes me wonder, can magic do something like that? We even thought if Morgana was a Trans or something like that, but she is not" I love aunt Morgana and aunt Aika, it is a long time since they came with Carol around here.
"Ohhhh, I know well how it's possible, there's a magic relic called the fertility stone, when two witches use their blood together, they kind of make it possible fae both of them tae produce a child, one of them ends up getting pregnant, that was my case... I have two mothers, although I'm still in search of the second one, kinda heavy things happened" Diana said to my mother, already opening up a lot.
"Oh, that's quite interesting, I didn't know it was so possible to achieve that" said my mother.
Then we went on eating, soon Lotte and Sucy showed up too, they both wished me a happy birthday and I was getting all excited, since we are kind of together, I was all happy, enjoying the breakfast and having a birthday for the first time next to the girls, besides that I have friends this time, I'm not alone anymore, I Akko have friends, thinking about it makes me all confused, I never expected something like this to happen. Soon sounds of a car speeding up was heard, then the car turned off and came Keiko entering the house, she came to hug me.
"Oi bunny, happy birthday girl" she said giving me affection.
"Stay here for a while Keiko" said my mother.
"It won't work, I'm going to the station, I'll be back tonight, I want to be there to sing happy birthday to this girl - said Keiko after leaving and putting her sneakers back on, where she then went to the car, today is going to be a busy day apparently.
"Oh, Keiko, not even for her boss to let her go today, although knowing Keiko, she is a hardhead, she will work just to earn a little more, the way her S13 keeps giving out" said my mother.
We finished eating later, I loved everything, the cookies, the sweets, everything tasty, I felt delighted by the meal, from there we got up, I walked to the bedroom, where I took the opportunity to change, put on some lighter clothes, and I already had an idea in mind.
"Hey girls, do you want to know the place where I used to practice flying a broomstick, but always failed?" I tell them.
"Hmmmmm, sure, why nae, it could be quite interesting" Diana said.
I was waiting for each one going to change, it was really fast, as soon as we left the house the sun came strong on our faces, today is really hot, so much that Diana even left with a huge hat, the way she is white the sun will make her all red, we walked to the hill near the house, it's really close, and I'm already pointing to the tree on top.
"It was there... That's where I got the Shiny Rod and it appeared to me" I tell the girls.
"Oh sae that's the historic tree, let me see here" Cavendish said touching the tree.
"A hill like this you must have stalled legally here, what a stupid idea you had before" Sucy said teasingly.
"That's an ancient tree, the kind they only have in Arcturus, it's nae fae nothing that Claoimh Solais showed up here Akko, ye've been connected tae magic all along, by the way..." Diana put her hand through the tree and the magic began to emanate, what the dark and grayish trunk was starting to gain colour, besides the leaves appeared only in greater quantity.
"Woah... I thought that tree was always like this..." I say impressed.
"This tree was very old and in need of a bit of tending, the appearance of Claiomh Solais drained it badly," Diana said, stroking the beautiful trunk.
"Wow Diana, you saved a tree, but wait, how did you use magic since we're not near a sorcerer's stone?" I asked her.
"The sorcerer stone is inside this tree and has been deactivated fae a long time, Lotte, use yer spirits tae let us know more about it, this tree is a ray of magic around here, possibly something connected tae the past" said the Cavendish.
Lotte arrived using her spirits, the tree already emanated a brightness and now it started to make sense, I even felt a bit of magic inside me, now it makes sense, the tree was a sorcerer stone, how incredible, an ancient tree, I didn't even know they had those around here, I am even amazed.
"It says here that this was an ancient tree of at least 1500 years, planted here during the expeditions of the nine witches by Woodward, it is one of several that are planted and became dormant over time, this particular one has been in this state for 100 years, it seems that around here there must be several of these" Lotte said.
"So you mean it's not just wizard stones?" I say half-impressed.
"Millennial trees are what we use tae take the witchdoctor stone, they only grow every thousand years, they must be very well taken care of, besides that the people around them must believe in the magic tae keep each one of them alive and active, spreading the magic around the world, in the old times these trees had a lot of them around here, The first ones came by the hands of Woodward, who was using her magic tae make them grow very fast and thus bring magic tae everyone, there was a nae sae distant past, where ye could use magic everywhere without needing the sorcerer's stone" said Diana.
"And what happened?" I say half curious.
"Ye really dinnae pay attention in history class, do ye Akko? But I'll tell ye why ye've shown an interest now, in the golden age of magic, it was the last time that the millenary trees were alive and active in large numbers, magic flowed all over the world, but it was when the industrial revolution came and the idea of magic being old-fashioned came out that people lost faith and many millenary trees were extinguished"
"Then we can relive them all" I say hopefully.
"There are many Akko, thousands of them, and we dinnae even know where they are scattered, besides it is nae only reviving, but also making people believe in magic again by maintaining these trees, it would be a task of years and generations tae do" she said and I didn't give a damn.
"I have a dream, this dream is to be a witch like Chariot, but I can't be exactly like her, now these trees gave me a horizon, I will be the person who will spread the magic in the world and present me as the Shiny Akko, I will find and revive the millenary trees, this will be my goal from now on, it may take 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, or even my whole life, but I will not give up to bring the magic to the whole world and revive it so that everyone can smile again, I will bring the millenary trees back to life" I say all motivated.
"I think it's beautiful, Akko, I won't say that it's impossible, but it is difficult, there is a much better way, which is the right way, by which we can revive the ancient trees, it is by using the Claiomh Solais, when the seal of the Great Triskellion is opened and the request made the Yggdrasil tree revives and sae it provides again the energy for the ancient trees to return" Diana explains.
"So we have a great ally in this, the Shiny Rod will help us achieve this goal! We have to find the other five words, believe in ourselves and in magic and we will conquer this goal" I say raising my hands and the girls went away kind of shaking their heads.
Diana, on the other hand, seemed to be with me on this, and we decide to go for a walk on the hill, where I decide to show her more things, but before I see that there was a beetle walking near the millennial tree, so I catch it and show it to Cavendish, who ends up giving a little scare.
"Akko! Dinnae hold that thing!" she said fearfully, and I didn't even know she was afraid of insects.
"It's just a beetle, there are more of them, Sucy, grab one, let's get them to fight"
We put the beetles facing each other, with Diana kind of turning her face away, me and Sucy go on loving the two fighting, pushing each other and I go on cheering for mine, I even forgot that this is exactly the time of the year, these beetles must have come out of the trees, they start pushing each other, I go on winning, but out of nowhere Sucy's beetle is smart enough to counter attack mine and turn it around, which I end up losing.
"Damn it! You got this Sucy, you were lucky" I tell her.
"I didn't even know you guys did that too, I always loved to do that back in the philippines too, we used to catch the insects and put them in a fight, the ones I liked the most were the mantises, they had an attack right away, after we caught them there was no way to escape, they used to eat them until there was nothing left, hahahaha, I thought it was funny" said Sucy being sadistic as always.
"Seriously Akko go wash yer hand after that, I never thought ye would actually touch an insect" Diana said turning her face and putting her hand in front of her, what a starched dame.
"Are you afraid of insects Diana?" I ask her.
"Of course, I hate those things, they are disgusting, anything with more than four legs I run away, I prefer not tae get near" she said and I just laughed.
We walked further in the park, I washed my hands even as Diana asked, then we saw a group of kids sort of playing volleyball at the bottom of the hill, we sort of got to the boys.
"Hey guys can we play too?" I ask them and they nod their heads in agreement.
"Which team do you belong to?" asks the shaven-headed one who must be their leader.
"Me and the girls here" I tell them.
"Ahhhhhh we really needed four people, so let's play yes, let's kick these girls' asses" said one of them.
"Akko I don't know how to play volleyball that well" Lotte said.
"I don't even know how to play" said Sucy.
"I haven't played since the days when I was still at the mundane school, I was captain of the team even, but I must have lost all coordination by now, I was 11/12 at the time" Cavendish said.
"It's quite quiet actually, I haven't played since I was at school, I was quite good at it at least, come on" I tell them.
One of the boys pulls the ball and it comes towards Diana who manages to intercept, then Lotte passes up, I run and jump as high as I can to hit it with everything, already guaranteeing the first point.
"Yes" I say, celebrating.
"You never said you were that good" Sucy said shocked and I shrugged, giving Diana the ball to draw.
And so she went with even a little strength, they throw back, and they are quite agile, luckily she caught Sucy's head that almost fell on the ground, and then Lotte played for me, I play to the other side, a little boy catches my throw with everything, they are not bad either, for a bunch of children with 12 years old they know how to play very well, so much that they go super in the coordination focusing on Sucy who manages to save.
She passes the ball to me and I just play up waiting for Diana who comes with a shot that ends up giving us another point.
"Yes!" I say touching her hand.
"It's nae only ye who are good here, I can still play very well" she said and I understood.
"No wonder you are captain of the team" I tell her.
"And ye must also mange as much as I do, when we went to Luna Nova I'll want tae take ye on afterwards, just see how I knock ye down when we went against each other" She said about to draw.
I didn't even think Diana would be good at volleyball either, at school time at least there was one thing I did well and nobody treated me badly and that was sports, I used to be the most athletic student, but it's been a while, today I don't even do that much exercise anymore, the magic kind of took over everything, on this play it was a great serve that gave us a point and took them by surprise, we got the third point, then Diana goes for another one, only she ends up going for the outside, by throwing too hard.
The game went on until 20 points, where the one who scored 10 points first changed sides, so the girls were trying to stand out little by little to show that they still had the motivation to continue playing, in the end the game went to the witches' side who won 20 to 14...
"You guys play great, that's amazing, I didn't know girls could play so well" said one of them.
"Hey I've seen you before, you're the captain of the school team, you won them all" said another and I was scratching the back of my neck.
"And they still managed to score a lot, a sign that they are playing well and the captain is rusty"
Then I wave to the boys and leave with the girls, we go to a snack bar close to home that I was starving, there they make the best sandwiches, made by Mr Murata, which he soon recognises me and gives the biggest smile.
"Oh Akko, long time no see around here girl, your mother told me you went to Great Britain, it's good to see you back here in Japan" He said and I was smiling all excited and happy.
"I am still there, you can order snacks for these three here, they are my friends from Luna Nova, Sucy, Lotte and Diana, they do not know how to speak our language" I tell him who nods his head.
"I'll prepare the same old thing Akko used to live eating for you four, I'm sure you'll love I"- He said then leaving to make the snacks and soon Diana gives me a nice stare.
"Captain and still champion Akko? I heard and understood what the kids were saying, ye know a lot about volleyball" said Diana, who understood.
"I'm still very rusty, that's all" I say a little embarrassed.
"It's not for nothing that we won, you played volleyball before, I didn't even have PE classes at my school" said Sucy.
"I am in Luna Nova at the same time as Diana, and in Finland I had a physical education class where we were very physical, I remember to this day the pain of climbing the ropes or the warm ups, especially in winter, it was very tense," Lotte said.
We talked about our pasts, I loved it, to know how each one of us had something different to live, especially Diana, I never thought that she had a similar experience to mine, nobody was friends with her because of her witch origin and when she was in Luna Nova she started to be recognized.
They ate sandwiches made by Mr Murata and then went for a walk in the surroundings of where Akko lived, sort of walking around and showing the houses and neighbours, then going to the house again, where they chatted and played together passing the time...
I'm loving every minute of this holiday, I can't believe I've been so happy these days, we've been starting to play, I've kind of taken the opportunity to chat to the guys on discord, Holly said she can't wait for our visit and everyone is still amazed by the revelation so far.
"Just imagine how ironic it would be if some of these people were Luna Nova students too" I say to Diana.
"I dinnae doubt it, there are a lot of people who like Chariot in secrecy, ye kind of ended up being the most extreme among us all" She said.
"But seriously Diana, this girl being your sister would be very ironic" I tell her.
"Worst of all is that there's a feeling in me that might be true, but lately I've been getting messages from Daryl, she knows I'm here" Diana said which I was kind of amazed, this woman won't stop stalking her niece.
"What did she say? We have to get her right away and bring her to the law" I said to Diana.
"She said that I have tae stop the search for my mother or I will run a serious risk, she is threatening tae attack my mother, her life may be in danger, but I will nae give up, I know that one day I will find out everything and it will be wonderful" Cavendish said and I will agree.
"Don't stop because of that, she'll only provoke you more, besides she knows you'll do it anyway, she just wants to destabilize you emotionally" I say very clearly.
"I know that and that's exactly why I'm going tae continue my search, she's just afraid that I'll find out the reality, she knows she won't have any power over it" Diana said confidently and I go along with her.
"You don't have to put your head down ever again, I know you can do it, have you tried to get more information?" I ask her.
"Nae yet, Rosemary Morris knows everything, but she will never tell me, I have tae find out everything on my own, the complicated thing is that I can't find out anything, nae even Principal Holbrooke wants tae tell me about my mother's years, she tells it in a superficial way and it seems that they want at all costs to erase this whole story, I swear I will find it and ye will soon find out too Akko" Diana said excitedly.
"You don't really stop talking about it either Diana, this is all because of your missing mother, I honestly want my parents to blow up more, I was treated very well in the orphanage they threw me after, bunch of scoundrels" Sucy said.
"Wow Sucy, you have a tragic story and yet you still laugh, I'm impressed, I wish I could be as strong as you for that"
"I laugh because it is better than crying, than sinking in sadness, the best I can do is this, I want my parents to be fucked up, I will have my own life away from them, one day maybe I can show that I am different from the Manbavaran" She said showing a side that I also didn't know.
Hours went by, and the moment arrived when Akko's birthday party started, everyone started singing Happy Birthday to Akko, even having the right to a cake that Kagari's grandmother brought in a rare visit, with the Japanese woman blowing out the candles and going to break the cake...
"And who gets the first piece?" asked the girls.
"The first piece goes to my mother" I tell them all.
"Come on girl, every birthday your first piece is always mine or your father's" she said and I got a bit embarrassed.
"So the first piece goes to Diana" I say handing it to her who blushes.
"Ah, now it's not for the mother anymore, it's for the wife" said Sucy implying and everyone laughing, even my grandma.
"I come here and find out that my granddaughter has also brought a girlfriend, and a beautiful foreign one at that" Grandma said.
"She's not my girlfriend, we're just best friends" I say until everyone keeps laughing and they really doubt it, by the nine witches, it even looks like we're married, which wouldn't be bad.
Then I'm breaking the cake and giving the pieces to the rest of the people, eating it with the girls, while we watched my grandmother talking with Keiko and my mother, talking about the cracks they used to make, I love how my mother also used to make a lot of mistakes and then everybody talks about me, but she was just like me.
"The miata is still at home, are you going to let that thing get dusty?" said my grandma.
"I will leave it to Akko, when she turns 18 she can get the car" My mother said and I think that car is cute.
"that means Haruna's ghost will come back in a new generation" Keiko said and I just got a bit confused.
"No way!" Say my mother, my grandmother and Diana.
"That they even talked together" Sucy said laughing.
"It seems that Diana has already been included in the family" Even Lotte, ah no, they love to tease me, it impresses me, I even see Diana a bit blushing.
Soon my father arrives with a gift box, he hands it to me, and I start to unwrap it, I'm anxious to see what it is, when I open it I discover that it's a new mobile phone, a beautiful Xiaomi, I get all excited, I can't believe I won a new phone, ahhhhhhhhh, I even jump into my father's embrace, he got a little emotional.
"This is for my darling daughter, I knew you were in need of one and I heard the injustices that happened, now just take good care of the mobile" he said.
"I loved it! Dad you are the best! It is an amazing phone, I will be able to take pictures and talk to you, as well as play a lot, I thank you very much"
"Be careful that they don't catch you in Luna Nova, hide your mobile phone well" My mother said and I nodded my head in agreement.
"You can be sure that I will take care of him as if he were my own son" I answer them both.
"Now we will be able to talk better in Luna Nova too, I know a way tae get a connection between our mobile phones there, since there is nae signal when we are in Luna Nova, only the intranet there, which nae long ago the director deactivated after what happened with Croix" Diana said.
"It will help a lot anyway" I say cheerfully.
I also took the opportunity to put the chip inside and turn on the phone, starting to do the basic settings of it, I'm loving it, it's better than my Samsung that I had, ahhhhh, I can't wait to take it to the places, take pictures and send it to Diana, she will love it, the girls too, I'll be able to take it from here in Japan and they can see everything, I'm excited.
"She even liked that mobile too much" Sucy said.
"Of course, I'm almost a year without one, you have no idea how much I used to use a mobile phone" I tell them.
"Ah no kidding, this girl was always on her mobile phone, I remember she was always talking to someone, it was a so-called Discord" said my grandma.
"Oh yeah, she was always talking about that, it's a Shiny Chariot community she's in" my mum said.
"Oh no kidding, this girl was always imitating Chariot at home, she has already bent down on that floor several times, you had to see it, but it was cute, it's good to see that she got motivated to make her dreams come true, a Kagari always goes far wherever she wants" said my grandma.
"Even in my time as the ghost of Haruna I had gone very far, all Gunma knew me, but I thought it was already too much, I had already known Hayato for a while, he was a gas station attendant at the time, believe it or not, today I live peacefully with my sewing, I already loved doing it, but when I stopped running in the street I focused on being a seamstress, today I do cosplays and everything, I help as I can" said my mother.
"Damn, I loved the stories of Akko's mother, I ended up entering this world, but I dream of having a more professional career, I hope that one day they notice my talent and I can enter the D1GP one day, but I'll need more than just my weak S13" Keiko said.
"And you Akko? What is your dream my granddaughter" said my grandma.
"My dream was to become a witch like Chariot, but I can't be a copy of her, I have to be Akko, my dream of being like her involves being so great and helping witches, I intend to revive magic in the world and make people once again excited by magic and be enchanted" I tell them all very motivated, seeing even a very calm reaction from everyone munched.
POV Narrator:
Atsuko Kagari turns 16 years old, on a day that was a very quiet birthday, being the first moment that she had with close friends, where she was having a lot of fun and having an unforgettable day, mainly because it was improved with a gift that Kagari felt very excited to have won.
Happy birthday, bi witch...