POV Narrator:
Monday, 3 September 2018, Luna Nova
Diana ended up feeling pretty depressed these last few days since the revelation, practically isolating herself from everyone in her room, not talking to anyone, not even Akko, she just stayed like that, until the first day of school, where she gave much less importance to herself, practically spending the whole last month eating ice cream and watching television, or playing videogames, she sank into sadness and had neither Hannah nor Barbara to pull the Cavendish together, in this whole period.
Akko was a bit worried about the lack of messages from her friend, until she found out that Chariot was telling her the reason and that's what made her even more worried, waiting anxiously to go back to class and see her friend again, since she was only scheduled to arrive in Luna Nova exactly on the first day of school.
The day soon arrived, what will be the start of the girls' second year, with new surprises to come, new faces appearing, some very familiar, some new, Kagari had already arrived in the UK and was walking towards Ley's line, this time having a notion of how to continue.
POV Akko:
Ahhhhhhhh, how this brings me good memories, I even remember that a year ago I couldn't even pass for Ley's line, I even missed this climate, it was nice to spend the summer in Japan, but I'm afraid of what might have happened to Diana, since Chariot told me she's depressed, well I hope I can help her, I look at my mobile phone and not to lose it I make sure to turn it into a keychain and put it inside my bag, now I want to see them catch it again. I feel someone nudging me, I look back and it was a girl with red hair, beautiful purple eyes wearing piercings in her ears, a plaid shirt and one of her hands looked mechanical.
"Ey, do you know where the ley line is?" Said the girl with a huge smile.
"Ohhh, are you one of the new students?" I ask her who then gives me her hand.
"Pleasure, Hellene McLaren - She said until her own hand came loose when I shake it which I even take a fright, it's not enough Sucy on the first day, I'm now falling for another trick.
"Ahhhhhh, your hand - I say startled.
"Dahn't wahrry lassie, this is a prosthesis, I dahn't 'ave a hand on this side, look 'ow nice, what's yooehr name? You moehst be one of Luna Nova's students by the way - said the redhead all nice, her accent is funny.
"My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko, come with me, I will guide you to Luna Nova - I tell Hellene.
"Ah dank you so moehch, you're the first girl from Luna Nova I've met, yooehr 'elp will be very good - Said the purple-eyed one.
"I always try to help - I tell her until we reach the tower.
I go up the broom, so does she, we start to enter the portal of Ley's line, passing through everything in the greatest tranquility, it even surprises me how calmly she flies, even with a prosthesis, I never thought I would see a witch like that in our class before, we soon land by Luna Nova, I nod to Hellene, since I have to be in my seat.
"Good l starting in Luna Nova, I have to go to the beginning of the year ceremony soon - I say to the redhead
"Danks for the 'elp Akko - she said waving to me.
I go walking around the school, arriving inside in the courtyard and there were the girls grouped together, which I go taking a deep breath seeing them, I find Diana who was just kind of quiet, even amidst the girls, she looks at me, I could see her face different, some more dark circles under her eyes, I didn't know she had freckles on her face, she used to wear more makeup before, but now she doesn't seem to wear much, I open my arms, she comes walking to me, me to her, we meet in a hug.
"Diana..." I say as I caress her still in the embrace.
"Akko... I missed ye sae much, it's sae good tae see ye here" she said in a kind of melancholic tone as the other girls arrived.
"Oh Akko has finally arrived" Amanda said.
"Took you long enough to come, was the bus late?" Said Sucy and I quickly break away from the hug with Diana to hug each of them.
"Actually a little bit, the bus was a little late, but now I'm here, how are you?" I say to all of them, still continuing the hug.
"We're fine and wow, you've gained some colour these days, were you at the beach?" Amanda asks.
"Last week I went to the beach, I'm still a bit sunburned hahaha, the sunblock must not have worked very well, so much so that I came home toast" I say while scratching the back of my neck.
"That sun in Japan is enough to scorch anyone, my skin looked like a shrimp in no time at all" Lotte said.
"It was also wonderful to spend the days in the States with Amanda, she drove for us the whole trip, I didn't even know Amanda had a driving licence, even better was spending the days in that country house... Ahhh... I loved every part of this holiday" As I go to talk I see that the only one who wasn't enjoying it was Diana, she was really bad.
"Go and drop yer bag off, the ceremony will start soon" Cavendish said and I make sure I go, she must be bursting with feelings.
"Do you want to go with me? We'll talk on the way" I ask her because I know it can help.
We keep walking through the corridors, which I even felt nostalgic for, this place, how nice to see here again, I keep having a thousand memories of the days spent here, to think that I'm coming back now recomposed and in a very different way, we keep walking kind of quiet, until we reach the bedroom, where I leave my bag on my bed, I give Diana another look and give her another hug, this time a little stronger.
"Another one?" She said in a more despondent tone, I can feel from afar how knocked down Diana is, I have to help this girl.
"One more, that's right Diana Cavendish, I know what you've been through, that's why I'm going to give you another hug, if you want to vent with me you can vent"
"Akko..." I knew she just needed a good hug, she was even starting to tear up, it must have been heavy what she went through, so much so that teacher Chariot didn't even say anything, I hope she gets better.
Diana gives a brief explanation...
I was horrified, Diana's aunt is more cruel than I thought, she got to the point of fooling herself with a fake mother that actually has a heavier story behind it, I can't believe it, it's very strange, but I don't doubt it, people like Diana was, she's always been like that, lucky that I know her being the wonderful person she is, so much that I ended up giving her another hug, with some pats on the back and she was shedding tears.
"Now I know what happened... Everything makes more sense, oh Diana I wish I was here with you to help you get through this" I tell her who even smiled a little at me.
"Ye dinnae need all that, just showing up today has already improved my day a lot"
"I know it was very traumatic, I imagine having a family like that broke you and a lot, but I will say one thing, those are your relatives, your family? She's here around us, me, Hannah, Barbara, the girls, we're all her family, Chariot is literally her family and I'm even glad how she tried to help you through it all the time" I tell her with my hand on her shoulder.
"Now let's go, we can't be late fae the ceremony" Cavendish said already showing that she was a little more excited.
I went walking in the corridors, I saw Hellene there, I waved to her, I got a wave back, noticing a strange thing, she changed her expression totally when looking at Diana, I could also notice Cavendish's expression all different, like they had some familiarity, weird... She said her sister's name is Brooke and she's a redhead, why would she have such a reaction with Hellene.
"What is it Diana?" I ask her.
"Ah it was just a weird feeling, I think I've seen her before" She said half shaking her head.
"Ah she's Hellene McLaren, I helped her get here, I think I've seen that last name before" I say with my hand on my chin.
"That's it! She is Holly's older sister! And she just came tae study here, I think that's it, I've seen this face before" Diana said and I remembered now, how wonderful that Holly's sister is going to study with us, this will be so cool.
We soon arrive with the girls, I'm waving to them and kind of feeling relieved to see Diana, besides knowing what happened, she even got a little lighter, you can tell by the way she's getting a little more formal, I even found her cute this way, it seems she's assuming each time who she really is.
"Diana... Has anyone ever told you that you look beautiful with those freckles?" I tell her all affectionately.
"Really?" she said, blushing.
"Ahhh here comes the first flirtation of the year between these two" Sucy said and we show even the middle finger together.
"You look amazing with those freckles on your face, you look so much cuter" I can even get Diana to end up smiling a bit more, that's really nice, to see her feeling a lot better.
Soon the signal all, I saw us starting to walk in our rows, standing up and grouped in teams, before teacher Finnelan came, I even forgot that we had an opening ceremony to start, I hardly wait to see everything, now in the point of view of a veteran student and not anymore of a rookie, how amazing, the headmaster is arriving with the teachers, as well as the new students, who are not with uniforms yet. Mrs. Holbrooke sits down to start the ceremony, while an orchestra was being played in the background, as the new students grouped and then the music stops, giving place to the voice of the headmistress.
"Students of Luna Nova, we come here to say that we are starting another school year in Luna Nova, this time the year 2018-2019, where the students who started in 2016-2017 will have the last year and will soon graduate, as the students of the years 2017-2018, will start their second year, more focused on a magical specialization and the preparation for the following year that will be the final, but we will have new students coming, some that already studied here as intermediate and some new faces, that will start the year focused in magic and starting the complete teaching of how to be witches, those that will learn magic in its deepest form and will discover a lot of new things too, give a round of applause to these new students - said the headmaster and we all went clapping to all of them, I could notice that Diana remained with a different expression, even looking angry.
After the names of all the new students are said...
Now it makes sense, her sister is studying here, I wonder how it will be a pain to endure all this, then the daughter of the woman she discovers being a mother and still a horrible mother, with all m plan to end with her, I would be the same way ... I hope I can cheer her up and not let her sink into depression.
"And so the welcoming ceremony is over, you can go to your rooms and get ready, tomorrow we will start our classes, I hope you feel comfortable, the new students come with me and I will show you your new teams, you are all free" said the director and so we dispersed.
"I can't believe she's coming tae study here... What the fuck" Diana said to me.
"Ah Diana, and if your sister has nothing to do with it, she can try to redeem herself" I tell her.
"I wanted tae think that, but she was the one who dragged me tae my mother and found out everything, I'd rather stay suspicious still" She said with her arms crossed.
Our Diana is really stubborn, but I really don't know what she must have been going through all this time, it must have been very stressful, so much that she is kind of walking alone, the girls are still talking among themselves, I see teacher Chariot coming to me, I think she wants to solve something very important.
"Come with me Akko" She said and I shrug.
"All right teacher" I tell her.
She has a very serious expression, we walk in the corridors, until we get to her room, everything was empty, it's kind of strange, I hope there's nothing suspicious, like Croix's presence escaping from jail or something, I just look around.
"Stay here in the classroom, I'll be right back, I'm just going to pick someone up, you need to meet this person" said the teacher.
"And why are we here? Is this someone Croix as a fugitive?" I ask her, who shakes her head.
"No, there's more you need to know, this time help is going to come from you Akko, I didn't expect her to come here in Luna Nova" She said and it must be about Brooke.
"Ahhhh I know who it is, I'll just wait here, teacher" I say all excited, now I want to know Brooke's side, I'll know everything.
The teacher leaves the room, I'm kind of looking around, having that nostalgic feeling, the chairs, staying in class here, thinking that everything will come back tomorrow, but with me all renewed, that what will be the most interesting of all, ahhhh, I can't wait to be able to study, I look forward to it, what a strange thing... Staying at the beach really racked my brains nicely it seems.
A few minutes of waiting later, Chariot arrives, but it wasn't with Brooke...
She arrived, until it was fast, it was for the choice of teams, I even remember that this really is very fast, only with us that it took because we got ready and appeared out of nowhere, when she opens the door who enters is not Brooke, but ...
"Hellene?" I say confused, looking at her who also stares back at me.
"Akko?" She is also confused and soon teacher Chariot enters.
"You two know each other already?" Said the teacher using a spell on the door and then around the whole room.
- She 'elped me show where Ley's line is, I dedn't oehnderstand why you called me 'ere to see 'er - Said the redhead who came close to me.
We sort of stared at each other more closely, wow, she has a strong girl's way, you can see that she has strong arms that I've never noticed before, and she's also cute, not for nothing, but she's also a competitor to Diana's beauty, already Chariot comes up to both of us and keeps laughing, while we were sort of staring at each other.
"Are you going to stare at each other like that? Akko, be careful not to end up kissing your sister-in-law" she said and we both froze.
"Sister-in-law?" We said together.
"Well Akko you must already know that Daryl has been disturbing Diana, but it's not only her that is being disturbed, I am also a target of this, it threatens Croix's life, why can't I just tell Diana the truth at once, but you can know about her... First of all, Brooke Hunter is not Diana's sister, nor is Kimberly Hunter Diana's mother, it was all a set up by Daryl so that she could destroy Diana's psyche, Diana's sister is in front of you" The teacher said and that information took me all apart, I was stumped, what do you mean she is Diana's sister? I was in shock.
"Diana's sister? But... How... I know it was magic... But all a trick, I'm still trying to process" I tell them, seeing Hellene more closely I could notice some things, the nose... It looks a lot, the face itself, reminds a little, I can't believe, they really are sisters...
"Can we let Akko know abooeht this? Me mommy said she can't reveal it - Diana's sister said.
"Akko is reliable, she won't tell Diana, we just need the right moment to reveal it, it's kind of nice to see you here girl, your mother called you here why?" said the teacher and I am still trying to process.
"We 'ave to change dings 'ere in Luna Nova fahr de better, I also 'ave to protect my sis, Daryl's attacks 'ave been frequent, she also threatens oehs, boeht I want to see 'er get close to oehs if we are tahgether" Hellene said.
"Wait a minute, you're Holly McLaren's sister too aren't you... And that implies that Diana doesn't have one but two sisters? I want to know more about all this" I say shocked.
"Ah you know Holly, she already tahld me abooeht you too, Shiny Akko, I dedn't know you're my sis girlfriend, you're kend of a sweetheart, boeht anyway, it's a lahng stahry, Holly is a half sister, only me and Diana are Bernadette Cavendish and Laura McLaren's daughters - she said and I remember seeing that name before.
"And I'm not Diana's girlfriend, we're just friends, the teacher Chariot who is playing with you" I tell her half blushing while watching Hellene laughing.
"Diana has already told you much of the story of how she thinks it happened, I know what really happened... I know because Laura was my mentor during my childhood and adolescence... I am very connected to Diana's mother, I just can't really reveal it at the risk of affecting Croix" said the teacher.
"So what happened? How did things come to be like this?" I ask them.
After the whole explanation...
I am shocked, Daryl is more cruel than she thinks, she invented a story with a fake mother just to shake Diana, while the real one only went through the worst, the real one really wants to see Diana, what scares me is knowing that this witch will really be threatening us, Diana runs a huge risk staying close to her radar... Now it all makes sense, Chariot knew everything all along.
"Holy fuck I'm shocked, what do we do? How will Diana know? We can't hide forever" I tell them.
- I know, dat's why I came 'ere, prahmise naht to tell Diana anythin yet?" I stroked her head, she's kind of cute, she has a different way from Diana, she's sweeter, even though she seems tougher.
"No problem Hellene, I won't say anything, but don't hide this from Diana, she deserves to know the truth, her mother is there wanting to see her" I tell them.
"I will try to intrahduce myself to Diana, show 'er who I am lettle by lettle, she will gain familiarity... I guarantee dat by Christmas she will know, dere will be sahmething beg ahn the day fahr Diana, an oehnforgettable gift" Her sister said and that will take at least three months, but at least they will try.
"It's a delicate situation, but I hope you understand Akko, we can't reveal things just like that at the moment, Croix's life is at risk, Diana's life, Hellene's life, Laura's life, even yours, we have to manage to find a way to first of all leave things calm and then we can manage to live well together," said the teacher.
"I don't know if hiding something like this from Diana is going to be the best solution, but I hope it'll be until Christmas anyway, she's probably already depressed to the point of no return, falling for Daryl's trick" I tell them.
"I'll take good care of my sis too and you've taken care of 'er fahr a long time too, I'm dankfoehl dat one day you'll marry 'er" said the redhead teasing me.
"Hey! We're just friends!" I say blushing.
"My mothers were also joehst friends, boeht now you will learn a laht about deir romance, my mother tahld me a laht" said Hellene.
"Anyway, that's what I wanted to tell you, I hope Daryl didn't listen and neither did anyone else" said the teacher using the spell and we left, heading to the door.
"Ey I'm goin to my team now, I'm in the poehrple team, it seems you're in de red team, where are the poehrple ahnes?" asks the nice Hellene.
POV Hellene:
Akko is a nice lassie even, I knew I woehld like 'er, now dat she knows de troehth, I imagine she will be usefoehl, I joehst 'ahpe things go well frahm now ahn, I want to 'ave Diana's friendship and be able to reveal de truth lettle by lettle, also talk to dis Brooke lassie, it seems that Daryl's scoundrel doesn't stahp doing bad things, soon I arrive at my room's door, Akko helped me to take it there, which I dank with a big smile ahn my face.
"Dank you very moehch" I say being all polite to her.
"Thank you Helen, feel welcome in Luna Nova, anything you need just call me" she said waving to me and goin to 'er room.
I enter de room, I see de two lassies dere, ahne of dem has black hair with beautiful red locks, she even reminds me of Ryuko Matoi, what a beg lassie I wooehld say, boeht I will control myself 'ere, the ahther one is a cute lettle lassie, I thought I woehld be the smallest o' de trio, but it seems that dere is another one to take my place, I think I have seen this blonde sahmewhere before, I close the door and make a point o' introducing myself to each one o' dem.
"Salutations! My name is Hellene McLaren, it is very nice to meet you" I say to them who look at me and give a smile.
"You're our colleague then, you left so fast we didn't even notice, Professor Chariot must have asked for something quite important," said the dark 'aired one.
"I'm Annabel Crème, you must know me from the Night Fall books, I'm the writer of the book"- she says and I'm like, what do you mean she's the writer, she has 'undreds of books.
"How do you manage to write all dat book stoehff? They're older than you" I say in amazement.
"Ah that's because there is this pen, it is passed to each Annabel Crème, you must have never read the books, but it is quite noticeable that the writing changes with each different writer, well anyway it's a pleasure to meet you Hellene" said the blonde and I'm even amazed to have a roommate as cool as 'er.
"I am Marianne Leclerc, I don't even know how to describe myself... Do you like anime? Do you like videogames? Do you like RPGs? We can be great friends" I'll just nod my 'ead in agreement.
"Ohhhh I love it, I even brooehght a few dings so we can play and no one will know" I say takin out o' my bag the key rings and at dat I reveal a CRT television dat I put ahn a table.
"I also like RPGs, we could call more people and make an RPG club, what do you think?" Said Annabel, I just went thinking about Final Fantasy and the games my mommy had made.
"RPG? Like those turn-based adventure games, right? Like Final Fantasy?" I ask the two who are laughing.
"Ah this is RPG game, we're talking about table RPG, it's really cool too, if you want we can teach you to play, are you in?" Said Mari and I'm into it, this lassie is too beautiful, woah, besides that she's smart.
We tidied oehp de room, I put some video games to play on the television and also a Pen Drive where I can download sahme anime to watch tahgether, I even open my notebook, I connect a device dat is beside de television and it gives me internet, a magical wonder that no one knows dat it works.
"A router here? There's not even an internet signal here" Annabel said.
"Actually, dis is a special router my godmother made, we can use the internet frahm our house wit dis device, we just can't spread it around or it will be overloaded and slow, boeht we can pass it ahn to some friends, it's a way she invented to use the internet frahm outside here, so we can stay connected to de outside world without de restrictions o' Luna Nova" I tell dem and dey are amazed.
"Hellene that's great" they said.
"My godmother April that is, she who did it too" I say taking out my prosthesis and showing it to them.
"You have a mechanical hand that irate, it means you are..." Said the pretty black haired girl and I just nodded my head in agreement.
"My 'and is amputated, boeht I dahn't care much, this prosthesis works wonderfully well, it's like a real 'and, I joehst can't feel dings so well, but I can use magic in it like a good ol' McLaren, besides moving the hand like a real one according to my will, look at dat - I say showing the prosthesis moving.
"That's awesome" she said 'olding my prosthesis and I'm even a little embarrassed.
"Our team was very lucky, the three of us have similar tastes, it will be really cool, I can't wait to play this role-playing game"
In the blue team's room...
POV Diana:
I could never imagine that seeing Akko filled my heart sae much, but that lassie... Hellene, she gave me a sense of comfort, of looking, that I hadn't felt before, that stirred me, how could I have felt sae peaceful walking past her and just the weight lighten, I've been through the worst, but now everything is seeming to turn around.
"Diana? Are you feeling any better?" Hannah asks, as I was playing on my television, once again finishing in on the Shiny Chariot PS2 game.
"I am better... Seeing Akko really cheered me up, I could feel a relief, a weight coming off, ye know how painful these days were" I tell them with a sideways smile.
"That's good to see Diana, I've missed you" England said.
"Even sae I have changed and changed a lot, I won't be the same Diana ye know, I went through a lot of trauma, I dinnae want tae be Lady Diana Cavendish anymore, I just want tae be Diana Cavendish, a lassie like any other... Nae more clinging to the past, touch forward and embrace who I really am" I tell them as the credits roll on the screen.
"I am glad my friend is getting better, I don't care if you change or not, you will always be my friend no matter your position... When I went to visit Amanda I could see that you were not the only one living this... She also has a position of nobility, believe it or not, you could learn more from her about accepting the Diana you really are" Hannah said helping me and I just respond by nodding my head.
I keep watching and watching the credits, while eating the ice cream, seeing what each one did, Laura McLaren and April Jordan, always the two responsible fae almost everything, it impresses me how they managed tae polish a game as good as this, at the end of the credits the message that always encesses "A tribute to B.C Stewart 1972-2007", she died and was born in the same year as my mother... Wow, the coolest people in the world going away together, I can imagine Laura's suffering when she left.
"You always play that game, you should get out more Diana, talk to someone, to Akko, call her here, it worries me to see you like this" she said all worried.
"I'll be fine, it was just a period of depression, now I dinnae need tae call that bitch Kimberly Hunter anymore, I'll forget she's my mother that's fae sure" I tell her as I went crying again.
"Ohh Diana, I can tell you're emotionally destroyed, you need to cheer up more, you're just sinking deeper" Hannah said hugging me and I'm really very fragile... How did I end up like this.
POV Narrator:
The second school year in Luna Nova is starting for the girls, as well as new faces showing up, showing new things to come, even more so around Diana who is about to find out who her sister really is, who is already in Luna Nova, it's only a matter of time before she finds out and her life can change into something quite different from what she's been.
See you, new year witches...
Hellene McLaren
Date of birth: 7 August 2003
Place of birth: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (Irish/Scottish)
Height: 1.51 m
Weight: 57 kg
Sexuality: Lesbian
Gender: Female (cis)
Occupation: Student (Victoria Mclaren Witchcraft Academy 2009-2018/ Luna Nova 2018)
Measurements (bust/waist/hip): 97/68/100
Hair colour and appearance: Red-orange, Long wavy 2C, reaching to the waist, fringes across the forehead and sides of the face, usually side parted
Eye colour and shape: Purple
Physical appearance: extremely pale Caucasian skin, enormous breasts, defined body, freckles in the breast and intimate area, rectangular nose, amputated right hand, uses a prosthesis in place
Likes: Broom races, playing video games, eating pizza, girls, watching shounen animes, board games, fighting
Dislikes: Helplessness by his disability, Conservatism in magic, Intolerant witches full of rules, Worship unnecessarily excessive
Hellene McLaren, the transfer student who is even younger than her whole class, she started to enter the school one year before all the other students and, because of that, she ended up in a class above her class. In spite of being part of the McLaren family which has already made history throughout the years, it is not such a renowned family, having some relevance only in Ireland, outside Ireland it is just another common family of witches, but even so its witches are usually extremely talented. The Irish girl is a clear representation of that, expert in the art of broomstick flying, as well as expert in the art of using magic with her own hands, in this case only the left one, since the right one was amputated due to an accident that happened when she was younger, but that never stopped her from moving on to fulfill her dreams, which is to one day be able to form a world championship of broomstick racing among witches and also impress the mundane world with all the skill that witches possess.