POV Narrator:
Thursday 25 June 2020, Edinburgh Scotland
Hellene went to visit Marianne's exotic and peculiar family, getting a glimpse of how different those people were, also being impressed by how receptive they were to McLaren who loved to meet the in-laws. After that, she and her girlfriend went back to the Cavendish's house as a commemorative date was approaching, which was Atsuko Kagari's eighteenth birthday.
The Japanese girl was very anxious for this day, but it wouldn't be the way she thought it would be due to the pandemic, she would have to do the commemoration at her girlfriend's house, instead of doing it in
Japan as she had wished, but the situation wasn't the best The situation was not the best, and besides that she didn't have the Fluit An Neart in hands to make the trip from one place to another a little easier, missing her parents and also her friend Keiko, but it's not the end of the world, she'll still be able to commemorate the day in a fun way.
POV Akko:
Wow, this night with Diana left me practically broken, wow, we stayed like this for hours, when Hellene and Mari aren't here she made sure to give me a very intense surprise on my birthday, I'm feeling the pains until now, well anyway I think it's today, I go looking at Diana I see that she was sleeping like a little angel, which I give a little kiss on Cavendish's forehead, enough to make her wake up.
"Good morning love" I say to her who is squinting her eyes.
"Good morning Akko, happy birthday love" Said my little cabbage hugging me.
"Thanks sweetie, I think you gave me too much of a present, I'm all scarred up now" I tell her who is waking up.
"This is just the beginning of yer gift love, heh, I was also all marked up, I think the gift was all me fae ye today, ahhhhhhh... What a sleep, we better get up and go take a shower before my mum shows up in the room and finds us both like this" Diana said and she is right.
We both get up from the bed, we go to the bathroom, where there are some petals spread around, it was yesterday I don't doubt it, we decide just to get in the shower this time, feeling the warm water going down our bodies, with us hugged, I soon feel my girlfriend's hand passing the soap through my body and they are always so soft, it's like I feel a huge relief staying inside.
After the bath...
Our hair is washed, we got out of the shower, we dried each other, with a lot of love I was passing the towel on my wife's body and also on her hair, it's really cute the way the Cavendish hair gets when it gets wet, it loses all its volume and sticks on the head. She also does the same thing with me and it's really good, it's a sense of relief that passes me by, really therapeutic.
We both finally put on our dressing gowns to leave the bathroom and go change in the bedroom, today will be my birthday, I can't wait to see what's coming today, I've already heard that some girls are going to visit us, I can't wait to see them here, we left the bathroom and there was my mother-in-law looking like she waited for me for a long time
"Look at de couple finally come out of de bathroom, happy birthdayAkko, finally turning eighteen, becoming an adult witch too" Mrs McLaren said as I scowled.
"Thank you very much, I really appreciate it Mrs McLaren" I am a bit embarrassed, I was not expecting such a cake.
"But dis is not de real cake, dis is just a breakfast, happy birthday girl, I wish all de best for you and my daughter, may many years and birthdays come to pass with you, I can't wait to one day come your children's birthday too" said my mother-in-law and I was laughing with all dis.
"Mum!" Diana said embarrassed.
"What? Are you going to tell me dat one day you won't be mothers?" Well, Laura, you have a point there.
"At least your mother didn't come in our room to wake us up in a more intimate moment" I say scratching the back of my neck.
"I would wake you both up to train, but I know you must have "trained" a lot that night, and I was sleepy, waking up every day at four o'clock in the morning to train is tiring, you have no idea, not only you are tired, I am also loaded, but now it was a good relief to sleep a lot tonight" Mrs McLaren said.
"I wonder if Hellene got on well with Mari's parents. She said by messages that she was coming back here and that they are wonderful people, I can't wait tae hear how it went, they could come here too" Diana said.
"It would be a pleasure to meet dem, but I'll leave dat for a next opportunity, now we have to enjoyAkko's birthday and soon Hellene's prosthesis will also come, dis very weekend is already de surgery to install de adapter where it fits in de arm, It will be an immense pain for 'er and I dink we will need to be dere to give as much support as possible, anyway I'm going, you two feel free to change and get ready, I'm going to de kitchen to prepare Akko's cake and other dings dat I bought at de supermarket" Laura said, giving a caress on the head and leaving de room.
I love her presence around here, it's like she was my other mother, always so careful with us, I went to the wardrobe and got a product to rub on my hair, so it is better to dry without causing any harm to my hair, I started to dry, Diana was doing the same, we have two dryers to dry ourselves, although I hardly dry my hair, but today is a special day, I'll be more dressed to celebrate my birthday.
"Tae think that I used tae wear a lot of make-up before, especially on my face, I was forced tae hide my freckles, but today I feel better assuming them, I see my beauty in the mirror" Diana said and I go smiling to her.
"You're beautiful either way, you're the best gift I could have today" I say being cute and going back to drying my hair.
As they finished getting ready...
The jumpsuit Diana gave me looked good on me, it only left me with a big ass, the t-shirt underneath just increased the charm in the whole set, she looked cute in a white dress, it's rare to see Diana wearing a dress lately, she's usually just been wearing trousers, she looked lovely, she even put on earrings, with a symbol of two Venus joining, it's really cute and a necklace, I loved it.
After changing we went to the living room, let's play and eat, the interesting part of my day came, we went downstairs and there were Hannah and Amanda, both of them came to greet us and I wasn't expecting them to arrive already.
"Happy birthdayAkko" O'Neill said hugging me.
"Thanks Amanda, I've missed you, you could come here in Scotland more often" I say even patting her arm.
"I wanted to, but the pandemic and the problems with my family got in the way, my parents don't want to give me my inheritance, I just want my share of the money so I can move out of that house and start my life, they are stubborn, they don't want to lose money that doesn't even belong to them" Amanda said.
"HeyAkko, congratulations, our Diana's house is really beautiful, it's much better the atmosphere here than that huge mansion, I feel comfortable, even more than the England mansion, there is the same problem as your old residence" Hannah said.
"We'll fix her up real quick"Amanda said, making a flame and then she took a strange thing that looked like a small bottle and put it in her mouth, releasing smoke afterwards.
"Amanda are you smoking?" I ask her shocked.
"Oh it's not what you think, it's just a Vape, it's just vapour, I like it because of the taste and the smoke, Hannah's mum uses it too, it's her way of escaping the cigarette, do you want to try it?" I just turn my face away in denial.
"Amanda has been at it for a while now, I've been nagging her to get her act together and stop, but you know how stubborn this girl is" England said and I know how it is.
She's making some rings with smoke, it seems like something interesting, but it's just flashy, I wouldn't put it in my mouth and kill my lungs, I have more important things, besides that my training can be affected, I prefer not to risk it.
Soon more people arrive at the door, Barbara and Annabel, the two are beautiful, they look like a beautiful
couple, you can see that they are holding hands, they concretized once and for all the courtship between them
"Barbara! Annabel!" I say waving to them with open arms and then being hugged by both of them.
"Congratulations Akko!" They both say.
"Thank you for coming" I say all happy.
"You're really together, how cute, you really do match" I say to Annabel and Barbara.
"Ah we are together since graduation day, I decided to leave Luna Nova for good, I'm going back to study in Switzerland, I don't think it's healthy to stay there and you should convince Hellene of that, now that she lost her arm it's even more reason, the place is dangerous, that boss can cause something even worse" said Créme and she is right.
"Hellene lost her arm?" Said Amanda appearing in the middle.
"You haven't heard?" I ask O'Neill.
"You didn't tell her anything and neither did you" said the shockedAmerican.
"Ah she didn't want to tell to everyone, she only told people she's very close to, she told me because we're roommates, or were at least, I was devastated to hear that, she was still very brave to resist at least" Annabel explained.
"Wow, who did this to Hellene? I know she's strong and smart, not just anything will make her lose her arm," Amanda said.
"Guess what? The boss herself, she caused all this to my sister-in-law, she went to try to find out the identity of the boss and in this to defend herself, she lost a whole arm, that's because it could be worse, but Marianne saved her life" I say more complemented for them.
"I'm getting angrier every day at this boss of hers, not for nothing, but every time they talk about her I feel like sinking my teeth into her face" said Amanda.
She has no idea, the girls there are talking among themselves, I go walking around the house getting something to eat, I see that Diana and Hannah are catching up, today is going to be quite a day, I go walking to the kitchen, I see that Laura was making the cake and I'm surprised with the presence of another person that was helping.
"Chariot?" I say shocked.
"Akko! Ah I was just about to say hi, happy birthday" she said coming up to me giving me a hug.
"Thanks, I didn't know you were going to show up here" I say to Du Nord.
"I couldn't stay out of it, I will make your cake with Laura, Sifla gave me this strength, Croix and Constanze decided to stay and set up the mecha, if you want something to eat just go in the pantry, take it to the girls, more people can still arrive" Chariot said and I get all excited.
I then go to the pantry, where I get some huge packets of Doritos and also some Lays, I go back to the kitchen where I open them and leave them in a huge bowl there, I see that Diana also comes to give her faces and seeing me doing that she comes running to me.
"Akko! Leave it tae us, go and enjoy the day, we'll take care of it" said my girlfriend and I get a bit confused.
"But it's no problem for me to help, it's just to have a little food" I tell her and she pushes me and I find everything strange.
"Seriously I'll take care of that part, go and play a Switch with O'Neill, I'll take care of the party food" Cavendish said and I get confused.
Well, I leave the kitchen, I think Diana's reaction is really weird, she doesn't react that much, but anyway, if she wants to help that much, she even took Hannah with her, I think I go to the living room, where I see
Amanda had already turned on our Switch, I sit beside her, we were playing Super Mario Maker yesterday, doing some difficult levels.
"Mario Party? We're already kind of in a Party here" Amanda said.
"And who else is playing with us?" I ask O'Neill and soon I'm feeling a hand on my head.
"My favourite guinea pig turns eighteen today" I look up and Sucy! I get all happy and hug her, then get pushed away.
"Sucy!" I say excitedly.
"What's with this Akko? Just kidding, come and give me a hug" Said Manbavaran having her way, which I go giving her a big hug.
"Wow, you came too? I didn't expect you to come from the Philippines to visit me" I say all surprised.
"Well, I got bored there, too hot, no potions or poisons to play with, so I decided to come back here, enjoy the holidays with you guys, I'll even spend a few days here in your house, at least play a Switch or use you as a guinea pig" she said being the way she always was.
"Are you going to play with us?" Amanda asks and Sucy quickly sits down on the sofa with us, grabbing a controller.
"Obviously yes, stealing the birthday girl's star will be wonderful, just one more to join us" Manbavaran said.
"And Hellene? Is she coming?" Amanda asks.
"She said she's coming, I just don't know when she's arriving" I tell O'Neill.
"Let's wait for McLaren or Leclerc, both of them will love to play with us" Sucy said.
POV Diana:
Akko is already kind of distracted playing Mario Party with the girls, the perfect moment fae me tae see if she dinnae take the surprise I left in the pantry, or else I could get in a lot of trouble, I go looking and nothing, I lost the gift I wanted sae much tae give Akko, what the hell, I wonder if she already found out and now she's going tae keep trying tae look for it.
"Diana, are you sure you didn't look properly?" Hannah asks.
"Nae, it's nae here, Akko can only have taken it" I say half frustrated.
"Dis is what you are looking for" My mother said with the gift bag in hand and I am relieved.
"Mum! Why did ye take it?" I say as I pick up the bag.
"Dis you hid very badly, you left it in an obvious place, it was confusing, but I could tell what it is by de consistency of what's inside de box, I know de seriousness of de gift, will catch 'er by surprise is not it?" I said my mother, who already understood the intention of my present.
"I'll leave the bag hidden among the lays, she won't notice until she puts her hand in it" I said very anxious.
"Great, with your mother I was de surprised one, it was on my eighteenth birthday too, it seems dat de Cavendish already 'ave de tradition of doing dat on deir birthdays, especially when dey want to give a gift to deir future wives" said my mother and I went straight away hiding the little bag in the middle of the Lay's, it's going to be one of the best surprises in the world.
I also make sure tae leave other packages inside just tae give a randomness, also tae nae make her find at once the one that comes with the thing I want sae much tae present inside, they look like candies, but in reality one of them will come with a special gift that Akko has nae idea what's still waiting fae her.
I think Hannah has already noticed, as I was also putting a bowl of Doritos, leaving it full, taking some candies and with that we were already preparing the food fae the day, this bowl with Lays in specif I'll leave on the table in front of the sofa.
POV Akko:
Our Amanda is crazy, she has been adventuring a lot in England with Hannah, they must have enjoyed a lot, also a bit clueless, who in their right mind is going to do that in the bathroom of a restaurant, only these two crazy people to do these things.
Soon Marianne and Hellene also arrived and they came with Lotte, which I got up hugging them, I was really waiting for them, especially Yanson, it was a long time since I saw her arriving, she came with her boyfriend too, who was very kind to us.
"Happy birthdayAkko" said the blonde.
"Thank you Lotte, it's been a long time since I saw you, how are you?" I ask her and I see already that she is very well.
"Wonderful as always next to this guy here, I wanted a prince and I didn't imagine I would have my wish granted" Lotte said romantically.
"By the way, congratulations Akko, Andrew also said he would come with his boyfriend here, I can see that Diana will love his presence here" Frank said and I was laughing.
"If the two don't kill each other it's fine" At least the two are more friendly than before.
"Congratulations Akko, my sister from another family, I bought dis 'ere for you" Hellene says and I go opening the present and I'm even surprised.
"A Shiny Chariot Funko pop!" I say loving the gift.
"Courtesy of my sister Holly, she made one for you, it's our present for your birthday" McLaren said and I loved it.
"Wow, I'm going to keep it with all my heart" I'll soon get another one too.
"It's not just Funko Pop" said Marianne who went walking around the house.
I'm really honored by a gift like this, I'll even leave it in the box because this was very well done, I'll even leave it on a coffee table and notice that Diana left the Lay's on the table waiting for us to play.
"Will you play with us Hellene? Oh... Sorry" said Amanda.
"Soon I will be able to play with you hahahaha, I can still play with de joycon, but I prefer to wait for my prosthesis, when I 'ave two arms I will play with you" said my sister-in-law always in a good mood.
"Wow I heard what happened and you are very brave and fucked up, I don't know what I would do in your shoes" O'Neill said.
"Probably de same as me, I would be traumatized and cry all day, well at least today I'm better, but de first days were horrible, but it's not de end of the world, I already had no hand anyway, what is losing an arm when you no longer have a hand" she said shrugging her shoulders with enormous calmness.
"I'll play with you" Lotte said.
"That will make the red team trio with Amanda, it will be interesting to play like that" Sucy said.
"And Marianne?" I ask them.
"Mari probably won't play" Her girlfriend said.
She arrived with a little gift box and I was already getting anxious of what it would be, it's a smaller box than the funko pop, I'm already having several thoughts of what it could be, I'm opening the package and wow, it's an Amiibo, how cool, a Shiny Chariot's Amiibo, I'm really delighted, I never thought Holly was so creative like that.
"I made dis one myself" Marianne said and I was impressed.
"Mari has been doing it since we were in Luna Nova, she took anAmiibo of Rosalina as a base, so you can imagine what will appear when you play, otherwise she was modelling with great care, I remember seeing 'er always doing everything in de smallest steps" Hellene said.
"Woah, this is so cool, this is incredible, Marianne you are extremely talented, seriously, what a well done and finished thing, it's got everything down to the smallest detail in the chariot" I say looking at everything, Holly would love a piece like this in her museum.
Time went by and the girls were playing and celebrating that special day, Andrew also arrived withhis boyfriend, welcoming Akko on that special day, where they spent the time chatting, catching upon gossip, with Kagari all distracted having no idea what awaits her amidst the various things theykeep inside Lay's bowl...
I loved that Diana put some truffles inside the Lays by surprise, I did not expect this one, I feel like digging even more to find one, this is really good, hmmmmmmmmm, look I just found one more, the truffle seems a little hard, I leave it on my lap and I clean my hand to not fill the truffle with the rest of snacks, I even use moistened tissue, what will this one taste like? I am anxious to see.
I open it and see something strange, it's a little cloth box, my mind calculates, I see that everyone reacts in shock when seeing this, I already know what it is, I can only be dreaming it can only be this, I don't believe it, I see until Diana gets off the sofa and is kneeling in front of me taking my hand.
"Diana..." I say all shocked.
"Atsuko Kagari, will ye marry me?" I am speechless, I did not expect this, I open the box and see two rings, they shine so beautifully.
"I, uh... I... Diana Cavendish I accept" I tell her already crying with emotion, I close the little box and start kissing her with all the love in the world.
We have our first kiss there as brides, I didn't imagine that things would escalate so much, I'm still in shock, but crying with emotion, today was the perfect day for me, I received the best birthday present in the world, I was definitely taken by surprise, I was in tears, melting, it seems that my world even froze, so much that after the hug I keep looking at the rings and they are shiny and beautiful.
"They are gold, I made sure tae buy these fae someone as dear as ye, ye deserve all the care and love in the world, did ye like the surprise?" I loved it, I'm simply melted with so much love.
"Diana you were great, I honestly didn't expect something like this, and wow those rings are beautiful" I say impressed.
"It's just the engagement rings, when we get married we will definitely be wearing a diamond ring, that's just until our wedding, I know we've been lacking a dating ring after sae long, now it's time tae maybe go tae another stage" said my Cavendish.
"I 'ave been waiting for dis, to see dat my daughter is asking my daughter-in-law to marry me is thrilling, it has been 30 years since Bernadette did de same to me" said Mrs McLaren who still wears her wedding ring to this day.
"Ye never take yers off, do ye Mum?" said my girlfriend.
"And I will never take it off, Bernadette will always live with me, even though she has passed from dis life to de better, she was de great love of my life, the same way she was buried with de ring on 'er finger I will be too, beside 'er grave, for dis union between us" Laura said and I want to be like that too.
"The cake is ready, let's all sing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl" Chariot said.
Lucky I didn't make up because I would blur everything just crying here, it was too exciting the moment of receiving an engagement ring, I really didn't expect this, I'm going to marry Diana, with the love of my life, what better gift than this, I'm getting up wiping my tears, standing in front of the cake that wow, it was a huge tower, the way I love it, I'm sure I'm going to love all of this.
"Happy birthday to you" they started singing.
I keep crying, trying not to wet the candles, but I can't resist, this day is getting more special every minute, I even notice that my parents showed up on a video call to celebrate with me, this in the middle of the night, they're at my grandma's house, Keiko also showed up, she's on a mountain with the guys from Touge, singing a happy birthday to me, I love how I'm going through all of this.
Thank you for everything that happened, for not giving up, for being persistent and mature with myself, I couldn't make it if I was myself, I made it far by not giving up and believing in myself, that was my magic.
"Akko! Akko! Akko! Akko! Akko!" They said my name and I went on blowing out the candles feeling like the luckiest person in the world, this was the best day of my entire life.
"Thank you all for showing up on this day, I am happy that you care so much for me and made this one of the most unforgettable birthdays of my entire life, I am happy that I have reached so far my 18 years and now I am definitely an emotional woman, the little girl Akko is now a grown up girl with several things to do yet, that thanks to everyone around here represent this, this beautiful thing that has become today" I say crying emotionally.
In a place far away from there, Mary Brooks had reached the ocean that was close enough to reachDoras...
POV Mary:
I'm exhausted already, I don't even know what day it is, we've been walking in the forest for days now, Pisces is fine, so am I, I can even find food, protect myself from the creatures, but now I'll have to deal with one more thing, this blue immensity in front of me, which Pisces tells me is the ocean near Doras.
"We have arrived, and now how are we going to cross here?" I ask the teacher.
"From here on we will stay to build a boat, I am even adapted in both fresh and salt water, but I prefer not to risk, especially because the sea creatures are dangerous, it is only a journey of 550 km, after that we will have to pass through the beach and climb the Doras cliffs that lead to the Doras Plateau where the Doras hills and the kingdom of fairies are" said the teacher and I am already sitting on the shore of the beach.
"And how am I going to do that? I don't know how to build a boat, nor do I have the magic for this crossing" I tell her already in despair.
"I will help, you first have to make a shelter, we will still be a few days until we cross to the other side, we must first of all have the security to make the crossing, and on the other side there are still challenges" I imagine that there are, I learned nothing of survival in the wilderness in the crazy training that they did, but here with the Sniper I can have the minimum of security at least.
"Well, I can make a shelter, I just hope it doesn't rain as hard as it did in the last days, and not even on our crossing, I make sure to wait for the weather to clear, I don't want our boat to be destroyed when we try" I say tired.
"We're almost there, don't lose hope Mary Brooks, the identity of the boss being revealed will only be a matter of time" Pisces said.
"You said that in the fairy realm, Sifla has the power to use Ley's lines, but what if she doesn't even want that? Did you ever stop to think that we might even be taking a serious risk? I need Ley's lines to get back home to Hellene, I feel bad that she lost her arm because of me, it was me who should be there" I said to her.
"I guarantee that you can do it, it may be a long way, but it will be worth it, she will surely help you discover the identity of the boss, even my memory of the day I was transformed was erased, maybe she has a suspicion that will help us" said the teacher and look where I am now, lost in the bush with a sniper and talking to a fish, that's because I still have to go through a long crossing to the other side of the ocean, if these waves come with everything on my boat, my journey will only be in the trash.
POV Narrator:
Akko one of the youngest of the third year that had graduated, is turning 18 and receiving very special presents from her friends, besides a party that exceeded all expectations that the Japanese girl had for that day, mainly because she received what she wanted most as a present, a marriage proposal from her beloved fiancée, who she had waited so long for, already looking forward to the day ahead.
Happy Birthday, Bi witches...
