By the time Akko returned to her dorm room, Lotte and Sucy were already in their nightclothes; the former was messaging Annabel Crème on her crystal ball and the latter conducting one last experiment before bed. Lotte was the only one to give Akko attention as the Japanese witch dragged her feet across the room.
"Good work today, Akko," said Lotte.
"Thanks…," Akko groaned, then flopped facedown into her bunk, not bothering to change. Running back and forth across the school had left her exhausted. "Ugh…I can't wait for this year to be over."
"I thought you'd be more excited," said Sucy curiously as one of her breakers made a purple mushroom cloud. "I heard you beat Amanda in a race today. Next to Diana, she's the best broom rider in the school."
"Wow, you actually beat Amanda, Akko?" Lotte gasped excitedly, peeking down into Akko's bunk. "You couldn't even ride a broom four mothes ago and now you're outracing Amanda! You're really something, Akko!"
"Kinda, I guess," Akko grimaced. "I get the feeling that she wasn't being serious. Like she was just messing with me or something."
"What made you decide to race her in the first place?" asked Sucy as she put away her equipment for the night.
"Amanda was holding a barrel of Witch's Brew hostage," said Akko, flipping on her back. "And she wouldn't give it up unless I raced her."
"Witch's Brew?" Lotte perked up. "That's super expensive. No one in my family has even seen Witch's Brew before."
"My mom keeps a barrel in her cellar for special occasions," said Sucy, moving over to her bed.
"Diana asked Amanda to get some for the party tomorrow," said Akko, tucking her hands behind her head. "Though I get the feeling she got it through some illegal method, so don't tell the teachers, okay."
"Like I'm gonna rat her out before I can get a sip," said Sucy with a toothy grin.
"Just think…," said Lotte reminiscently. "Tomorrow will be our last day as first years. We had some amazing adventures together."
"All because Akko kept dragging us into her mess," said Sucy mockingly.
"OI!"
"Things are going to be different from now on," Lotte continued. "When we come back, we'll be in our second year. We'll definitely be moving out of this room, hopefully into something a little bigger."
"Maybe we can get one like Diana's team," Sucy suggested, laying down and folding her arms over her stomach. "Akko did technically save the world. It's 'bout time we cashed in on that."
"Don't use me for your own personal gain," Akko grumbled.
"Not like your good for anything else," Sucy chuckled.
"Everything's going to change soon," said Lotte as she laid herself down getting ready for bed. "I just hope we don't. I want us to keep being friends forever…."
As she looked at her prized Shiny Chariot poster, Akko thought back to her conversation with Diana less than an hour ago, her words echoing in Akko's thoughts:
"Only one more day. Then we will begin the next chapter in our lives. Whatever that may be…."
Akko turned away from the poster and closed her eyes, hoping she would soon drift off into a dreamless sleep. She was too tired to think about the future now. That will be tomorrow a problem for tomorrow….
She had only just started to relax her body when a claxon siren screamed throughout the school. Akko shot up with a fright, banging her head on Lotte's bunk. The Japanese witch held her head and rolled sideways out of bed onto the floor, curled up in a fetal position. Lotte and Sucy got up as well, though much slower and more careful than Akko.
"What's going on?!" Sucy screamed over the siren.
"That's the school's emergency alarm!" yelled Lotte.
The alarm screamed for a few more seconds, then was replaced by the headmistress's voice echoing through the halls:
"Attention students, please make your way to the emergency shelters in the basement of your dorms!" Holbrooke's voice sounded frantic, which did not make them feel any better. "All faculty, report to the first floor immediately! I repeat, all student – "
"What's going on?!" Lotte cried, now terrified.
"Hell if I know," said Sucy, managing to remain neutral despite the situation. She pulled Akko by the scruff to her feet. "But I'd suggest we do what the headmistress said and get downstairs."
"Yeah, probably a good idea," Akko agreed.
Akko, Lotte, and Sucy stepped out into the hallway where they saw their neighbors evacuating as well, all of them looking just as terrified. They shuffled to the end of the hall and down the stairs to the third floor where even more students were piling together, milling through way through the narrow corridors. Unfortunately, Akko's room was at the very top floor, so it would be a while before they made it to the basement, especially with everyone clogging the stairway. Thankfully, Akko could see Green Team at the end of the hall trying to keep everyone moving in an orderly fashion.
"All right, everybody, single file!" shouted Amanda. "No pushing! Everyone's gonna make it fine!"
"Please keep the line moving!" yelled Jasminka. "Be good and I'll hand out snacks later!"
"…." Constanze held up a giant flashing arrow pointed at the stairs.
"What do you think is happening?" Lotte whispered to her roommates as they waited in line.
"Nothing good," Sucy murmured. "There hasn't been a school-wide evacuation since the witch hunts."
"You think the school is under attack?" asked Akko, concerned.
"Has to be," said Sucy, grimacing. "But who would be dumb enough to attack a school full of witches – "
BANG!
Everyone in the hall stopped and went silent as a loud thud echoed in the corridor.
BANG!
It from the door leading into the school's main hall. The teacher's must have boarded it up in an emergency, but something was trying to get through.
BANG!
"Everyone, keep it moving!" yelled Amanda, wading her way through the crowd toward the barricade with her wand drawn. "Don't stop! Get to the shelter before – "
CRASH!
The wooden boards exploded into splinters, flying at the students, causing many to cover their faces with terrified screams. Amanda lowered her arms with a grimaced – some of the wooden shards cut her exposed flesh – when she was suddenly tackled to the floor. Something bright red was sitting on her chest, snapping their teeth at her face, only for Amanda to hold them back by the throat with her arm.
Akko recognized the creature immediately – it was the thread monsters from her dream.
While everyone was frozen in fear at the unknown beast, Akko lunged forward and kicked the creature (which we will hereby call Strands) in the face, throwing it off Amanda. The Strand flailed and scrambled to its clawed feet, lunging at Akko next, but was blasted to threads by a spell from Akko's wand.
Akko offered her hand to Amanda and helped the American witch to her feet.
"Thanks for the assist," said Amanda gratefully.
"Any time?" said Akko.
"But what the hell was that thing?" asked Amanda; the throng of students were now double-timing it down the stairs.
"I've seen them before," said Akko. "In my dreams."
"Why does all this weird crap always happen around you?" Amanda groaned.
"It's not like I asked for any of this!" Akko snapped.
In the midst of their argument, six more Strands suddenly appeared at the threshold to the hallway. As they crawled towards the students, Akko and Amanda whipped their wands and shot off a magic bullet each. And they weren't the only ones. Six magic beams in total hit their marks, eviscerating the Strands in seconds. Akko blinked and turned around, discovering Lotte, Sucy, and Jasminka had all drawn their wands (Constanze had her magic shotgun.)
"Thanks," said Akko.
"No problem," Lotte replied.
"Well, whatever the hell is going on," said Amanda, "we need to keep the other students safe. Everybody that can fight, line up in defensive positions! Keep these creeps off our tails until everyone's in the shelter. Red Team and Green Team, along with Linlin, Jeanne, Marianna, and Rita formed a wall in front of the fleeing students as more Strands started to spill into the dorms. With their magic, they were able to successfully push back the tide, but something bugged Akko in the back of her mind.
Besides the Strands, there had been other, albeit briefly, people in her visions. A witch with wooden antlers that Akko didn't recognized, a disembodied voice in a ball of light, and….
Without a second thought, Akko rushed towards the main hallway once the path had been cleared.
"Oi, Akko!" yelled Amanda. "Where're you going?!"
"I have to find Diana!" Akko shouted back. "She might be in trouble!"
"She can take care of herself!" Amanda shouted, shooting another Strand before it could slip inside.
"I just have a bad feeling!" was all Akko said before she fled the dorms.
Akko ran around the curb in the hallway to the other side of the school. Looking over the railings, Akko could make out several flashes of magic exploding in every level of the school along with brief glimpses of red. The Strands were flooding the school and the teachers were trying to fight back, but they seemed to be losing ground. Akko ran faster around the bend, quickly approaching the entrance to the east dormitory.
Like the west dorm, a handful of brave students formed a defensive wall protecting the other students as they evacuated to the basement. Among them were Hannah and Barbara, Diana's best friends and roommates. Only Diana wasn't with them. Fear crept up Akko's spine. As one of the Strand silently crawled up to Hannah while the brunette was facing another monster, Akko shot a magic bullet into the side of its head, shredding it to pieces. Hannah jumped as the creature suddenly exploded until she noticed Akko coming down the hall.
"Akko!" cried Hannah.
"You're okay!" said Barbara, sounding relieved.
"Where's Diana?" Akko asked quickly. She didn't have time to waste.
"She went to help the teachers," Hannah explained.
"I saw her head toward the back of the school," Barbara continued, pointing the way.
"I'll go find her," said Akko, sprinting off immediately. "You keep everybody safe!"
"Be careful!" Hannah and Barbara called out in unison.
Akko sprinted to the end of the hallway and bound down the half dozen flights of stairs four steps at a time. Every floor she passed, she saw teachers facing down the thread creatures a dozen to one. Akko was able to catch a glimpse of Professor Finnelan sweeping almost twenty Strands into the air and severing them with a swipe of her wand. Holbrooke was in the courtyard faced fifty Strands at once and she annihilated them all with a silent fire spell.
The Strands weren't very strong – a single spell quickly eviscerated most of them – but they made up for their lack of strength with pure numbers. This became obvious as Ludkic and Nelson were being forced back into the library by a tidal wave of Strands. The only person Akko hadn't seen was professor Ursula….
Akko finally made it to the ground floor and pivoted out the backdoors, narrowly dodging two Strands jumping her from the ceiling. As she stepped outside, she noticed something hanging in the air about the school, looming in the blackened skies. Akko could have mistaken it for the sun by how bright it was glowing, except the sun didn't look like a bright yellowish-orange ball of yarn.
"What is that?" Akko gasped, momentarily stunned.
That's when she noticed little red dot fall from the glowing ball, descending to the ground like meteors. The red dots turned out to be balls of red thread, which weaved themselves into Strands the moment they landed. Several Strands noticed Akko upon emerging and promptly lunged at her. The Japanese witch weaved her way around the thread monsters, blasting them to pieces as she crossed the cobblestone bridge and sprinted toward the playing field.
As she arrived on the edge of the field, several explosions of light entered her peripheral. At the half yard line, Akko spotted Diana with her wand raised, having exterminated a dozen Strands at once. However, her spell seemed to have taken a lot out of her as she bended forward with gasping breaths, resting against her knees.
Akko sprinted over to her side and yelled, "Diana, are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Akko…," Diana panted, wiping the sweat from her brow with her sleeve. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe."
"I could say the same to you," Akko argued. "What're you doing out here? It's dangerous. There are monsters everywhere."
"Gee, I hadn't noticed," said Diana sarcastically.
"You know what I mean," said Akko impatiently. "Why would you leave the school when that…thing up there is dropping all these monster?"
"I was aiding the teachers when I saw Professor Du Nord running out of the building," Diana explained. "I thought it unusual that the professor would run at a time like this, so I suspected she knew something we didn't. I followed her out here until I was ambushed by those creatures."
"Where's Professor Ursula now?" asked Akko.
"At New Moon Tower," said Diana, gesturing to the tower where the Sorcerer's Stone glowed in the night like a lighthouse.
"All right…," said Akko, taking a moment to collect herself. "All right, let's go and see if we can help Professor Ursula. Maybe she knows how to – "
"Akko, below!" Diana suddenly shouted, looking down at their feet.
Akko looked down and jumped – or at least she would have if her feet were tied to the ground.
Without either of them noticing, a pool of red threads had somehow manifested beneath them. They climbed Akko and Diana like snakes, steadily binding their legs, then their waists and chests. Diana tried waving her wand, but the threads had reached her arms and pinned them into place. Genuine fear crossed Diana's face as the threads slowly wormed their way around her throat –
"Diana!" cried Akko.
She reached her hand out for Diana, who did the same in return, silently pleading for help. They were so close – their fingertips nearly brushed together – but the threads were keeping them apart. Akko felt the threads starting to wrap around her own throat, suffocating her, but she couldn't think about that. She had to save Diana. She struggled in vain to reach her, but the red threads were adamant in keeping them separated.
The last thing she saw before the threads swallowed her vision was a single tear running down Diana's face….
….
….
….
Darkness. All she could see was darkness. It was all encompassing. Crushing her from all side. Trying to break her. Trying to swallow her. Trying to take her –
But Akko refused to bend. As Diana had said, she was too thickheaded to give up. She thought about her friends, her classmates, her teachers, Diana – all of them were fighting to survive. Akko couldn't just roll over and die while they needed help! She can't stop fighting!
And then – light! A blinding light that exploded in the darkness, brushing it aside and setting her free!
Akko blinked, taking a moment to adjust her vision, before she realized that she was standing in the middle of the playing free with no red threads in sight. Unfortunately, Diana was nowhere to be seen either. Akko looked around, hoping the cabbage-headed witch had escaped like her, but there was no sign of her.
That was until she noticed a faint glimmering it the grass. Akko kneeled down at picked it up with her left hand. It was a silver ring with an emerald gemstone.
"Diana's Bond Ring…," Akko murmured. "She'd never leave it behind. Diana…I hope you're all right…."
Akko pocketed it, deciding to return it next time she saw Diana. When she stood up, though, Akko nearly tipped over when she realized that she suddenly felt heavier on her right side. He looked down and let out a startled surprise. The Shiny Rod was in her hand! The Shiny Rod was back! Except…it looked different than before….
The overall base was the same, though the blade from its Shiny Axe form was now present and it had a ring of twisted branches around the bottom, acting like a handguard. And Luna Nova Academy's emblem was dangling from the bottom by what appeared to be a chain made of magical energy.
AKKO OBTAINED SHINY FUTURE
"Is this…the Shiny Rod," Akko murmured, holding the weapon up high to examine. It was surprisingly light. "Or…something else…."
Then she heard a whisper in the wind; a familiar voice ringing in her ears –
"Keyblade…Keyblade…."
"A Key…blade?" Akko repeated, tilting her head in confusion. Then she let out an exasperated groan. "Ugh, why don't anyone ever explain these things properly!"
A glint of yellow light caught her attention. Something was happening at the top of New Moon Tower. For a brief moment, the Sorcerer's Stone light flickered, which was never a good sign. Then she remembered what Diana had said –
"Professor Ursula!" cried Akko. "Hold on, I'm coming!"
Before she could make her way to the tower, however, more Strands descended from the massive ball of yarn in the sky and cut off her route. There had to be at least a dozen – more than Akko knew if she was capable of fighting. A part of her considered going back and getting help, but seeing the Sorcerer's Stone flicker again caused her to reconsider. Akko gripped the strange key weapon in determination and glared hard at the Strands.
"My favorite teacher is up there and you're not gonna stop me from getting to her!" shouted Akko, pulling the Keyblade back. "Now get lost!"
Akko swung the Keyblade, mostly just trying to show off and intimidate the Strands. What she hadn't expected was for the blade of her weapon to glow and shoot out a narrow slash of energy, flying across the field and slicing through eight Strands at once. The four survivors skittered and shrieked like frightened animals. Akko looked down at the Keyblade in awe.
"Didn't see that coming…," she muttered.
One of the Strands seemed to regain it courage and jumped at Akko, but the Japanese witch's reflexes proved superior as she slashed her Keyblade across it's torso, tearing it to ribbons. A second monster followed the first one, swinging its claws at the young witch. Akko deflected it with her blade, pushing the Strand to the ground, and stabbed its head before it could stand back up.
The hairs on the back of Akko's neck stood up, giving her a sense that one of them was trying to sneak up from behind. Akko rolled sideways, narrowly ducking the Strand's claw, and slashed sideways to decapitated the creature. The last of the thread beasts had melded with the grass, crawling across the field like a shadow, and leapt up once underneath the little witch. Akko jumped back at the last possible second, letting the Strand hang in the air before bringing her Keyblade down to slice it through the middle.
Akko exhaled a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, and inspected the Keyblade once more. Despite the similarity in appearance, the Keyblade seemed to function differently than the way Shiny Rod worked four months ago. Were they two different things, or was the Keyblade just a necessary evolution for the Shiny Rod to help Akko once more?
Either way, Akko was just grateful to have it back.
She noticed the Sorcerer's Stone flicker once more; they were becoming more frequent by the second.
"Shoot, Professor Ursula!" yelped Akko.
Not waiting for more thread beasts to appear, Akko sprinted to the New Moon Tower. She crossed the threshold before the Strands started to converge on the tower, climbing up the spiraling staircase three steps at a time.
The adrenaline running through her veins allowed her to ignoring her throbbing pain in her muscles as she reached one hundred…two hundred…five hundred…one thousand…two thousand steps! By the time she reached the top, she was drenched in her own sweat and her lungs made it difficult to breath, but she finally made it to the last steps.
But when she reached the top, she jumped back with a startled scream as a body landed in front of her. It was Professor Ursula! She had discarded her teaching uniform and into her combat attire, though there were multiple tears in the fabric. The teacher herself looked like she had been put through the ringer; early signs of bruising were beginning to develop on the right side of her face.
"Professor!" screamed Akko. She dropped the Keyblade unceremoniously and dropped to her knees, cradling her idol into her lap. "Professor, speak to me! Are you all right?"
"Ak…ko…," Ursula moaned weakly, wincing as she moved. "What…are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help!" said Akko fretfully. "C'mon, we'll get you back to the school! The teachers can help!"
"Akko, you have to run…," Ursula grimaced. "He's dangerous…."
"Who - ?"
"So we meet again, young one."
Akko gasped and looked up. Someone was standing underneath the Sorcerer's Stone. It was the man she had encountered earlier. The one in the golden mask! She stood proud and poised with one hand behind his hand and the other wielding what looked like a great sword made of solid gold light.
"You again!" Akko glared. "What did you do to Professor Ursula?!"
"Akko, do you know this man?" Ursula asked as she sat up, staring at her student.
"I saw him earlier when I was helping Diana," Akko explained. "He snuck up on me when I visited the stone, being all weird and creepy."
"Hurtful, but not inaccurate," said the man. "I'm glad you are here. To witness the opening of this world's door and its inevitable end."
"Not gonna happen!" Akko growled. She moved to her feet, picking up the Keyblade, and pointed it at the man. "Whatever you did, put it back! Right now! I've got a giant key thing and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"Akko, where did you get that?" Ursula gasped, staring at the Keyblade in astonishment.
"So you really are that girl's successor," the man chuckled humorously. "I had my suspicions. You certainly chose an interesting one, Kiana…."
"Who?" Akko questioned, tilting her head.
The man offered no explanation.
Slowly, almost methodically, he raised his sword of light, pointing the blade at Akko. The stared (or Akko assumed he was staring) for many tense moments…. Then he swiveled around and slashed the Sorcerer's Stone, severing it in two.
"NO!" Ursula cried.
The two broken fragments of the Sorcerer's Stone fell as if they were in slow motion. Suddenly, an explosion of light burst forth from the empty space between them, engulfing the man in the golden mask. As it flew towards Akko, Ursula leapt forward and shielded her student with her body. Akko closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she felt Ursula's body thrash against her, like they were being pushed by a hurricane. Only for Ursula's weight to suddenly disappear and Akko was launched off her feet into the raging winds –
Akko wasn't sure how, but she landed flat on her back in the middle of the playing field again – without dying, I might add. Or…at least part of the playing field.
As the little witch sat up, rubbing the sore spot on her head, she looked around and came to unexpected revelation: she was floating in the sky on a broken piece of the field. All around her was a sea of black angry clouds, fragments of stone swirling through the air. The giant ball of glowing threads was closer – she could almost jump up and touch it.
Akko flipped around on her hands and knees and crawled to the edge. She expected to see Luna Nova, New Moon Tower – anything of the place she called home. But all she found was a bottomless abyss.
"What happened to the school?" cried Akko. She cupped her hands and shouted. "Lotte! Sucy! Anyone! Say something! Please!"
But only the howling wind answered her call. Akko hanged her head, frozen in shock. It was all gone. Her school, her friends, Ursula, Diana – everything was gone. Why? She asked herself. Why was this happening? What did they do to deserve this?
Before she could sink too deep into her own dark thought, a thunderous crash rumbled behind her. Akko picked herself and turned. The little witch tilted her head back and stared into the burning gold eyes of the massive humanoid thread monster that had invaded her dreams. Only this wasn't a dream – Akko knew, because she was aching all over. This was real.
Instead of fleeing in terror like she had in her dream, however, Akko's chest swelled up in anger.
"You again!" Akko screamed furiously. "Who are you?!"
THE RED STRING OF FATE
KINDREAD
The hulking monster known as the Kindread stared impassively at Akko, like someone looking down on an ant (which, in all consideration, wasn't too inaccurate of an analogy.) But when Akko took hold of her Keyblade and moved into a battle stance (which she learned from Jeanne), the Kindread brought down one of its mighty fists on top of her. Fortunately, its massive frame made it slow, making it easy for Akko to roll out of the way.
The Kindread fell to its knees, shaking the ground, and swept its arm across the area. Akko narrowly leapt over the thread monster's arm and landed safely on the other side. The little witch then slashed her Keyblade across the Kindread's arm, creating a gaping white gash in its red fiber skin. The Kindread pulled back it's arm, bemoaning in pain, taking note of the white cut that remained present on its wrist.
The Keyblade had cut it! She had caused permanent damage to this monster where her wand had done nothing.
"I'm really starting to like this thing," said Akko, admiring her weapon.
The Kindread seemed to glare at Akko and raised its other arm, summoning a ball of static electricity above its open palm. Akko remembered this part from her dream. The giant closed its claws into a fist, breaking the static ball into three smaller orbs that flew towards Akko. If she remembered correctly, these things followed her no matter where she went, so there was no point in running away. Instead, Akko reeled back the Keyblade, brow furrowed in throught.
"How did I do it last time…?" Akko mumbled to herself.
She was thinking about when she had first called the Keyblade and unintentionally created a blade of energy that wiped out the Strands. Maybe it was like using a wand. If she concentrated her magic into the Keyblade….
The edge of her blade glowed bright-green as Akko's magic gathered together. She swung the Keyblade with all her strength and successfully created a thin blade of energy that sliced through the air. It not only slashed the static orbs in half, destroying them in midair, but the blade had also slashed across the Kindread's face, creating a white scar across it's left eye. The Kindread collapsed to his hands and knees with a groan, one of its claws covering the gash on its face.
"Hell yeah!" Akko cheered, jumping up and pumping her fists in the air. "How do ya like me now, you big doofus?!"
The Kindread turned its head toward her. It looked pissed.
"Oh…that's not good," Akko muttered in trepidation.
The Kindread raised its open palm in the air and slammed it down. Akko jumped back out of the way, but then saw more Strands crawling out of its skin(?) much like they did in her dream.
"Grr, I don't have time for you small fries!" Akko shouted as she slashed through one Strand and kicked another away.
At least half a dozen Strands had emerged before the Kindread started to pull back its hand. Akko effortlessly sliced another Strand when she watched it go. Sensing an opportunity, Akko leapt over the remaining Strands, dodging their claws, then bounced up onto the giant's arm. She nearly tripped due to the thread monster's skin being surprisingly smooth, but stabilized herself and made a dash up the length of its arm.
As she traveled up the giant's limb, Akko turned her head and noticed the Kindread reaching out to grab her with its other hand. Akko rolled underneath its fingers, nearly tripping over herself again, and made her way to the monster's shoulder. She immediately pivoted and made a daring leap of faith towards the Kindread's face. Akko exclaimed a wailing battle cry before she plunged the Keyblade into the Kindread's face, burying it deep into the monster's right eye; a pink, water-like substance gushed out from the wound.
The Kindread howled in unbridled agony. It shook its head wildly and flailed its limbs everywhere, sweeping the Strands off the land and into the dark abyss below. But despite flailing about, Akko kept a firm hold on the Keyblade. With a little effort, Akko planted her feet against the Kindread's face and stabbed the Keyblade deeper into the monster's eye, creating a spider web of white cracks around the socket.
The thread titan was finally able to get a good swing and slapped Akko off its face, throwing her into the ground. Akko landed roughly on her back, knocking the wind out of her, but surprisingly didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.
As she sat up, she saw the Kindread writhing in pain, holding its head with the Keyblade still lodged in its socket. It's cries grew weaker as the thread giant fell forward like a timbering tree. Akko narrowly rolled out of the way at the last second before the giant collapsed on the ground beside her. Akko cautious rose to her feet, waiting for the monster to get back up and starting fighting again with a vengeance.
But it didn't. It remained unmoving.
…and then Akko started laughing. Slowly at first, but quickly rose to a gleeful cheer as she jumped up and down, whooping in celebration.
"I did it!" she screamed. "I actually beat an honest to goodness giant monster! Just like in the video games! Amanda's never gonna believe this! Maybe I should take a selfie as proof – "
But Akko's victory was premature.
Moments after the Kindread was defeated, monumental strands of red string descended from the giant yarn ball above like crimson serpents. They immediately latched onto the Kindread and lifted the monster into the air with Akko's Keyblade still firmly in its eyes. The Kindread was drawn into the yarn barn where it was absorbed into the greater mass like quicksand.
But it wasn't done yet.
A dozen more threads separated and slithered towards Akko. The little witch tried to run away at first, only to run to the edge and realize that there was nowhere left to go. The strings snatched her up by her arms, ankles, waist, chest, and thrown – all lifting her off the ground and towards the floating yarn ball.
"Let me go!" Akko shouted, struggling pointlessly against her bond. "Let – me – go!"
But there was no breaking free. The yarn ball was going to swallow her up like it did the Kindread. Uncharacteristically, Akko whimper. She pleaded for someone – anyone – to come to her rescue!
That's when she noticed a faint glimmer in the sea of darkness.
Akko narrowed her eyes in concentration, soon realizing that glimmer was coming from a giant pale-green bird that appeared to be made of flames with a white four-pointed crest on its torso. The flaming avian screeched as it shot through the sky like an arrow, slicing through the threads with its talons. Akko began to fall with a startled wail, but the fire bird quickly descended upon her, wrapping its lengthy wings around her like a feathery cocoon. The last thing Akko saw before she was sealed inside was the red fibers reaching out for her again –
Then everything went quiet. The raging storm was silenced. The fear and panic still gripped her heart, Akko felt a sense of warmth and comfort inside the flame bird's surprisingly soft plumage. It must have been magic. It was the only thing that could explain why she suddenly felt sleepy, her lids feeling like lead weights. Akko rested her head against the avian's soft chest, looking into its familiar scarlet eyes before she closed her eyes –
He drifted off into a dreamless slumber, unaware of the difficult journey that lie ahead of her….