Monday 9th July 2018
The summer holidays had started a long time ago in Luna Nova, many girls were leaving to see their families, others were going out with their friends, including Akko who took all her friends to Japan with the exception of Diana who refused to go because she didn't feel like going out, also because she was using the excuse that she was going to study, even though classes wouldn't be back until September.
Not only were the students leaving Luna Nova, but there was also a period when the teachers could take time off since they didn't have to correct any of the students' work, so they went on holiday and many of them left, with the exception of some who were forced to work a lot, or who didn't have much reason to leave, one of them was the new teacher Chariot Du Nord, who had changed her name after the missile incident that happened at the beginning of the spring term. She was already well used to the idea of being the person she had always been, but she still felt stuck, even more so after receiving a parcel.
It arrived today, I can't stop looking at it, she hasn't forgotten me after all these years... Do I open it? I've had to isolate myself all these years and after everything I've done... Come on, Chariot, if she hasn't forgotten you, it's because she's still very fond of you.
I open the parcel with that person's name on it, I take a deep breath after seeing it, it's been years since I've heard that name, since that person has communicated with me When I open it, I see that there's a bottle with something in it, it must be something about my sister, I'm sure of it.
"Chariot, I learnt all about it already, not that I didn't already know eleven years ago, Croix had confessed to us, then left, we couldn't do anything, after you disappeared and your career went down the drain I was very worried, you disappeared, you just disappeared, you know how hard I tried to look for you, I knew deep down that you were in Luna Nova, but you know that the curse would never allow me to see you because your sister is here too and she also contains the curse, take this to her, tell her the truth before we can meet, make her take it, I know she won't react well, I'm sorry for throwing the weight of my actions on you, I love you Chariot, I never wanted to change you".
A few tears fall down my cheeks, wetting the paper of the letter, the handwriting is really hers, the way she writes, the way she is, even she feels guilty, I think... I'm going to have to talk to her about everything that's happened, so that she understands the situation, after all, we're sisters, even if we're not by blood.
I take a deep breath and huff, leaving the box with the parcel in my room and opening the door, I leave it and walk through the empty corridors, which during lessons are always full of life with lots of girls chatting, today they're even dead, it seems that everyone has decided to go out for the summer
Walking through the corridors of Luna Nova, I go to the dormitories for the students, climbing stairs, by stairs, she has to be on the highest floor, it seems that with every step I take, I have more memories of the past, even more traumatic ones, some even resulting from her presence.
Here it is, the corridor of the luxurious rooms, come on Chariot, we're getting there, I knock on the door of the blue team's room, I hope she hasn't left, well no answer, I think I'll knock again, it must be a sign.
"I don't think I should have come here..." I whisper fearfully, and turn round to give the door one last knock.
I shouldn't have come, it's better this way, I've already been through a bomb not even a few months ago, imagine now the bomb I'm going to go through with her, I think I'll turn round and go to my room, it's better this way, sorry... Mum... I can say I tried, I think I'll try another way.
I hear the door opening, with a clatter of keys unlocking it, I don't think there's any getting away from it, is there? The footsteps, the door opening and creaking with the sound of metal, bringing back childhood memories, they're coming back with everything, to think that this past haunts me more than anything.
"Professor Du Nord? Why are you here?" She's really here, I stop walking, my heart races, that judgemental way she talks, it makes me feel very much like the way mothers talk, she's just like both of them.
"Oh Diana, hi, I just..." Damn it, I've been waiting to talk, why now? She's just my student, she's only 16 yet Chariot, you were that age once, I'm her teacher.
"Are you all right, Professor Du Nord? Have you asked me to do some special work? If so, know that I'm interested" She's like Bernadette with this fixation on being perfect, I think now the confidence has come, with the comfort has come.
"You're just like your mum..." I say in a relaxed way and smile, which makes her come closer.
"Everyone says that, I'm used to it, but it's a bit strange coming from you, you Du Nord teacher, you seem to talk as if you know my mum, that would be impossible, you joined Luna Nova in 2005, my mum graduated in
1990, you would have just been born to know her here in Luna Nova" said Diana in an explanatory way, she also has the other mum's way.
"I really mean that, so Diana, I need to talk to you, get a mattress and a blanket, get your pyjamas, your things, we're going to be in my room for a long time, I'll make sure we eat, do you like playing video games? I'm sure you do, I think this could be the start of something great" I say, smiling at her, who comes closer and looks confused.
"I don't understand anything Professor Du Nord, just tell me what you want with me?" Diana has no idea, I think she'll be devastated after everything.
"Come with me, there's a lot to reveal to you" I look deep into the deep blue eyes that bring back memories of her gaze... Even the freckles hidden amongst all the foundation Diana wears, her face is very reminiscent of one mother, but at the same time the other too.
"From the seriousness of your expression it looks like something big, is this another crime you've discovered Croix has done behind your back? Does she intend to blow up Luna Nova now? I know she was arrested and even helped us, but I can't help having my suspicions, or have you found a way to help Akko even more with her magic?" I just laughed a bit, then signalled my adopted sister, I think she got the message.
She decided to walk ahead, without picking up anything in the room, I think it must be the worry of it being something so important, I'm even a little lighter, but with a huge weight on my back, I don't think I'm going to resist and have to reveal to her about an old habit of mine.
We walk a long way, my head is full of things, we go into my room, I take a deep breath, open the window, take out my packet of Gitanes and start lighting one while I watch the window, just reflecting, now the nicotine will do its job of relieving my head after everything.
"Chariot do you smoke? You didn't know that smoking can cause lung cancer and many other problems, it contains 4720 toxic substances, this could kill you one day, especially you who are so young, seriously I didn't know you smoked" said Diana who was somewhat shocked by this.
"If you knew what I'd used in the past, you wouldn't be shocked to see me swallowing a nice Gitanes, normally I'd even offer, but you're sixteen and I don't want someone like you to end up having to put something like that in your mouth, I'm sadly past that point, your mums were just as shocked when they found out about my habit, but I didn't call you here for that" I say as I walk over to the box I left unopened, with the parcel my mum had given me, now it's time to reveal the truth behind everything.
"Look, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm already worried about you Chariot Du Nord, if you want to open up to me, you can rest easy, you waited for Akko to leave to tell me something didn't you? Are you afraid of her knowing about these things? Did you use drugs in your career? I won't judge you Chariot, I understand that you must have been through a lot" Diana said and I took the bottle out of the box and showed it to her.
"Here, take this, Diana. Don't worry, it's not alcohol, it's a potion that your mum made and asked me to give it to you to take" I give the bottle to my sister, who looks at me strangely.
"How could my mum give me a potion if she's dead? You don't convince me, Chariot" She even changed her tone.
"One of them is still alive, Bernadette's really gone" Now that the first bombshell is coming, I even see her expression change to one of denial.
"You've gone too far there Chariot, it's impossible for two women to have a daughter, unless there's something to it, but from my birth certificate I know the truth, it's there, my mum's name... And my father... It doesn't say, I wish something like that were real, but let's face it" You'd expect an answer like that.
"You're right, one is impossible, it's not for nothing that they had three, two biological and one adopted, sister's pleasure" I said, holding my sister's hand as she looked shocked.
"What is it? That's a lot of information for my head Chariot, you my sister? My mum graduated the year you were born, how could she risk having a child, even if you're adopted it's still a lot of responsibility, well... You don't seem to be lying, but I need to understand this better, if you claim to be a potion made by this other mother, should I have anything... The blame will fall on you" she said.
I see Diana opening the glass with the potion, she looks at it with an expression of disgust, but that's to be imagined, she plugs her nose and drinks it all, her manner is a little reminiscent of Akko, she may seem controlled, but apparently she wanted to act on impulse now.
When she swallows it all, it seems to be quite disgusting and not the best taste, she's relieved, but then she feels something in her stomach, what comes to mind, she walks backwards and starts vomiting all over the floor, that was a bit.. Strange, what my mum did, a bit of blood came out and some metal balls in it.
"What the fuck is this Chariot Du Nord? I threw my guts out!" Said the furious Diana.
"I had no way of knowing Diana, I swear, it came out of nowhere, that potion must have some effect, let me clean up the floor and then I'll tell you the truth, I think it must have been something inside you that came out, I saw some metal balls falling along with the blood, I think that's what Mum Laura meant by a curse" I answer my sister who even moves away from the vomit.
"Did you give me a spoilt potion? That was a prank by Akko, I think I got it, she's really naughty isn't she? It seems that girl never matures" said Cavendish, and damn it, why did Mum do that? Wait a minute, there's something else in the box, I didn't realise it was a roll inside.
"Hey Diana, don't go away, there's something inside the bottle, it's a message, read it, I'm not playing any tricks, I swear on everything, on my adoptive mothers" She takes out the roll of what looks like a letter inside, strange that the paper doesn't dissolve inside.
"Let's see Akko's offence in action" I'm sure it's not Akko committing something as she reads the letter and I take the opportunity to go through things.
I think it's been years since I've taken these things out of the box, they're one of my biggest secrets, even deeper than my past as a stage entertainer, I even get a smile on my face when I remember when I was younger, it's been a few years now 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000... Those were the best years of my life, even better than my career.
"Diana, at this point you've drunk something that isn't the tastiest, I know that, it's an antidote that took me 15 years to make, I couldn't get close to you during those years, but I was able to do it indirectly without you realising, in short, I think Chariot has achieved her goal, free of this curse I think I'll finally be able to make up for those 15 years we've been away from each other, this little piece of paper doesn't fit much, but know that I threw it all up too" She made a point of reading it out loud.
"I told her it's not Akko's prank, she wouldn't elaborate on something like that, it's too much" She shrugged.
"It could be from O'Neill together and..." I think it's time to show the photos, Diana even went silent, with an expression of shock.
"I wasn't lying Diana, before you, I was the daughter of Bernadette Cavendish and Laura McLaren, their adopted daughter, now let's get this vomit sorted out, it's going to be a long story, I need to tell you about it" All I could see was Diana's composed expression break, this was happening for the first time in front of my eyes, I'd only ever seen Akko tell me about it.
It's not for nothing, these are shocking truths that have been revealed, I'd be the same as Diana, it's not an easy thing to deal with, everything she believed in is going to be shocked, not least because she has no idea, as a relation I'm an adopted sister, by blood I still have a connection even if it's very far away.
The silence just began to take hold of my sister, she started to use magic to clean up the vomit, which was getting clean as if it were new, her face was one of complete discontent, I saw her eyes become opaque, look at mine, Diana was devastated.
"Okay, I guess it's all true... It really isn't... Are you telling me that I had another mum all along? That you knew all those years that I had another mum? That all those years I believed I had a father and had to stop being a lesbian in order to one day have heirs was a lie? That it was all something to erase that part of the family? All you have to do is tell me that it's all my aunt's fault, I won't doubt anything else" She really is indignant.
"If I told you that you've practically unravelled everything, you wouldn't be surprised, it's a long story, are you willing to know what my past was? Who really was Chariot Du Nord?" I ask her and she shrugs her shoulders.
"There's not much you can do, is there? I've just found out that I've thrown my whole life away to be someone who isn't me, the perfect one, the one who is in all expectations, I was just being what they wanted
me to be, they said it would honour my mother's legacy and now you tell me this bomb? It's exactly what I pretended to be, I thought that being heterosexual was the way to honour my mother, even though I'm a lesbian, I thought that even having a crush on you was better than not doing it so as not to tarnish the Cavendish name, and you come in saying that you're my mothers adopted daughter, from another mother that I don't even know about, obviously I expect answers, if you have them" Apparently Diana is interested in the truth, now it's going to be a long road ahead.
"Okay, come with me and I'll start a long story, it'll be lost years of Chariot that you've never heard of, something exclusive that no fan has ever read, by the way, that biography I wrote, it wasn't written by me... It was my former manager who wrote it to create a false story about me, the real story isn't the one taken from the book, it's the one I'm going to tell you now" I tell her as I finish smoking a cigarette and put it out in the ashtray.
[...]
Now it's all sorted, I've made it clear that it's going to be a long story, I've even got something to eat, I've used my crystal ball and I've already started projecting it onto the wall, from now on Diana will know something that the books haven't told her, a past that was a big part of my life, a time when I was happy without knowing much.
"So you're going to tell us everything? I think Akko would love to know all this... It's a shame she's in Japan now" said my adoptive sister.
"She'll know later, you're my family, you'll know things about her even before you're born, believe it or not it'll shock you a lot" I say as I start to use my hand to project my visions of the past, I'm going back specifically to the date I met Laura and Bernadette for the first time
I'm creating a projection of what my past was like, exactly on that day when I met my adoptive mothers for the first time and was able to stay with them for a short time, those were good times, the projection soon shows up and so Diana can see everything more clearly about a past that has become so faded for her.
Friday 23rd June 1995, Loperèc, France
"I was born on 20 February 1990, in a little town called Loperèc in the north-west of France. Maybe you don'tknow it Diana, but I wasn't always a person with a good family, my mother died in childbirth, the rest of myfamily wasn't alive and my father, who ended up impregnating my mother, didn't care much about me, What Iwas left with was that they threw all the responsibility of looking after me onto him, he treated me as if I wasnever there, I always had to manage because my alcoholic father was ignoring me and drinking, he never hitme, but he also treated me as if I was someone who could be ignored, it sucks to have gone throughsomething like that, it was my first five years of life, the small town where I was born practically looked afterme a lot of the time and I looked after myself, it was like that every day, my father let me loose on theoutskirts of town and specifically I decided to walk to where an abandoned house was, they said I couldn't gothere, but I found a way to run to this place, where I ended up meeting two very important women in my life".
It's the scary house, I'm a brave little girl, I'm not a coward, I'm going to this place, nobody's going to stop me, look at me Chariot in the evil abandoned house, I'm the bravest girl, I'm going to tell all the kids in town, they'll freak out knowing I'm here hahahaha! I'm hearing something around here, it sounds like the sound of shadows, not this one, I wonder if there are monsters here.
I'm going to run out of here, I don't want to be in front of monsters, the evil monster is in this place, help, I don't think I should be here, I look ahead and hit my head in front of two people, I end up tripping and falling to the ground and the sunlight gets in the way, but they look like two girls, one with giant breasts and the other with hair like cabbage.
"[It's a child, but what is it doing here?]" They're not monsters, they're aliens, they're speaking a strange language.
"[Laura, we're no longer at home, this child must be lost or lives in the Du Nord family's old residence, it's strange that she's abandoned like this, I think we'd better talk to her, she can help us get to the sacred water]" Why does their language have some words that sound like mine? What do these aliens want with me? I'm scared.
"Get out of here aliens! I won't let you invade the earth!" I won't let you do anything evil, I'm a brave little girl, I'll beat the aliens and tell everyone.
"Oh sorry little girl, we accidentally knocked you over, didn't we? We're sorry, you know where your mum is, we need to get into that house to get something very important" said the alien with the cabbage-like hair and she speaks my language, she even crouches down and shows that she's not that weird, it was the sun, which must have fooled me.
"[You speak French my beloved, that's interesting, because you've never told me before, imagine what it must be like in...]" The other one isn't strange either, she just got hit on the head, why did the cabbage head do that? She still speaks in the alien language.
"[Have some manners Laura, there's a child in front of us, you know I know a lot of things, this way we'll scare the little girl]" She's started speaking in the alien language again, I wonder if she's an evil alien.
"You can rest easy little girl, we're not aliens, we're not going to invade the earth, can you tell us where your mum is?" Cabbage asks the same question as at the beginning, I think I'll answer, she seems like a nice alien.
"Dead" I answer and they both end up falling to the ground, I don't understand why they're like this.
"Oh, I'm sorry little girl, what about this house? Who lives in it? Your father? Your gran? Does anyone?" She must want to go into the scary house, I think I'll take advantage and go in too.
"The house is abandoned, they say it's been abandoned since my mum died, I think she used to live in it, are you going in there? I don't live in it, I live in my father's house" I tell them, pointing at the scary house.
"[She says the house is empty and there's no-one there, it seems the way is clear then]" The girl speaks again in the strange language.
"[Come on then, love]" The sausage-water hair shrugs and speaks in the strange language.
"[Let's not leave the little girl alone, she said she lives with her father, let's take her to...]" I said to the cabbage until the sausage water holds my hand. What does she mean? I don't understand anything.
"[Laura, she doesn't speak English, she's a French child, leave it to me] Hey girl, do you want to go with us" She switched between languages and I was able to understand a little, even nodding in agreement.
I'm soon taken to the shoulders of the girl with the sausage water hair and they're so soft, it gives me some comfort, they're nice, I don't think they're aliens, the girl with the orange hair has a colour similar to mine and looks really nice, just like the one with the cabbage-coloured hair, they walk until they get closer to the house, which they take out some things that look like forks, they must really be aliens, these things are glowing, how wonderful, I've never seen anything like this before, what is it? How bizarre and cool at the same time.
"You really are aliens, you even have these things that glow" I say, pointing at the two of them.
"Hahahaha, we're not girls, we're human like you, this is magic, it's something witches can do, you've probably never seen it, but we'll show you a lot" She's a witch! I never thought I'd see a witch around here before, they said Mum was from a family of witches, that she used to be a witch, they're nicer than they look, I thought witches were ugly old women, but they're pretty girls too and very kind.
They kept walking around the inside of the house, talking to each other in a strange language that I don't understand at all, I kept quiet, I was scared, the house is a bit dark, there are lots of cobwebs, thanks to the two witches everything was clearing up, they went further and further down the house, it's all very bizarre, very strange, a bit scary, but it doesn't scare me, it just makes me curious, I want to see more things, I want to see everything.
"By the way, little girl, what's your name? I'm Bernadette Cavendish and this is my wife Laura McLaren, we've come from Scotland, a very distant country to look for something called sacred water, it can give us what is possible to make us the stone of fertility, so that one day she and I can be mothers someday in the future" Said the cabbage called Bernadette, she has a human name, her wife too how interesting, they must be from distant lands.
"My name is Chariot Du Nord" I answer her with a smile on my face and she's such a great witch, I think I understand that they want to be mums, that's really cool.
"Ah, so you're from the family that actually lives here, you're a very important witch, we're already arriving it seems" said Mrs Bernadette.
They walk on and continue talking, it's a very strange language and I can't understand anything they say, but I can see that they look at me a lot, I get a little embarrassed, I wish I could learn to speak like them, at least understand the subject they're talking about so much, we get to a place where it's more like a cave and I see them filling two glass bottles with their wands, which seems to be something very important, then they put them in a little bag.
Then we go back and I'm left floating again without understanding a word they're saying, what's What? What's daughter? Should we adopt her? They talk in a strange way, well I don't understand anything they say.
"Little Chariot, can you tell us where your father lives?" Mrs Cavendish asks, and I nod.
"He lives in town, I'll take you to him" I say to both of them.
"Wait a bit in the city? You mean you walked all the way here by yourself?" I nod my head in agreement and the two of them look at each other, could I be in trouble like this? I hope they don't tell anyone how much trouble I could be in, not even with my father, but with Grandma and the rest of the townspeople who look after me.
"[I knew there was something strange about this girl, we have to see how she lives, it's a great opportunity for us Bern]" said Mrs Laura.
"[Should we really take the girl? We've barely met her? I know she's a Du Nord and has some of my blood in her, but is it really that necessary?]" I just wanted to understand what they were talking about.
"Please don't tell anyone in town that I've come here, I don't want to be scolded" I tell them.
"Don't worry, we won't get you into any trouble, just show us where your father's house is" she'll help me out of this.
I nod my head and take the two women with me, we go hand in hand, with them even helping me to be careful so that we don't get caught leaving the city, as we enter people look at us, it seems that they have never seen someone different like them, they are just people like any other, we also have different hair colours, how strange, although Mrs Laura looks a lot like the girl in the statue in the square, even her size is similar, looking at her like this she is a very short woman.
We get to where my father's house is, the place is always abandoned as usual, and there I arrive with the two girls, apparently my father is watching television and drinking beer, it must be some football match that he always watches.
"Chariot, I'm glad you're here, get me a beer" says the father, and I see the two women look a little worried.
I walk into the kitchen, open the fridge, get the cans of beer, as always my dad gets drunk, I'm careful not to trip over the mess he's made again, I'm carrying them and watching the two of them with a very different expression, where I leave the cans with my dad who concentrates on watching the telly.
"Dad, I brought two women here, they said they'd come from Scotland, they wanted to talk to you" I tell him and he changes his expression.
"Woah, finally my daughter has come to bring something good, she's daddy's pride, unlike this Olympique de Marseille, two hot Scottish girls, then I saw the advantage, ohhhhh, look at that, you were really telling the truth" said my father with a half glance at the two.
"We've just come to talk about your daughter, we've seen the state of the place, we can help you with that" said Mrs Bernadette.
"Ohhhh tell me more hotties, you can sit with me, how rude of me, Chariot tidy up this house, we have a visitor" said my father and I'm off to tidy up.
"There's no need to tidy up, we've seen enough around here" she said disgustedly, this is really strange, I've never seen Mrs Bernadette like this.
"Oh I'm so sorry about all this, I didn't expect these things, I'll make sure the house is tidy, don't go away, there's plenty of beer for everyone" said the father and they seemed to be saying the same thing.
"You can ask your daughter to go to her room, we have a proposal for you" said the cabbage hair and my father nodded.
"Chariot, go to your room, this is grown-up talk" said Dad and I walked out of there.
I could see from their expressions that they were worried, I think it must have been the mess, Grandma gets the same way when she comes here, she still blames me because I don't tidy up properly, but I do what I can, there are things I can't even reach, I go up to my room and sit on the bed, I wonder what Dad and the two women are going to talk about.
"I didn't hear any of that conversation, I've always been a very obedient child, but all I could hear were thesounds of them leaving and entering the house, over time, my father even told me to stay in my room, whichwas strange of him, I've never seen him order me to do anything, but I could see that his tone was verystrange, everything was very peculiar, even more so since after that they didn't just stay a single day, theystayed a whole week in France, they were kind of spending time with me, They managed to convince myfather easily, but also my grandmother to take me with them, in the meantime they sorted out the paperworkthere and it was wonderful, the week I spent with them was a lot of fun, we played a lot and I didn't evenrealise what their intentions were until the last day, we even helped to completely tidy up my father's house,they also hid being a couple, since apparently nobody saw things very well, but in the end it was peaceful... Itwas the beginning of everything, since your mums arrived I've never been happier in my life, but there's stillmore to come Diana, this is just the beginning, the journey is getting different."
See you, lesbian witches...