Chapter 21: Study Session
The constant ringing of the alarm clock reverberated throughout the Red Team's room. Sucy was the first to be woken by it, yawning and stretching her body.
When her eyes adjusted, the pale witch expected to see the dark wooden ceiling of their dorm. But instead, Sucy was greeted by Elizabeth Lucifer's smiling face, which was extremely close to her face.
Sucy gasped in shock that Elizabeth was so close without her realizing.
"Wakey Wakey~!"
Elizabeth said with a playful high-pitched voice.
Sucy did nothing but snarl at the purple-haired witch.
"Get off my bed."
Elizabeth pouted.
"Guess you're not a morning person, huh Sucy?"
"M-morning?"
The two witches looked up to see Lotte awakening and putting on her glasses. She sheepishly waved at Elizabeth and Sucy, who were in completely polar opposite moods.
"Good Morning Lotte!"
Elizabeth leaped off of Sucy's bed with a fantastical backflip and hurried over to her drawer where she took out her uniform.
"I'm going to get a change first! Promise I'll be quick!"
"O-okay…"
Once Elizabeth had entered the bathroom to change and freshen up, Lotte came down from her bed and hurried over to Sucy. She whispered in the pale girl's ear—her voice dripping with intense concern.
"Akko hasn't answered my calls! It's been almost four months!"
Sucy frowned.
"It…it could be that she just got sick of us and decided to cut ties with Luna Nova altogether. Perhaps conversing with you and me reminds her of how she was being treated here."
"Sucy!" Lotte hissed. "You know Akko would never do something like that—"
"Lotte…shut up."
"H-huh?"
Sucy slowly turned her head to her four-eyed partner. Her face was extremely sweaty while she was grinding her teeth together.
"That's the only possible "good" explanation that I can come up with for why Akko hasn't responded. If it's not that then…we may have to believe that something horrible happened to her. Do you want to believe that?"
Lotte's face turned pale at the thought of Akko in a beaten or bloodied state.
"N-no…"
Sucy sighed and hopped off her bed.
"Right now, we don't even have enough evidence to prove that Elizabeth is…you know. Right now, we need to stop acting like fools and play it smart."
"What do you mean?"
Sucy turned to Lotte, her composure had returned.
"We observe Elizabeth. We wait to see if she drops any crumbs to a possible hidden dark nature. Then, if it turns out that what Akko said is true…we would have to get concrete evidence to bring to the teacher's otherwise…"
"Otherwise?"
"Lotte, do I need to spell it out? It's quite obvious what would happen to us if we get on the bad side of a vam—"
"I'm done~!"
Sucy slapped her mouth shut as Elizabeth hopped out of the bathroom wearing the Luna Nova uniform. Lotte nervously spoke up and ran over.
"T-thank you, Elizabeth!"
Once Lotte had entered the bathroom, Elizabeth skipped over to Sucy who was making up her bed. The pale witch made a face that indicated that she did not want to converse with a purple-haired girl but she ignored it.
"So…what were you in Lotte talking about?"
"Professor Finnelan's exam," Sucy answered. "The material she expects us to know is quite ridiculous, isn't it? I mean—who knows what happened to the runes that the goblins in the Northern Ireland Sanctions messed with right?"
"The goblins in the Northern Ireland Sanctions used the ancient runes to take control of the animals in that area as slaves," Elizabeth answered quickly as if she were a machine. "It was a witch by the name of Martha Bloodsnore, who destroyed the runes and captured all those pesky goblins to the Ministry back in 1717! But for the exam, we are supposed to understand how the goblins constructed the complicated runes and why they were able to mess with the brains of the wildlife."
Sucy scoffed.
"You know that information like it was in the back of your head. Like if you were there…"
Sucy turned to Elizabeth who still wore her trademark smile.
"Trust me. If I was alive back then I would have been nowhere near any sights of those goblins from Ireland. They live in the sewers and smell like the waste of a dog."
"…What a graphic depiction. Anyway, get away from me, I'm going into the bathroom next."
"Okay okay~!"
Elizabeth backed away from Sucy and leaned against the twin bed.
"You don't seem to like me Sucy~…what's it gonna take for us to be friends~?"
"Talk less Lucifer, that's a good starter."
Elizabeth chuckled.
"That's interesting. I'm pretty sure Akko was more of a talker than me and you guys were friends."
Sucy quickly snapped her head around to Elizabeth, her eyes flashing with anger.
"What did I say about bringing up Akko? You know how me and Lotte feel about that!"
"Hey," Elizabeth replied in a serious voice. "I care about Akko too! As a matter of fact, I think I cared about her more than you two ever did."
Sucy raised an eyebrow.
"What does that—"
"Okay—I'm finished!"
Lotte hurried out of the bathroom as if she was chased by a lion. The orange-haired girl quickly grabbed her school books and headed out of the room. Elizabeth smiled at Sucy and followed Lotte out the door. Just before she left, she said one last thing to the pale witch.
"Don't take too long in the bathroom, Sucy~…"
The door slammed behind Elizabeth. Sucy was in the room by herself, pondering the strange words Elizabeth had spoken.
In the last class of the day, the first years had to deal with a taxing history lecture from Professor Badcock. The majority of the class was just of the short teacher shouting and of Diana and Elizabeth answering her questions back to back as if it was some sort of game show.
The students were more drawn to Elizabeth and Diana's impressive feats of answering every single question right—looking at the two as if they were goddesses who descended upon humanity.
Only a few people did not seem impressed Lotte, Sucy, and the Green Team that was sitting from the upper right corner of the classroom.
"Class dismissed! Don't forget to read page 67 and write four paragraphs about the Witch Trials in Orleans!"
As everyone stormed out of the class, Hannah and Barbara noticed something odd. As Diana was walking past Elizabeth she seemed to avoid eye contact and walked away from her. Elizabeth glanced back at Diana and simply shrugged the blonde witch off as she walked alongside Sucy and Lotte.
Once they were out in the hallway and away from prying ears, Hannah and Barbara went up to Diana's side and began to ask her questions full of concern.
"What's going on, Diana?" Barbara asked.
"What's going on with what?" Diana repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"You…didn't say anything to Elizabeth. Not even a hi or anything!"
Hannah stated while folding her arms.
Diana was silent for a bit before responding, "I just did not feel the need to do anything to her."
"…Did something happen in Transylvania?"
The blonde witch turned to her auburn hair teammate who was looking more uneasy by the second.
"Because when we left you seemed to have started acting weird. Did…something happen between you and Elizabeth back then?"
"Did she say something weird?"
At that moment, both Hannah and Barbara were bouncing questions around like tennis which started to annoy the prodigy.
Diana stopped walking which made the two other girls stop as well. She looked at them with the calmest and most mature expression she could make.
"Girls, nothing is going on with me and Elizabeth. I just believe it was best for us to…not converse with her for a while."
"Huh? Why? Elizabeth is our friend!"
"And that is still true—but now she is about the Red Team. I am certain you can see the uncomfortable air around those three. While Elizabeth is trying her best to be friendly, Sucy Manabavran and Lotte Jansson are not very welcoming due to the circumstances that happened between her and…and Akko."
Hannah and Barbara groaned.
"That's why it was a bad idea for the staff to put her on the same team!"
"Yeah! She should have just stayed with us!"
"It would be unethical and unfair for a group to have more or less three team members. That is the sacred rule of Luna Nova and it shall always be that way. But for Elizabeth to get into her new teammates' good graces…we need to give her space."
"But Diana—"
Diana held up her hand which silenced her teammates.
"I have said enough. Come on girls, let's head back to the room."
"Okay…"
The dejected Hannah and Barbara walked behind Diana slowly. While the Cavendish seemed to stroll around with a confident stride, inwardly she was deeply conflicted about the situation with Elizabeth.
The words of what her former teammate said and the warnings of Akko Kagari before she was expelled were running around in her brain like a congregation of ants.
'If Akko was really framed…what would that mean for us now?…There is no proof that Elizabeth is a vampire, but if she is then…what is she planning? Why did she…what did she do to Akko?'
Meanwhile, Lotte and Sucy managed to slip away from Elizabeth and approached the Green Team's door.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean last time things went south," Lotte said as she adjusted her glasses.
"We have to try," Sucy stated calmly as she knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
The cheery voice of Jasminka shouted from the other side of the door. Sucy opened the door and entered with Lotte coming from behind.
"Hey guys, how's it—BAH!"
Instantly, a pillow nailed Sucy in her face. The force was enough to make her fall to the ground.
"S-SUCY!?" Lotte screamed at the sudden fall of her friend.
The one responsible for throwing that same pillow was Amanda who was glaring daggers at the two witches by the door. Jasminka and Constanze were by Amanda's corner, trying to calm her down.
"You two got some nerve coming in here," Amanda snarled. "Jasminka, next time don't open the door for these fake friends!"
"Fake?"
Saying that word was Sucy who easily got up on her own, but her face had a red mark from where the pillow hit her.
"Yeah, you two are fake friends for giving up on Akko as easily as you did!" Amanda shouted. "Now get out of here before I throw something harder at you!"
"W-wait please, Amanda!"
Lotte stepped forward with her hands put together in a pleading formation.
"I understand why you're mad…and you may very well have the right to be mad—but… something is bothering us."
Amanda folded her arms and turned away. Jasminka went over to Lotte and asked her in her usual kind voice, "What is it?"
"We…we haven't been able to contact Akko for months."
The Green Team members looked at Lotte and Sucy with widened eyes.
"Maybe she's…just ignoring us, but it's…I don't know! I just have a REALLY bad feeling about this! That may be—"
"That Maybe Elizabeth did something to her?"
Lotte squeaked in fright at the possibility and Sucy simply stared down at the flower, a shadow covering whatever facial expression she was wearing.
Amanda walked up to the two witches.
"Akko may be a dunce sometimes…okay, a lot of the time—but she is very quick on her feet. If she was ever in danger, I'm sure she would have gotten out of it. But if you guys are concerned about her safety…does that mean you believe in what Akko said? That Elizabeth is a vampire?"
"W-well…"
Amanda rolled her eyes.
"So you still don't believe in your friend…"
"But there might be a way to prove she was right."
Everyone turned to Sucy.
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't you guys noticed that Elizabeth wears an abundance of sunscreen?"
"I don't know. Maybe?"
"And are you guys familiar with the fact that vampires can't last out in the sun? Yet we have seen Elizabeth walking around like no one's business. And no spell can protect her from the rays of the sun if she truly was a vampire…but what if she was something like sunscreen…"
"You think sunscreen can protect a vampire?"
Sucy's eyes flashed with a serious glare coming from them.
"Wouldn't a vampire test their luck with human contraptions if spells failed them?"
"So…what exactly are you asking of us?"
"We want you…no, we need you to steal Elizabeth's sunscreen…"
The room was silent for a moment until Amanda bursted out laughing.
"Out of all the assignments, this is the easiest!" Amanda smiled. "Sure we'll do it!"
"Thanks," Sucy said with a nod.
"Be careful!"
Gentle words said by Jasminka were the last thing Lotte and Sucy heard before exiting the Green Team's room. While walking down the corridors the two witches continued to converse.
"Do you think Amanda can steal from Elizabeth?" Lotte questioned. "What if that proves to be impossible? I mean, she seems to be just as powerful as Diana…"
Sucy answered, "We're not asking Amanda to fight her, it's just to steal some damn lotion. Those guys should be able to handle that much."
"Yeah, your right…do you wanna go to the cafeteria—"
"Hello~!"
Popping out of the corner suddenly was Elizabeth with her hands behind her back and a wide smirk.
"Pyhä paska!"
Lotte screamed as she nearly fell over. Sucy caught her while squinting her eyes suspiciously at the supposed vampire in front of them.
"I've been looking for you guys~!" Elizabeth said loudly. "Why did you leave me behind like that~? I was starting to feel lonely~!"
"W-we're sorry!" Lotte replied quickly. "We were just conversing with some friends and—"
Elizabeth chuckled before placing her hand over Lotte's mouth.
"Relax Lotte! I'm not some police officer interrogating you! I was just messing around. Anyway, you two wanna study for Professor Finnelan's exam with me in the library?"
"Why do you want to study with us?" Sucy asked. "You are already very familiar with the material…"
"Well, I personally don't need to study," Elizabeth admitted. "I just wanted to use it as an excuse to hang out with you guys~! Come on~! We're supposed to be a team—let's do something together!"
"I…guess you have a point…"
"Awesome! Let's go!"
With Elizabeth leading the way, the Red Team headed off into the library. While the purple-haired witch seemed nothing less than happy, the two other girls behind her seemed scared like two prisoners.
It was late in the evening and the Red Team was in a corner alone in the library silently studying. Sucy was reading the textbook and a few other materials alone while Lotte was being tutored by Elizabeth on how to remember the solutions.
From afar, the scene would look like a normal pair of friends working together. Maybe for a few minutes, it was. However, Lotte and Sucy did not see Elizabeth as a friend or an enemy. She was an anomaly that they could not put their finger on. But the small moment of just studying with her for a few hours made them forget their uncertain fear.
Sucy herself quickly realized how comfortable she had become…and it made her sick.
"I need to use the bathroom," Sucy said and immediately walked away from the table.
Elizabeth paid no mind but Lotte looked outward toward her pale friend with worry all over her face.
Sucy left the library and instead of going to the bathroom like she said she was, the pale witch went outside to the courtyard to take in the fresh air from outside.
While she was standing near a pillar, Sucy saw two mushrooms on the ground and picked them up. She sniffed them, taking in their aroma.
"Wonderful~…"
Sucy whispered, her face looking blissful. She put the mushrooms in her pocket, hoping to use them for an experiment later.
But as the minutes went by, Sucy noticed a faint scent in the air.
"Is that…tobacco?"
Sucy looked around and saw a trail of smoke coming from the far left corner. The pale witch followed it and it took her to the other side of Luna Nova's wall. Away from the windows and prying eyes of any students and teachers.
Leaning against the wall and smoking a single cigarette was someone that Sucy would never expect—Ursula Callistic.
"Since when the hell does she smoke?"
Sucy hid behind the corner and watched as Ursula was smoking her cigarette while frowning deeply.
"Ever since Akko was expelled it just seems like that woman has been spiraling," Sucy stated while shaking her head. "Well…there's not really much I can do about that…unless we can bring Akko back…"
Not wanting to see the pitiful sight of a stressed-out Professor Ursula, Sucy returned to the library where she saw Lotte sitting alone and scribbling away in her notebook.
"Where's Lucifer?"
"She said she was going to get more books."
"Ah…"
"…What happened to you? Did you really go to the bathroom?"
Sucy sighed and sat back down.
"Why does it matter?"
Lotte replied, "It doesn't, I'm just asking."
Sucy shrugged.
"I'm just…tired of all of this. Aren't you?"
Lotte sighed in return.
"I thought I was the only one. I feel so tired and it seems like no amount of sleep can fix it…"
In an aisle of books, far away from where Sucy and Lotte were sitting was Elizabeth who was walking slowly by herself.
When she reached the end of the aisle, she stopped and then turned her head silently around.
"You know…I was fine with letting you guys play your spying game for this long. But now it's starting to get annoying…"
Elizabeth quickly took out her right and grabbed the spying bot made by Constantine in her long fingernails. She stared at the bot with irritation and crushed it between her fingers.
The purple-haired witch then stared straight down the exit to the library and stomped out. As she was going down the hallway, Hannah and Barbara were coming down the other side and smiled when they saw her.
"Hey, Elizabeth!" Both girls said with excitement. "How are—"
"Not now girls," Elizabeth said swiftly as she went past them as if they were not even there. Hannah and Barbara were left dumbfounded by Elizabeth's bluntness.
"W-what was that all about?" Barbara asked her close friend.
Hannah sighed.
"Diana was right…maybe we should give Elizabeth some space. Being with those idiots from the Red Team must be taxing for her…"
"Yeah…"
Elizabeth went to the door of the Green Team and knocked on it three times.
"I know you guys are in there~! I'm going to give you until the count of three~!"
Elizabeth put her ear to the door. She could hear the sound of Constantine loading her wand blaster.
The vampire girl giggled.
"One…two…"
SMASH!
Elizabeth easily broke the door off its hinges and entered the room of the Green Team. Amanda, Constantine, and Jasminka were by the end of the room with their wands aimed at Elizabeth, but that meant nothing to her.
"Oh, sorry I forgot to count to three~…"
Author's Note:
Thank you all for reading this chapter and thank you Angry9guy for the help once more! Also an interesting fact, Ursula smoking is not just a random thing we added to this story. In the old concept art for her, she was drawn to have a habit of smoking. This was eventually taken out, but we decided to add it to the story. Also, The Green Team is in some deep trouble~…
By the way here is a sneak peek at one of Angry9guy's projects—
" hold evening Daffy gets blasted Daffy gets blasted page 7 Daffy gets blasted page 8 Daffy gets blasted Again?! What's the matter with you people? We can't do this kind of stuff anymore! Brothers Warner... show biz legends like me shouldn't have to play stooge... to that long-eared, carrot-chomping, OVERBITE-CHALLENGED-" he says
Suddenly Bugs came in with the cosmic buddies
"Eh, what's up doc?" Bugs asked as some men brought up a chair for Bugs.
" it's really him," Delta says as Emma cheers innocently
A/N Angry9guy: Oh it's 2025 and Little Witch Achedmia had a movie that year I'll see what I can do for the 10th anniversary.
Please check out my own original novel, "The Branded Hero Volume 1: Baxter the Failure". The tale of a hero who has been outcasted by the world since releasing The Demon King: https/Branded-Hero-Baxter-ebook/dp/B0DPVSQXQX?ref=ast_author_dp
And please check out my webcomic, "The Curse of Gringerfield" on Webtoon and Tapas!
Webtoon: https/en/canvas/the-curse-of-gringerfield/list?title_no=970667
Light Novel on Version: /series/The-Curse-of-Gringerfield-Novel/info
My web novel— Yin & Yang: Between the Moments of Life and Death: /series/Yin-Yang-Between-the-Moments-of-Life-and-Death/info
Next Chapter: The Vision of The Black Wolf