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A Fool's Study into Witchcraft
Chapter 1: A Fool's New Beginning
This brown haired foreign girl dressed in an orange coat and carrying nothing but a pink backpack sure is annoying.
"Oi… Oi...!"
"Hey…!"
"Can you hear me?!"
"You are definitely going to Luna Nova as well? Right?!"
First of all, Sucy Mambavaran is not a friendly person. She looks like a stereotypical witch with all the warning signs turned up to eleven. There is literally nothing about her appearance that even remotely hints at approachability. The gloomy aura she constantly emits, the scent of poison and dangerous chemicals, and the ever-present frown on her face should logically drive away any person seeking her attention. How this foolish girl continued to attempt communication with her despite all these warning signs is just unfathomable.
As she continued to walk and the girl continued to follow, Sucy just did not understand why this girl picked her of all people to bother.
"I came all the way from Japan to attend this school all by myself you know! My name is Kagari Atsuko by the way, but you can call me Akko for short!" she introduces loudly, "anyway, ever since I saw Shiny Chariot's magic show when I was six, it's been my dream to become a witch as great as she is! You heard of her right? I'll bet she's very famous in the magical world, right?"
Is this girl serious? Not one person Sucy knew spoke of that Shiny Chariot stage-circus... thing with any kind of flattery. The gloomy witch mentally sighed. She needs to get rid of her ASAP.
The annoyance now dubbed as Akko continued. "You don't need to answer! Of course everyone knows that Shiny Chariot is amazing! Why did I even bother asking? How silly of me!"
Sucy reaches into her sleeves…
"...I guess it's because there are a lot people I know that don't like her… But oh well, I know the truth! They're just hiding the fact that they're sad that she left so suddenly-"
Akko paused just as she saw the gloomy witch extend a hand out to her, as if offering to shake her hand. "Oh! I'm sorry! Here, let me shake your hand!" the brunette cheerfully grabs Sucy's outstretched hand with both of hers, "Nice to meet you-"
Just as Akko took hold of Sucy's hand, she felt something coil around her outstretched arms. She looks down to find two very venomous and very angry snakes wrapped around the appendages. Both animals hiss at her angrily, baring their fangs and ready to bite her.
Sucy smirks. Snakes are her go-to option when she wants something annoying to leave. This should do the job-
Much to the Filipino's unexpressed surprise, Akko is totally calm. She swiftly grabs the reptiles and flings them into the nearby river. No screaming, no nothing.
"How did those get here? But no biggie! There is not a snake in the world that can scare the next Shiny Chariot!" she proudly declares.
Hm... It would seem having a small brain does indeed give you guts. One mystery solved. Sucy resumes her walking, while reaching into her bag for plan B.
Dusting her hands, the brunette continued. "Was that a transformation spell? That was pretty neat, actually! Chariot used to do that all the time at her shows and turned herself into a lot of cool things! I can't wait to learn to do something like that myself!"
Finding what she was looking for, Sucy pulled a bottle out from her bag and opened it. She poured about half the bottle onto the ground, right in front of Akko's path.
"I have ordered some books about magic from the school… But I don't really understand them! Maybe you can teach me-"
Too busy talking, Akko slipped on the lubricated patch of ground, comically sending her falling forward and slamming her head into the unforgiving pavement.
Sucy grins, that looked and sounded painful. Hopefully this gets the girl to leave her alone-
The face planted girl's arms suddenly move. Her palms press onto a dry patch of ground and pushes. Astonishing Sucy with her acrobatic fineness, Akko back flips through the air and lands slightly ahead of her. Akko gives the gloomy witch a smile all the while brushing some dirt off her perfectly uninjured cheeks.
"Woah, didn't expect the ground to be this slippery! That was totally how my first time ice skating went! Good thing I'm super tough now!" She declares obliviously.
That was... unexpected. Just what is this girl made of? Sucy thought the girl's physical ability would be subpar at best considering just how scrawny she appears. But apparently appearances can be deceiving with just how skillful those back flips looked. Sucy quickly reevaluates her impression of Akko.
Akko continued to ramble on. "... I have been talking about myself for so long, I didn't even ask for your name! What is your name anyway?"
Sucy doesn't answer and just continues on her path, already thinking of another way to get this girl off her back. Thankfully, passing by some grass gives her the right idea. She reaches into her bag for another potion.
"... Still not much of a talker huh?" Akko's happy face remains undeterred, "I get it! I'll just keep introducing myself until you do! Maybe you'll tell me your name when you know more about me - Eh?" The brunette tries to walk another step, only to learn that her foot is caught on something. Looking down, Akko watches as some grass weaving themselves into ropes around her feet and locking her in place.
Suzy takes this time to walk faster to put some distance between her and the brown haired nuisance. The binding potion she used is some of the finest of its kind. Even the strongest of predatory animals have no hope of escaping; more than enough to keep that annoyance off her back.
Unfortunately, the sound of rope snapping shatters that train of thought along with her hopes of ridding herself of that annoying girl.
"...Have to give it to you! Those were really strong!" Akko compliments. "Magic is so useful, isn't it? I can't wait to learn it myself!" She kicks the remaining grass off her running shoes.
This is madness. A tiger couldn't rip through those ropes let alone a scrawny Japanese girl like her! How is this possible...? A girl her age shouldn't have anywhere near the strength to-
This girl is… making her curious? Holy crap! Something other than mushrooms and poison has managed to catch her interest after so long!
A smirk so faint that one had to squint really hard to see it graced Sucy's lips. This girl has strength, agility, guts, and stupidity. This means she is safe to step up her game. Sucy reaches into her bag once more.
"Oh I know! Let me give you a bit of my backstory so you can get to know me better~!" Akko begins, "... You see, I come from a pretty normal family. They can't use magic and aren't very rich, so it took me a long time to convince them to let me attend Luna Nova! Well... actually, I earned all the money by myself. It was a lot of hard work, but nothing is too much for my dream I would say!"
Just as Akko finished blabbering out her past, Sucy points the mouth of a perfume bottle at her and pressed the button.
"What is this…?" Akko takes a good whiff of what she was sprayed with. "Why do I smell… delicious?"
As soon as those words leave her lips, barks and howls echo throughout the area. One by one wild, hungry dogs appear, attracted by the wonderful scent. Soon they surround both girls, leaving no room for escape.
"Eh…!" Akko whimpers, taking a step back, "Umm… nice doggies…?"
The dogs creep forward, their maws dripping with saliva.
"Bad doggies! No-!"
The dogs pounce at the brunette, ready to sink their teeth into her… Only to meet a massive surprise as Akko swiftly punch one out of the air and back flip away to avoid the rest. Upon landing, the brunette immediately took up a combat stance.
"Fine! Bring it! The next Shiny Chariot will not let herself be eaten so easily!" she declares as the animals charge at her.
Sucy observed how the girl fought the dogs off. She expected Akko, despite her strength, to struggle fighting off so many hungry animals. She is, however, proven wrong once more. Sucy has no knowledge of martial arts but even she could tell that Akko clearly is not an amateur. The Japanese girl exploited every opening the rabid canines left and countered every attack aimed at her with one of her own. The dogs were quickly proven to be no match against her as she dispatched them with ease one by one.
Just as the last dog went down, Akko turned to Sucy and dashed toward her, irritation plastered all over her face.
Sucy's eyes widen as she takes a step back. Is she…?!
"WATCH OUT!" Akko screams as she leaps in for a drop kick. Her foot smashes into a dog about to pounce at the gloomy witch from behind, spending it flying.
The beaten animals wince collectively in pain, deciding that the wonderful smell emanating from Akko just wasn't worth the trouble. Akko stood protectively by Sucy's side until all the dogs have fled. She hasn't even broken a sweat from the conflict.
The brunette turns to the gloomy witch with concern. "Geez! You should've payed more attention! That dog could've taken a chunk out of you!"
"... Why?"
"Huh?"
"... Why did you protect me?" Sucy questions, annoyed. "So far I have been doing nothing but trying to get you off my back. Why do you still insist on befriending me when I have been terrible to you the entire time?"
Akko looks at Sucy. She smiles at her once more. "When I saw you earlier, I thought to myself: 'gee, that is one of the gloomiest people I have ever seen!'. So I said to myself, 'Wouldn't it be great if I tried to befriend her? She looks so lonely, I'm worried she'll have a bad time at Luna Nova!'" She explains, "so here I am. Trying to befriend you. That and I just wanted to ask you about stuff that I don't know about our school yet..."
Sucy deadpans at Akko, "... What a stupid reason. You are the biggest moron I have ever met in my life."
Akko chuckles back happily, "I get that a lot, but you know what? If following my believing heart and achieving my dream gets me called those names, then so be it," she points to herself proudly. "Feel free to call me the biggest fool there is!"
Sucy stares at Akko's cheerful grin. Faces like these usually irritate her, but why wasn't she ticked off right now? Was she… actually enjoying talking to this girl?
Thoughts after thoughts surface in her mind. So, what has Sucy learned about Akko from all those attempts to get her off her back? This girl is stupid and annoying; that's one thing. But she was shown to be super durable and is somehow very physically strong despite the skinny build. She is competent in a fight and displays more acrobatic ability than a girl her age has any right of having. And… she wants to be Sucy's friend, plain and simple.
The more she thought about it, the more interesting Akko became. She just cannot believe what she has encountered. Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, is a person you can only meet once in a lifetime; strong and tough enough to be the perfect toy, too dumb and happy-go-lucky to be completely humiliated and driven away. This is an opportunity Sucy will not pass up. If the price to keep her around for personal use was to be her 'friend', then so be it.
"...Sucy."
"-Huh?" Akko pauses.
"... My name is Sucy. Sucy Mambavaran," she introduces formally and holds out her hand.
"... You're going to give me snakes again?" Akko asks innocently.
"No. Not this time," Sucy shakes her head, showing her rare moment of genuine goodwill. "You win, I will be your friend."
Almost instantaneously, a bright, happy smile splits Akko's face. She rushes in to grab Sucy's outstretched hand. "Finally! Nice to meet you at last, Sucy!" She shakes it like there is no tomorrow, "you are my very first friend at Luna Nova! I can't believe this!"
Sucy retracts her aching hand. This girl is way too strong for her own good. She will need to refrain from making physical contact with her in the future.
To be honest, her new friendship with Akko is not an entirely selfless one. Technically speaking, she befriend her to get herself a personal Court Jester made of steel. What a nice finding for a natural born trickster like herself. She is now free to do experiments and pranks that are normally too lethal for the average witch. Sucy just can't wait.
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A blonde haired girl with glasses dressed in a Luna Nova uniform struggles with multiple packs, each of them too heavy for her to handle.
Obviously Lotte Jansson is not a physically strong person. Her jolly dad is, but she is definitely not. She is more of a book person to be honest. So to her, being forced to carry a dozen different items to her boarding school is a daunting task she struggles to complete.
Dropping another package, the Finnish girl collapses to her knees and pants heavily. "Mom and Janne sent me too many souvenirs!"
She now regrets not asking her family to mail these directly to the school beforehand. At this rate she is going to be late. Luna Nova is a strict school, and any students that fail to attend the entrance ceremony will be expelled automatically. Her family has sacrificed a lot to get her here and she doesn't want to waste her chance by being late...
"Do you need help?!" A voice suddenly calls out. An Asian girl comes running to her, and starts picking up her fallen objects.
"Ah, thank you very much!" Lotte uses her broom to help herself up. "I couldn't carry all of these by myself, I am glad you came to help me!"
"No problem! How can I be the next Shiny Chariot and standby doing nothing while someone needs help?" The girl exclaims proudly as her companion walks up to her.
A very gloomy person, Lotte thought.
"Shiny Chariot…?" Lotte ponders, "Oh, I remember her. I'm surprised that someone is still talking about her though. I thought she wasn't so popular these days..."
"Heh heh… Just you wait! Everyone will be talking about the Chariot again when I become her successor!" the brunette states proudly. "Anyway! What is your name? I am Kagari Atsuko, you can call me Akko for short!" she gestures to her gloomy companion. "This here is Sucy, Sucy Mambavaran! My first friend of Luna Nova!"
The girl known as Sucy rolls her eyes. "Hello," she simply greets, attitude indifferent to Lotte's presence.
"Nice to meet you both, my name is Lotte, Lotte Jansson," the blonde girl introduces.
"So, you can't carry all of your stuff right?" Akko asks. "How about I carry them for you instead?"
"You will?" Lotte says.
"She can," Sucy comments, "she's all muscles and no brain."
Akko smirks, "just watch me!" She takes off her backpack tosses all of Lotte's souvenirs into it. "There! I can give them back to you when we get to Luna Nova!" she closes the zipper.
Lotte and Sucy raise an eyebrow. What in the world? Akko's backpack didn't change in shape at all. In fact it doesn't even look full.
"Oh oh! Is this one of those magical backpacks that has extra space?" Lotte says, excited, "I heard those are super expensive and almost impossible to get! You actually have one?!"
"Something like that~" Akko answers, picking up the pack with ease and carrying it again. "Let's go! We are going to be late!" she grabs Lotte's hand and starts moving.
"Wait, wait! Not so fast!" Lotte struggles to keep up to the sudden movement.
Sucy silently follows the girls as they get familiar with each other. Akko's previous ramblings echo throughout the gloomy witch's mind.
"You see, I come from a pretty normal family. They can't use magic and aren't very rich, so it took me a long time to convince them to let me attend Luna Nova! Well... actually, I earned all the money by myself. It was a lot of hard work, but nothing is too much for my dream I would say!"
"She said she is not very rich… And that she worked for her own money..." Sucy thinks to herself. "Like hell some random girl can earn enough for both this school and some fancy fourth-dimensional magic backpack. Does this mean that there is more to her than just Shiny Chariot this, Shiny Chariot that…? Just what kind of job did she have?"
Perhaps her previous evaluation of Akko is not as sound as she would like it to be.
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"So… there are no buses that lead directly to Luna Nova?" Akko asks as she looked up at the ceiling inside a tower with a sign reading "LEYLINE" in front of it. The ceiling glowed an ethereal green, twisting and pulsing as if it were a wormhole that led directly into another reality.
"Of course not, you idiot. What kind of bus would come to a place like this?" Sucy deadpans. "Do you even know what Ley Lines are?"
"They're like lines of magic that exists all over the world that witches can draw magic from, right?" Akko answers.
"That's correct Akko," Lotte nods, "but Ley Lines are more than just that. Since they spread all over the world, witches have been using them to travel far distances since ancient times."
"Oh! So they are like subways for witches?!" Akko exclaims. "So that's how Shiny Chariot exits her show all the time! I thought that was a spell all on its own!" she looks up on the ceiling again, "Eh… How are you supposed to get in from all the way down here?"
"You fly of course," Sucy deadpans as she mounts her bloom, "Tia Freyre." She rises into the air and heads for the portal.
Just as Lotte climbs onto her own broom, she then notices that Akko isn't doing the same. "Ah… You don't have a broom?"
Akko frowns. "... I-I thought they were going to teach me on how to ride one when I start class… I didn't expect that I would need to know that to even get to school… What am I supposed to do?" her face is that of defeat.
"... Okay. Tia Freyre," Lotte levitates, "Here, ride with me. This is my thanks for carrying my souvenirs for me."
Akko stared at the blonde as if she was the second coming of the messiah. She pulls Lotte into a crushing hug. "Oh thank you, thank you! ! !"
"Not so hard! I can't breathe!" Lotte struggles under the inhuman strength of the brunette.
"Are you two done yet?" Sucy asks, impatient.
"Oh- Sorry!" Akko quickly climbs onto Lotte's bloom, "Let's go, Lotte!" The witches begin ascending, eventually reaching Sucy's level.
"Open, O path to the Luna Nova!" Both broom riders chant as the Ley Line consumes them all.
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"So this is the inside of a Ley Line!" Akko excitedly says, looking all over vast green space of flowing magic, "this feels just like the Cognitive World!"
Lotte turns her head to Akko, confused. "Cognitive World? What's that, Akko?"
Realizing what she just said, Akko immediately covers her mouth. "D-Did I say that…? Heh heh…" she waves to Lotte in a reassuring manner, "d-don't mind me. I was just rambling! Just ignore me! Please!"
"O-Okay…" Lotte returned her attention to controlling her broom. Behind her, Akko sighed in relief and begin muttering to herself under her breath like a crazy person.
Flying behind the other girls, Sucy watches them as her eyes narrow. Her suspicions of Akko being more than meets the eye ever growing. For someone who said that she had never ridden on a broom before, this girl sure got the hang of it unnaturally quick; showing no shaky movements nor a word of a fear of heights.
Cognitive World… that term doesn't ring a bell. Just what is she talking about?
Suddenly, as if an earthquake had struck, the entire Ley Line begins to shake violently. The flow of the magical energy becomes chaotic, causing the girls to lose control of their flights.
"W-What's happening?!" Akko exclaims, holding onto Lotte closer.
"I-I've never seen a Ley Line do something like this!" Lotte says, while trying her best to keep things stable.
Struggling with her own flight, Sucy realizes, "wait a minute. I think I know what is going on. Are either of you carrying salt?"
"Salt?!" Akko questions.
"Ley Lines hate salt," Sucy states, "it's trying to send us away!"
"Eh…" Akko reaches into her jacket's packet and pulls out a small sealed jar. "Does this count?"
"What is that?!" Lotte asks.
"Oh, these are Umeboshi, salty plums!" Akko replies, licking her lips, "they're snacks I just can't do without!"
"Please, throw it away!" Lotte pleads, "I can't hold on for much longer-"
Too late. A massive wave of magical energy crashes into Lotte, knocking both her and Akko off the broom. Their bodies slam onto Sucy behind them, dragging her off as well. The group of bodies drift into the flow of magic, being sucked down as if caught in a whirlpool.
As both Sucy and Lotte struggle under the current, they feel their hands being suddenly grabbed and held tight.
"RAKUKAJA!"
The last thing they heard before unconsciousness was the sound of shattering glass as they were ejected from the Ley Line...
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"Hm? What's wrong, Alcor?"
A young witch with dark hair sits at a desk reading a textbook. Professor Ursula Callistis of Luna Nova turns to her crying familiar; a white crow by the name of Alcor. The bird caws repeatedly, beak pointing skyward.
Understanding what her familiar means almost immediately, the young teacher pulls out her wand and activates the projector in her office. Soon, the room blackens and the ceiling is littered with stars and constellations. Narrowing her eyes to focus, she suddenly gasps.
"Someone entered the Arcturus Forest?!"
Quickly rushing out after grabbing her broom, the young teacher left for the forbidden woodlands.
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As Sucy opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of a forest only seen in nightmares. The place is dim, dark, and filled with trees shaped like suffering, twisted humans.
"Hey, you're awake! Are you hurt?" Akko's happy face enters her field of vision and greets her.
"I am fine. Don't get so close," Sucy replies annoyed as she stands up.
Akko signs in relief. "I am glad… I thought my body wasn't enough to cushion the fall because you both still got knocked out anyway," she walks over to the still unconscious Lotte, shaking the blonde girl, "please wake up, Lotte!"
Sucy stared at the girl, surprised, "...you protected us?"
"Yeah!" Akko answers, proudly declaring, "a fall like that is nothing with a little defense! You can't break the next Shiny Chariot so easily, if ever!"
Taking a look at her surroundings, Sucy spots a deep human shaped hole just a few feet from where they were currently. She thought those only existed in cartoons. Seriously, just how tough is Akko? Even by Witch standards, which is just slightly more durable than the average human, she has already broken the limit many times over.
After awaking up Lotte, the girls decide to take a look around. They walk around the forest while the blonde girl mourns her broken broom.
"Just where are we? I have never seen this forest before!" Lotte asks fearfully.
"This must be the Arcturus Forest," Sucy responds.
"Arc-" Akko starts.
"-turus Forest?!" You are kidding!" Lotte interrupts as realization kicked in. "Isn't that the forbidden forest?!"
"Yes. The one where students of Luna Nova are banned from entering." Sucy replies, "a forest of old legends- a sacred place protected by magical trees and filled with monsters."
"But I heard this place is difficult even for experienced witches to get out of..." Lotte elaborates uncertainly.
"No way! Then we wouldn't make it in time for the entrance ceremony!" Akko cries worryingly.
"Forget the ceremony," Sucy sighs, "we might be stuck here for the rest of our lives."
Akko frowns as she starts muttering to herself, almost as if she were having an argument with someone. Her actions causing both Lotte and Sucy to look at her with bewilderment.
"Looks like that fall actually did some damage after all," Sucy thought, "now not only is she stupid, she is also crazy- Oh, what's this?" Sucy spots something on the ground, "is that…?"
A massive footprint can be seen near a patch of soft mud. It seemed to belong to some land-based bird, if the said bird is the size a house.
"This must be it," Sucy thought to herself, "the rumored legendary cockatrice that lives in the Arcturus Forest, with feathers that contain a type of poison so special, poison collectors everywhere would gladly pay millions and an arm for it. What luck! Saves me the hassle of coming here myself!"
Thanks to Akko, Sucy now had a golden opportunity to get her hands on that poison. If the brunette was just any normal girl, Sucy would have just trapped her where she is now and used her to bait the cockatrice. But since the girl can pretty much tear her way out of any trap she currently had, Sucy will need to alter her plan a bit. Thankfully, Akko is pretty stupid and easy to fool.
"Hey, Akko," Sucy calls out, "I have a plan."
Akko immediately snaps out of her own muttering, "-yes!?"
"I have a pass code we can use to call for Luna Nova."
"REALLY?!" Both Lotte and Akko responded positively.
"Yes. Repeat after me. Cutiurca Tela Flarra."
"Cuti… urca... Te...la Flarra?"
"Not bad, didn't expect you to mostly get it on the first try," Sucy compliments. "Now say it louder, yell it at the top of your lungs. Make sure the heavens can hear you."
Akko takes a deep breath, "CUTIURCA TELA FLARRA!-"
Immediately, a monstrous roar bellows through the forest as the earth shakes and rumbles. Something huge is coming to their location…!
"Good job Akko. Tia Freyre," Sucy says as she hops on to her broom and flies off. "Keep it distracted, would you?"
"What do you mean-?!" Akko yells just as the trees part ways to reveal a rooster the size of a house with massive eyes, dragon wings, and a green snake for a tail. Upon spotting the girls, it roars at them with primal rage, the sharp teeth inside its beak on full display.
"Long story short, I need you two to keep it busy for me while I collect its feather," Sucy explains, flying toward the monster's backside.
"But don't you care that we're going to be late?!" Akko asks in confusion.
"To be honest, no," Sucy answers. "I originally applied to this school for this thing's feathers alone. I would have come to the Arcturus Forrest myself even if the Ley Line hadn't spat us out here," she explains. "Meeting you was just an added bonus, so thank you for everything. Considering how tough you are, I have faith you will not die on me."
"W-What are we supposed to do, Akko?!" Lotte yells with fear, her legs shaking.
The cockatrice raises its head…
"WATCH OUT!" Akko tackles Lotte away, just in time to avoid sudden death. The peck from the cockatrice caused an explosion of dust; creating a miniature crater as well as blasting the girls back. Thankfully, this also give them an opportunity to escape.
Akko immediately gets back to her feet. She breaks off into a run, pulling Lotte alongside her. "Quick! We need to get away!" She tells Lotte, all while starting to mutter to herself again.
"Don't run so fast…!" Lotte pants, barely keeping up with Akko.
The cockatrice gives chase, its massive body smashing through twisted tree after tree without any signs of hindrance. Sucy follows close behind, ready to pluck her prize.
Suddenly the oversize poultry roars, sending a massive cloud of grey gas at the girls. Quickly helping Lotte dodges the grey cloud, Akko's jaw drops when she watches everything the breath attack touches turn to stone. "Oh, come on!"
"Just a heads up; the cockatrice's breath has powerful curses that turn things to stone," Sucy comments, still reaching and almost grabbing her feather.
Just then, Lotte loses her grip on Akko's hand and trips on some tree roots. Just in place for a sharp rock to slice through her right thigh, leaving a deep wound. "My leg!"
"Lotte!" Akko returns back by the timid girl's side again. "Come on! Please move!"
"I can't move anymore…" Lotte sobs, tears forming in her eyes.
The cockatrice arches its head back to unleash another blast of petrifaction breath directly at Lotte. Too tired and hurt to move, Lotte closes her eyes as her life flashes before her…
Akko clutches her fist and grinds her teeth as she steels her resolve.
"NO. YOU. DON'T!"
She rushes in front of the injured Lotte, throwing her right palm forward to meet the breath head-on...
The world erupted in blue flame...
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"A cockatrice!" Professor Ursula exclaims, "I need to help them as quickly as possible!" She steers her broom down, ready to rush to the aid of the running girls. But before she can reach them, she watches in disbelief as both girls are consumed by the cloud of ash colored fog.
"No…" she mutters as despair grips her heart, "I wasn't able to…"
So caught up in her sadness Ursula almost missed it, a faint blue glow seeping through the gray cloud of stone curses. Suddenly, a pillar of blue fire bursts outward and tears through the ashen cloud and erupts straight into the sky.
"Do you honestly think…" Akko's voice echoes out, filled with determination. Coated completely in the blue flame, the girl holds her hand outward, blocking the entire stream of stone breath from getting to her new friend with not a single part on her body petrified. She is somehow completely immune to the effect of the breath! "... that some pathetic curses can defeat the next Shiny Chariot?!" She swings her arm to the side and the rest of the grey gas is consumed by the brilliant azure fire.
The cockatrice lets out a cry of utter confusion. Its instincts now screaming at it to run away as quickly as possible.
Sucy, with feather in hand, finds herself unable to close her dropped jaw, her mind still reeling at what she just witnessed. Just what does it take to hurt this girl?
Lotte stared at her new friend with absolute awe. This is like something straight out of a scene of her favorite novel series, the Night Fall! What Akko just did can fit right into one of its more action focused story lines! Like that one time when Edgar-
The irritation on Akko's face is terrifying to say the least. The girl in front of Lotte is completely different from the super happy Shiny Chariot fangirl from just a moment ago.
"I made plans and tried my hardest to not reveal myself! But noooo…! Things always have to go out of their way to ruin me!"
The blue flame surrounding her body gathers around the girl's outstretched hand, coalescing into the shape of a card. The card is a clear light blue, almost as if it is made of glass. Upon closer inspection, one would realize it is a Tarot card of the Fool arcana.
"Persona!"
The card shatters into countless shards as the girl crushes it in her fist. As soon as it does, light and dark energy, and wind erupts around her, eventually combining to form an intimidating figure that looms over Akko.
Terrifying. That is the only way to describe the dark figure. Standing over Akko at twice her height, its form is an archetypical witch with skin as pale as a corpse. Its hairstyle resembles Akko's, but it is much, much messier. A pair of demonic horns goes along with the sharp face it has. The witches hat it dons is so pointy that one might mistake it for the missing hook of some unknown torture device. The witch's cloak it wears is torn and tattered to the point it resembles multiple raven wings. Underneath, it wears white clothing similar to Shiny Chariot's, but the fabric is taunted and soiled. Its legs are thin and goat like and carries a scepter with the head of a satanic goat in its claw like right hand, candles burning on the horns. What seems like white runes of pagan origin are scrawled on a few parts of its outfit. Green and purple markings that vaguely resemble a face harshly form into malicious eyes and grin. Chuckles filled with ill-intentions escape from it, its voice is almost exactly the same as Akko's own, with creepy echos filling the void.
Lotte drops her admiring gaze toward Akko and her expression is replaced by a look of terror. So terrified is she of the new entity, she would've run away from Akko had she been able. To be honest, she would rather face the other monsters in the forest then being near this thing!
Sucy, still in the air, almost dropped the rare feather she is carrying. While her expression had remained neutral, what Akko summoned made her mind go into overdrive with curiosity and excitement. She knew that Akko was definitely hiding something, but this? She had no idea what this was. Her psyche was currently working diligently to smother and execute all the surge of emotions that sprung up to protect her gloomy character from breaking.
Professor Ursula was rendered speechless. She honestly didn't know what this girl summoned. It seemed to be some kind of guardian spirit, but the feeling it emitted was completely different from any spirit that she knew of… But one thing is for certain; that entity is malevolent. She reached for her wand and prepared for the worst…
Just then, vines burst out of the ground, slowly but surely weaving into the shape of a familiar rod...
The cockatrice roars at the humans. The beast still trying to assert its dominance in an act of desperation and defiance. However inside its animal brain, its survival instincts continue to scream at it and insist the figure before it is not something to be trifled with.
With her resolve steeled, Akko glares at her summon. "There! I finally used you! Happy now?!" she shouts, clearly annoyed at the creepy chuckles and a nod she received as an answer.
"Then…!" Akko issues her command by throw her right arm out. "Get rid of that oversize chicken! Eiha!"
The horrifying summon responds without hesitation, raising its scepter faster than the cockatrice can react. The eyes of the satanic goat head flash red. A beam of powerful, dark energy surges toward the oversize poultry and slams into the monster square on the chest. At first, the cockatrice seems to be bracing the energy pushing it, but it wasn't long until it is pushed back. Its massive body is sent crashing through the dense forest like a bulldozer.
Everyone besides Akko drops their jaws in shock. The cockatrice weakly staggers back on to its feet again from amongst the forest debris, an unnaturally black colored bruise forming on it's now featherless chest. The monster immediately takes off into the air; finally getting the message and fleeing for its dear life.
Akko relaxes with a sigh as her summon bursts into loud laughter behind her, "it's not funny! Lotte almost died!"
More laughter follows.
"Fine!" Akko crosses her arms, sulking, "you were right! If I had called you out earlier, maybe things wouldn't have gotten so messy! But it's not like we have other choice!"
Professor Ursula watched on in silence. That dark energy the specter used was definitely curse magic. The power she felt behind it was some of the vilest she had ever encountered in her life. That cockatrice is going to feel that pain for god knows how long. She doesn't know if that injury would even heal if she understands her theory of curses. Whatever this student had summoned is dangerous…
She points her wand forward. She really did not want to do this, but she has a duty to protect the school. Just a quick sleep spell…!
Just as Akko moves to help the shell shocked Lotte, she noticed a green glow emanating from the ground close to her. "Wait, is that…?!" Without a second thought, she runs over to the location and pulls the object out of the ground. In her hand is a staff with seven gems embedded on it, all forming a pattern similar to the Big Dipper, "isn't this… Chariot's magic rod?! Why is it here?"
Professor Ursula gasps, just seeing the familiar casting catalyst as her spell leaves her wand; realization struck her of what this implies and what a horrible mistake she has made. Too late to stop the magic, she shouts at the girl in hopes that she can at least dodge it in time.
Akko looks up upon hearing the professor, but she doesn't need to do anything. Her specter has already moved in to protect her summoner. Without a care, she casually deflected the magic with her cloak. And without warning, the specter retaliates to the teacher's offense in kind by firing a spear of light at her direction
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, ARADIA?!" Akko's eyes widen; clearly too late to do anything.
Professor Ursula immediately conjures a barrier to protect herself. The light spear is surprisingly powerful and her barrier barely holds for a second before simply shattering. The sheer force between the clash of magical energy knocks her wand out of her hand, and while the shield did protect her from impalement, her broom is not so lucky. With nothing keeping her aloft, Ursula is sent plummeting straight toward the ground.
"Oh no!" Akko exclaims in horror. Quickly, she breaks off into a run in the direction of the falling witch, "Persona change! Pixie!" Quickly clutching her right hand, the haunting form of the witch like summon shatters away like glass. Another tarot card appears in her place; the Magician arcana. Quickly, it too shatters to bring forth another summon.
As Professor Ursula falls, she reaches desperately for her wand falling beside her. If she can reach it in time, she should be able to avoid serious injuries…!
Just then, her eyes catch a blue blur dart past her as her fall comes to a sudden halt. Looking up, she sees what saved her. It is a fairy about twelve inches tall, with curly red hair and dressed completely in deep blue. Struggling to pull on her uniform, the tiny creature's tiny wings are flapping intensely to keep her in the air.
She looks down and sees the Japanese girl sigh in relief as she falls to her butt. "Thank goodness Pixie made it…"
"So this girl can summon spirits too? Just what is she...?" The professor thinks to herself as the summon drops her to her feet at an acceptable height.
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"Ow, ow!" Lotte exclaims as Akko checks on her leg wound, "please don't touch, it hurts!
"It doesn't look infected. That's good, Pixie can treat this no problem," Akko reassures, turning to her summon, "can you cast Dia, please?"
The blue fairy nods. She raises her hand and green light begins emitting from it. Lotte's wound hastily knits itself together and disappears, leaving no evidence of it's existence. Not even a scar remains. "How's the leg?"
Lotte stands up and tests out her movements, "it really is healed! I don't think even modern magical hospitals can fix injuries this perfectly and quickly...! Thank you!"
With its job completed, the fairy gives Akko a thumbs up before shattering and fade away from reality.
Sucy lands near Akko, in her arms are even more cockatrice feathers. "First that thing with some insane curse spells, now a fairy with powerful healing magic. So I was right to suspect you to be something more than just some magicless idiot from Japan. You fooled me well."
"You were right though, Sucy. I really don't know any magic… yet. Those are my Personas. They're the ones doing the magic."
"Persona…?" both Lotte and Sucy asks, confused.
"Can you explain to me as well?"
The group turns to see Professor Ursula coming toward the group, after having recovered her broken broom and lost wand.
"That uniform! You are a professor from Luna Nova!" Lotte exclaims, "are you here to save us?"
"Yes I am. My name is Ursula, Ursula Callistis," she explains. "I was checking on the freshmen when I realized that there were some missing numbers…" she looks at Akko's group, "I can't believe you all somehow ended up in the Arcturus Forest. You girls do know this place is forbidden to students, and harsh punishment await for those that enter, right?"
Akko immediately stands straight, bowing her head as low as possible, "I AM SO SORRY! THIS WAS MOSTLY MY FAULT! PLEASE DON'T PUNISH THEM! AND I AM ALSO SORRY THAT MY PERSONA ATTACKED YOU!"
Both Lotte and Sucy were surprised; she is actually trying to take the blame for them?
Professor Ursula sighs. "Since you are all technically not students of Luna Nova yet. I will pretend this didn't happen," she continues, "that is… assuming that you girls do manage to become students in the first place. I think the entrance ceremony is going to begin soon, and the headmistress is definitely not going to be as forgiving as me..."
Lotte checks the time, "she's right! There is only about 3 minutes left! We wouldn't make it even if we had the fastest broom!"
Sucy shrugs, packing in her feathers, "oh well. I already got what I've came for, so it doesn't really matter to me."
Akko's eyes widen. She drops to her knees in defeat, "no… I was so close… All those months of fighting and earning money... was all that for nothing…?"
Professor Ursula raised an eyebrow at the mention of fighting. "What do you mean by that-"
The Japanese girl suddenly gets back to her feet, missing the teacher's words. "No! I wouldn't give up no matter what! How am I supposed to be the next Shiny Chariot if I am stopped by something like distance?!"
The first gem on the shiny rod began to glow.
"The Shiny Rod is responding to her!" Professor Ursula thought in disbelief, "that can only mean…!"
Akko gasps, "Yes! Shiny Chariot must think so too! I mustn't give up!" The brunette begins to swing the rod around, hoping to perform some of her idol's most famous spells, unfortunately, no responses came.
"Say the words."
"Huh?" Akko turns her attention to the teacher.
"I am teaching you a spell that might help," Ursula explains, "repeat after me- Noctu Orfei."
"Noctu... Orfei!"
"Aude."
"Aude!"
"Fraetor!"
"FRAETORRRRR!"
Upon the chant's completion, the shiny rod explodes into green light. Its shape unravels, reforming into that of a majestic bow. Akko's couldn't believe her eyes.
"This is… the Shiny Arc! This is the spell that Shiny Chariot always used when making a grand exit!" the girl yells in utter joy, "I understand now!"
She raises her other hand and the familiar card reappears. Seeing it, everyone near the girl backs off, now knowing what to expect.
"Come forth, Aradia! Get us all to the school!" Akko crushes the card, allowing her summon to manifest once more, this time not carrying her scepter. As soon as the Persona arrives, Akko climbs onto her back.
The Persona reaches for both Lotte and Sucy, gesturing for them to climb aboard.
"Fine…" Sucy sighs, quickly picking up her processions and leaping into the arm. Lotte stares at the Persona fearfully, hesitating.
"There's no time left! Just trust me! Trust us!" Akko persuades.
Lotte swallows her breath and shakily nods. She too grabs the rest of her belongings and climbs on.
Akko points toward the sky, "Sukukaja! We are going!"
A green wave of energy washes over the girls and Persona making them feel lighter and faster. The Persona's torn cloak begin flapping like wings, allowing her to fly. Professor Ursula follows closely behind after casting a quick spell to patch up her broken broom.
In the air, Akko raises her hand and concentrates. Magic condenses in her hand forming a brilliant green arrow. Once it appears, she notches the arrow and draws back the bowstring. Countless times has the brunette re-watched videos of Shiny Chariot cast this dazzling spell, so making a mistake now is not possible. Her idol's words echo in her mind, loud and clear:
"Never forget, a believing heart is your magic..."
"I never once stopped believing…! GO SHINY ARC! Take us to Luna Nova!" Akko bellows as she lets loose the arrow. A flash of green pierces the fabric of reality, tearing an entrance into the Ley Lines of the world. Without wasting any more time, the Persona drives into the magical portal. Following the guidance of its user's unbreakable resolve...
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Inside Luna Nova's auditorium, hundreds of students has already sat down and are waiting for the start of the entrance ceremony. The headmistress, Miranda Holbrooke, begins her speech.
"… This academy, in its long history has given rise to many great witches. Henceforth, you will all devote yourselves to studying magic once again with pride, decorum, and of course modesty." The green hair elderly says.
"Hey… Has anyone seen Ursula?" one of the teachers whispers to one of her colleagues.
This colleague is a serious witch by the name of Anne Finneran. "How could Ursula do this? It is so irresponsible and disrespectful to not show up to such an important moment. I have warned the headmistress many times of the risk of hiring someone so young and inexperienced. That girl continues to disappoint me," she sighs.
"Now then, let us begin the entrance ceremo-"
Just as those words leave the headmistresses' lips, the school's emblem at the center of the stadium begins to glow green. Suddenly, a loud explosion bursts from the emblem, sending most of the students in the front row into panicking screams. A few of the teachers draw their wands immediately, ready to face any possible threat.
They almost drop their wands in fear as the green smoke clears.
"What is that?!"
"Holy crap! It is terrifying!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The sudden appearance of Akko's Persona sends the crowd into an uproar. The absolutely haunting witch like figure protectively looms over her summoner and her newly-made friends.
Chaos broke out soon after. Whenever someone's eyes meet the Persona's faceless grin, an unnatural fear would well up within them. Even the most courageous soul was reduced to sobs in seconds. Soon students left their seats by the dozens and crowded all the exits. All of them are banging on the doors and begging and pleading for a way to leave. Some even fainted!
"Ow…!" Akko rises to her feet. Upon seeing where she was, the brunette threw up her arms and cheered, "YES! WE DID IT! WE MADE IT IN TIME! YAY-"
"Ah… Akko?" Lotte gets up. She pokes the excited girl while adjusting her glasses, "I think your… Persona, is it? Is scaring everyone…"
Taking a good look at her surroundings and the chaos erupting around her, Akko gasps. Turning to her persona with an accusing glare she exclaims, "Aradia, you cast Evil Smile on everyone!? Why?!"
The Persona chuckles, giving a shrug in response.
"That's not the way to protect us! Are we even in any danger?! Now the entire school knows!" Akko screams. "Our plan to stay off the radar is ruined!"
"What a handy ability to have," Sucy adds, a Cheshire grin splitting her face as she watches the terrified students, already making plans for the future, "mind if I borrow your friend sometime, Akko?"
The Persona chuckles once more.
"Augh! FINE! JUST COME BACK! We will talk about this later!" The brunette clutches her right hand and the Persona shatters away.
As her Persona dissipates Akko realizes that her tiny group has been surrounded by teachers, wands ready and pointing right at them. Judging from the looks on their faces, the school staff is not exactly happy.
"I-I can fix this I swear!" Akko protests, another card manifests in her hand, "Pixie can use Patra!"
Meanwhile, Professor Ursula managed to sneak back in unnoticed thanks to the commotion. She watches behind the headmistress' stand as the girls are forced to apologize to the affected teachers and students. She even brings out her other… Persona, the pixie, and offers to fix everyone affected by the unnatural fear.
With all of the commotion, that girl outright forgot to explain to her what those Personas are. At first glance those so-called Personas seem to be some form of summon magic. But after a bit of thought, they are definitely something never before seen in the magical world. If they are indeed summoned magical creatures or magical projections, those Personas should have an aura of magic that witches can detect. Except they didn't. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find even a trace of magical aura. Whether or not the other teachers noticed this, she had no clue. But it was clear to her that her colleagues were very impressed with the display. They probably assumed that the girl is some kind of summoner or something. With how rare those kinds of witches are nowadays, the school would garner a lot of much needed attention by taking her on as a student. Most likely only the headmistress and a handful of others managed to see past the potential rise in publicity, and glimpse at the true nature of the girl's summons.
Ignoring the issues with the Personas, the Shiny Rod has also chosen her as its new master. On top of that, this girl is a complete and utter fangirl of Shiny Chariot, to the point of blind worship! This is has to be a sick joke. She guesses she should be happy, considering how few people in the magical world remembered that title, and those that do have nothing but contempt for it...
Perhaps… This girl can succeed what she has failed.
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Akko's Personas:
Aradia (Fool)
Null: Curse
Resistance: Bless
Weakness: Fire, Psy
Skills: Eiha, Kouha, Evil Smiles, Sukukaja, Sukunda
Profile: An important figure in Wiccan and Neo-pagan mythology. Believed to be the daughter of a god of sun and a goddess of night, she is a messiah like figure said to have descended to Earth to liberate her believers from the tyrannical rule of the Roman Catholic Church and the upper classes. In actuality, she is a false goddess, lacking any real power but give her followers false hope.
[]
Pixie (Magician)
Resistance: Electric
Weakness: Fire, Gun, Bless
Skills: Zio, Dia, Patra, Traesto
Profile: Friendly fairies of the forest that tend to hide from humans. They like to play tricks on the Laz people. It is said they are the souls of dead, unbaptized children.
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AuthorNCS: So, what I am aiming to do in this story is to do something more original in a Persona crossover. Let's face it, the entire section is crawling with mostly the same thing; either P3 stories where Minato is awaken/reincarnated to stomp/save/experience another setting or endgame Investigation Team/Phantom Thieves gets send somewhere to crush/experience the other side...
Those are fine, but I am more interested in doing new things.
The inspiration of this story is thanks to P5, where it prove that bonds don't just follow a Wild Card like some imprinted chicks. It is entirely possible for a Wild Card to go for a long time without making any friends if they are antisocial or is using their power for personal gain. I am also focusing on expanding Persona mechanic's utility, because there are more to them than to just nuking things, and not a lot of writers use them.
Why with LWA though? One, it is an undeveloped fandom and I want the glory. Two, because it struck something in my heart that made it essentially my Harry Potter replacement (I don't even adore HP, which is saying something). I like the characters, the settings, and the potential it has, to the point I started planning this when the TV series was only at its halfway point. (I do confess, another reason is me really wanting to write Shadow Diana :P)
It should be noted that I am not writing a stomp fic with an OOC Akko (What is there to stomp in LWA though…?). Being a Wild Card doesn't fixed her crappy magic learning ability. In fact, due to her bubbly natural, Akko can be a pretty bad Wild Card; at least when comes to making bonds and solving other people's life issues (reverse arcana hell…?). Beside, even with her new advantage Akko is still going to have learn; those Knowledge stat don't rise themselves you know. If any of you think I am doing something wrong with her character in the future, please review and tell me.
Ah... all the fun we will have with the Persona/Witchcraft clash. Poor Croix's plan...
I like P4's card crash summoning the most. Playing with Tarot Cards fits witches (in a way) pretty well.
It is kind of amazing how much Aradia fits as Akko's Initial Persona in terms of the theme I am going for. If people have a hard time imagining what Aradia's face look like, go look at SMT:Nocturne's Aradia when she processed Yuko, her design is pretty much a straight shout out to that.
Next chapter; we have enough of sticking to canon and the derailing begins. See y'all next time
Beta-ed by RionAgrias
08/17/2017 Edit: This chapter has been improve-Beta-ed by RiceFieldRenigade.
11/17/2017 Edit: Thank the people at Sufficient Velocity for grammar checking this. Should be free of grammar mistakes now. Unless you have god's eyes and find something else, this chapter is now grammatically perfect.