Envenomation (Little Witch Academia)

[The Black Mage]

Chapter 1: Malignant

She kind of missed it when this place looked like a deathtrap.

Under a somewhat cloudy night, the only real source of light her wand, Sucy Manbavaran lethargically trudged through one of the most dangerous places in the magical world, and slowly took in the sights. What were once menacing, twisting branches of trees that had faces that looked like humans in absolute agony, were now, even in the dead of night, beautiful trees that could've come from a painting, all their faces set in complete peace. Illuminated by the green glow of her wand, the trees gave off an otherworldly air that was just a touch disturbing because of how unnaturally serene everything was.

Personally, Sucy thought it was better when it was disturbing for being the creepiest forest in existence. The demonic-looking trees; the hiss of starving magical animals and plants looking for their next meal; the way the very magic in the air had just felt off; the atmosphere had been like something straight from a horror-movie.

Perfect, in other words.

But, with magic now back, Arcturus Forest had returned to its "former glory" of a storybook-esque forest. Visually, anyway.

There were still plenty of things here that could kill any ordinary witch.

A rustle in a nearby tree made her stop. Slowly, she looked up. In the branches, the leaves were shaking, and as they shook more and more, animalistic growls came from within the darkness of the leaves.

Sucy kept staring with a half-lidded eye, even as the growls grew worse and the branch and leaves kept shaking more violently. And in a second, a massive, dark shape jumped out of the tree.

And crashed into the dirt right next to her.

"Owwww…"

Not even blinking, Sucy slowly raised her wand, illuminating the shape.

Akko laid flat on the dirt, wincing in pain as she rubbed her head.

"So," Sucy began, voice completely flat and not even the slightest bit surprised. "How goes the hunt, Guinea Pig?"

Akko let out another groan, slowly opening her eyes. She looked up, finally realized Sucy was standing right in front of her, and smiled widely. "Oh, hey Sucy! Did you get all the mushrooms from that really creepy tree?"

"Yep," she replied, lazily gesturing with her head towards the pouch on her hip. "Did you get the imp?"

Akko quickly hopped to her feet. "You betcha!" she said, pointing at her right hand. "Told you I could catch it on my own! Now, feast your eyes on—" She abruptly stopped talking, her smiling dying as she realized her hand was empty. "This?"

Sucy stared at the empty air. "Oh, wow. I didn't know it could turn invisible." There were deserts less dry than her voice.

"Wha—where did it—I caught it literally a second ago!" Akko patted herself down, but when she found nothing, she got onto her knees, face inches away from the dirt, and started to search the ground. "C'mon, c'mon, where'd you go…"

"If you didn't actually catch it," Sucy said, leisurely walking to Akko. "Then just say it, and don't lie."

"No, I did!"

Still holding up her wand to light the area, Sucy crouched down a few steps away from Akko. "Uh-huh."

"Seriously!"

"Then where is it?"

"I don't know!" She cried out, head shooting up, eyes clenched shut in frustration. "This isn't fair! That thing was a nightmare to chase down, and when I finally catch the little monster, it gets away!? Come on!"

"Why did you expect anything different?" Sucy reached forward, and picked up a glass bottle off the ground. "Did you forget how hopeless you can be, Akko?"

"Sucy, do you have to be mean to me right now!?" Akko whirled around to face her, finally opening her eyes. "Shouldn't you be helping me find—"

Akko stopped talking. In front of her, Sucy held out the glass bottle she just picked up. The bottle that had a small, very irritated forest imp inside it.

Akko blinked dumbly. "You found the imp."

"Yep."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Akko shouted, nostrils visibly flaring.

"Then it wouldn't be funny," she replied, mouth wickedly curling up as she chuckled. The tiny "Kekekes" that left her made the air feel colder, and she saw a few creatures hidden in the shadows shivering.

Akko, meanwhile, kept glaring, before she let out a long sigh. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Sucy." She pointed at the bottle. "But that's the little fairy you wanted, right?"

"Imp," Sucy corrected. "And yeah, it is."

"Alright!" Akko smiled, but it quickly faded when she saw just how much the imp was kicking and scratching at the bottle. "Er, but, maybe you should get what you want from the imp now. It's pretty angry, Sucy. "

Sucy lifted the bottle, and the imp stopped kicking and scratching to angrily glare at her, shaking its fist at her. "Hey. Stop it," she droned out.

It did not stop, and started making rude gestures at her in Impeese. Which were the same rude gestures in English.

Sucy stared at the imp with a flat, unimpressed glare. "Quit it before I snap you like a twig," she stated, voice ice-cold.

That got the imp to stop real fast. Its green skin was suddenly a lot paler, and she could see it back itself up to the farthest corner of the bottle.

"That's better." Without a word, Sucy flicked out her wand, muttered a spell, and then the imp and the cork of the bottle were covered in a green light. The cork unplugged itself, and the moment it did, the imp went flying out with a high-pitch scream. It quickly found itself hanging in the air upside-down, and only a few inches away from her red, apathetic eye.

"Here's what's gonna happen," Sucy said, pulling out a small, corrosive-proof vial from her sleeve. "You're gonna fill this up with your drool, and then I'll let you go. Don't…"

Her mouth twisted, and a horribly wide, unnatural smile was on her face in an instant, one that made her teeth glint like blades from the dark green light of her wand. "I'll crush your little body bit by bit until you're nothing but wood chips."

There was nothing but pure fear on the imp's face as it shook while under the grasp of her spell. A few of the creatures hiding in the dark slowly backed away, some letting out a few pitiful, scared noises.

Akko just pouted. "Do you have to be that mean to the little guy, Sucy?"

The smile vanished, and Sucy turned an impassive red eye to Akko. "Have to? No. Do I want to?" She slowly turned back to the imp, and she chuckled like the witch she was. "Yes."

The little forest creature looked a moment away from passing out.

She put the vial right under its head—or over, from its perspective—and shook it. "So hurry up and spit already."

The imp started spitting with gusto. Thick drops of murky queen liquid shot out of its mouth like bullets and into her vial, rapidly filling it up. Some of it's spit missed the vial and landed on the ground, quickly forming a small puddle near the grass. Once the vial was filled to the brim, the spit suddenly started glowing a shining, emerald green, and Sucy smirked.

"That's good enough," she said, and with a dismissive toss, the imp was flung away with a high-pitched scream, and hit the ground in a tumble. As it got up, Sucy put the vial away, and added, "You can go now. Oh, but, if your friends in the dark are interested"—she grinned in the vague direction of all the various eyes in the dark, teeth glinting like knives—"they can stay."

The imp was already running.

And so were the monsters in the dark.

"Wuss," Sucy called out, purposefully cackling far more madly then before. Ah. There was no sound quite like the echoing footsteps of someone frantically running away with everything they had. It was a music second only to the wonderful bubbling of a cauldron brewing an ominous potion. Or, any potion, really. Ominous ones just had a more catchy "jingle" to them.

Sucy put the imp spit in her pouch, and turned back to Akko as she finished cackling. Akko was looking at her with somewhat fearful eyes, her big, dopey mouth hanging open slightly. Sucy's grin grew before she even knew it. Of every witch in the school, Akko's scared expressions were just the best.

"Sucy, it feels like your laugh gets scarier every time I hear it," Akko said, and even with her fear, she almost sounded impressed.

"That sounds like it's your problem." Sucy shrugged.

Akko frowned, the fear gone like it was never there before, and looked at the direction the monster's left. "I feel kind of bad for those guys."

"Akko, 'those guys' probably would've tried to eat us if they thought they could get away with it."

"Yeah, but I feel like dealing with you is a bit to mean of a punishment."

Sucy stared, expression blank.

Akko stared back, innocent red-eyes unblinking.

Sucy grinned. "Well, you're not wrong."

Akko suddenly smiled, chuckling that impossibly warm laugh of hers. "You're seriously scary, Sucy."

Sucy couldn't help but laugh a little as well. "You say that like there was any doubt."

They both kept laughing under the light of her wand, and the mesmerizing shadows of trees that were hauntingly beautiful. Sucy's grin grew; not just out amusement. It was funny. A year ago, she never could've seen herself laughing with anybody. Least of all with a girl that had enough energy to fuel the sun, and smiled so bright it was practically blinding.

But of the many things Sucy and every other witch at Luna Nova had learned about Akko Kagari, it was that this perpetually smiling moron had a habit of doing the impossible again and again. Her saving an ancient tree thanks to a trading card. Cheering up an ancient spirit cursed with misery with a magic show. Saving an entire country from a magical pandemic. And of course, stopping a magic nuke and bringing back magic to all new heights with just her believing heart.

Becoming Sucy's friend was just one of those many, impossible things.

Even if it had been a while since they had a moment like this.

"So, what's next?"

Akko's question made Sucy snap out her staring with a blink. "What?"

"The stuff for your potion? What's the next thing we need to get?" Akko asked, pointing at the small pouch on her hip.

Right, her potion. The whole reason she had wanted to come to Arcturus. All because Akko saving the world and bringing magic back had made things way more interesting.

When magic had declined, there were a plethora of species of magical animals, plants, and organisms that had either rapidly became more and more rare, or outright extinct. But magic was back now, and more than that, there was more magic than ever before in recorded history. Every species that was on the verge of extinction were suddenly thriving, in both population and sheer magic power, and a few actually extinct species had come back into existence.

And that was just some of the changes magic being brought back had caused. Entire lost cities suddenly reappearing from the ether; old spells no longer being obsolete; new subsets of magic being created seemingly every day. So many changes, and not enough time in the day to list them all, or know exactly what changes were happening.

Luna Nova was no different. There was the obvious changes, like how new leylines sprouting into existence near the school went to places all the way on the other side of the world. Or how the faeries had far more energy and spell stones they could consume now, and some had regained abilities their various species hadn't had in years.

And then, there was Arcturus Forest. Everyone had noticed how the whole forest had gotten a vibrant makeover, but that wasn't the only thing different about it now. Maybe it was because Arcturus was essentially ground zero for when Akko first used the Grand Triskellion with the Shiny Rod—and let her "harness the pure power of belief," in Ursula's words—but there were more changes than just that. Sucy didn't doubt there were plenty of things happening in Arcturus that she or anyone at the school had yet to notice, even months after magic was brought back. But what she did notice were all the new "residents" in Arcturus that had seemingly come from nowhere, and were things she had only seen in her potion books and notes. Various animals and ghosts and spirits that hadn't been seen in centuries were wandering around the forest in droves; magical plants and organisms that were so hard to find had become almost common here, and it seemed like more were popping up every other day. Essentially, some of the rarest potion ingredients in the world, even after magic came back, were suddenly within its grooves.

And Sucy was not about to let that chance slip by. There had been a potion she'd always wanted to try brewing, the mythical Essence of Enchantress, and after what she'd learned, she wanted to brew it now more than. She never did in the past because she couldn't get all the ingredients for it no matter where she searched, with some being so rare she probably never would've found them in her lifetime. But thanks to Akko, that wasn't a problem anymore, and after a lot of research to make sure she'd make the most powerful version of the potion she needed, she had a list to make what would be one of the most, if not the most, amazing potions she'd ever make.

It might've been more difficult sneak into Arcturus, but Luna Nova was about to go on break for the next few weeks. It was a celebration of one of the Nine Olde Witches birthdays—she couldn't remember which one's—and all her accomplishments. Something about dealing with monsters, but she never really paid attention to that specific witch's "exploits" or her holiday. Point was, Luna Nova was about to go on holiday, and because of magics "glorious" return, they decided to extend the break to "allow their students to fully grasp this monumental occasion after working so hard."

In reality, it was because the teachers were dealing with about a hundred different things since magic had returned, and decided that putting classes on hold for a while would help them deal with their work load. And also, give them a much needed break.

At least, that was how Ursula made it sound, despite her efforts to hide the truth from Akko.

But, what that all meant, was that the teachers would be busy handing out their last tests, packing their things to return home, the ones who weren't staying on campus anyway, and, because they were so busy, the leyline that led to Arcturus had less teachers guarding it, and would make it way easier to sneak past.

She told Akko and Lotte her plans, and Akko almost instantly agreed to it. Even Lotte had been surprisingly enthusiastic to come too. She wanted to see if she could find the new spirits some of the other ones at Luna Nova told her they spotted wandering around Arcturus. "Just to observe them more than anything," was what she said, and even brought a little notebook with her to take notes. So, with the help of some of Luna Nova's faerie staff and the knowledge acquired form over a year of breaking every rule the school had, they snuck out in the dead of night, and managed to sneak into the leyline, and were transported right to the outskirts of Arcturus.

And the moment they had, Sucy had felt a sense of…rightness. This was how things were supposed to be: her and Akko, and Lotte, breaking the rules, and going on a little adventure to somewhere sort of dangerous. Her mocking Akko and Akko acting like her usual dopey, warm self. Just having fun; like it would never end. It had been a while since she felt like that.

Kind of like how it had been a while since Akko actually spent any time with her.

"Sucy?"

It took her a second to realize she hadn't actually answered Akko's question, having gotten a bit lost in her thoughts, and Akko was staring at her, both of her thin eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, we're not done yet," Sucy said, quickly running through a mental checklist of what she still needed for her potion. "I still haven't found a forsakenwing yet." Seeing Akko's almost audible confusion, she sighed, and said, "The 'magic bat.'"

Akko let out an "ahh," and nodded a few time. "Right, the bat." She laughed again, this time a bit awkwardly. "Sorry, forgot the name."

"You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to you," Sucy groused.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"Your grades say otherwise."

"Grades aren't important! The education system is out to get me! And they've gotten better!" She crossed her arms and huffed. "You know, you're being pretty rude to the Savior of Magic."

"That title would be more impressive if you didn't only recently learn to fly an inch off the ground."

"Hey!" Akko shouted, stomping her foot like a kid as she glared. "It's way more than an inch now! You know that! I can fly just as good as Amanda!"

Sucy's stare was flat.

"…I, I mean, probably. Maybe. When she's having an off-day," Akko corrected, rubbing her arm as she looked away. "And…when her broom's kind of broken." She slumped a little. But she quickly regained her anger, and she dramatically pointed a finger at Sucy. "But I'm getting better! Way better! So don't make fun of my progress, Sucy!"

Yeah, admittedly, Akko had been getting honestly pretty decent at flying. And it had only been, what, barely two months after the whole magic nuke thing? That was on top of the fact that a good chunk of Akko's lack of progress for so long had actually been because of something completely outside her control; specifically, because of a certain megalomanic witch and a teacher that was way to forgiving. So, yeah, it was kind of impressive.

Of course, she wasn't gonna tell that to Akko. Sucy's only response was to roll her eye at Akko, and then dryly said, "Yeah, yeah. I'm so sorry, Ms. 'Savior of Magic.'"

Akko pouted at her. "Can't you ever be nice to me, Sucy?"

"No," was Sucy's immediate reply. "What kind of alchemist is nice to their guinea pig?"

Akko let out an overblown sigh, and Sucy grinned. Akko then muttered something under her breath, something like "call me that cool nickname once without mocking me?" She slowly opened her bright red eyes at her. "So, is the bat the last thing we need to get, or is there more?" she asked.

Sucy's mouth had been opened to deliver another quip, but she stopped at Akko's words. She considered them for a moment. "Yeah, pretty much," she said. "Once we get the bat, we can head back to the entrance, meet up with Lotte, and go back to Luna Nova." She paused, titling her head. "Assuming those spirits we met don't turn out to be evil ones, and aren't about to turn her into one."

"Sucy, not funny!" Akko said, crossing her arms and glaring at her like she was trying to imitate a scolding teacher. To bad her face was way to soft to look anything close to 'intimidating.'

"Eh." Sucy shrugged, smirking and showing off a few sharp teeth. "Debatable."

"No it isn't! Besides, we left Will-o'-Chan with Lotte, so she'll be fine."

"Will-o'-Chan" was Akko's little nickname for Lotte's familiar—who's actual name was Ilo. About an hour into their ingredient hunt, the spirits Lotte had wanted to meet had actually found them first. Even in Arcturus, they had learned about the witches responsible for restoring magic and brining it to all new heights, and as result had given them more freedom and "sense of self" than they had in a long time. Whatever that meant.

They had thanked Akko for bringing back magic, Akko had blushed and waved it off like it was no big deal, and even thanked Sucy too for the role she played. But the spirits had been the most interested in Lotte. They had seen the "powerful spirit caller" who helped bring back magic in action on that live broadcast, as well as her "impressive, fiery wisp," and wanted to meet her ever since. They had told her they would be honored to talk with " a witch whose skill in the arts to of communing with spirits eclipsed almost every modern witch they'd ever seen."

Sucy rarely saw Lotte look so excited about anything outside of Nightfall, but her smile when they told her all of that been almost as bright as Akko's. She practically begged Akko if she could stay and talk with them, and Akko of course agreed. She even told Lotte she could just stay with them while she and Sucy found the rest of the ingredients, and Lotte hugged Akko so hard she was sure she heard a bone crack.

So, they left Lotte by her lonesome. Well, except for Ilo, who Akko had overly sternly told to "protect her with all your power," and Ilo saluted like a private at a drill sergeant. Some might think there wasn't much a tiny fire wisp could do in case things went bad, either if the spirits turned out to be malicious, or some dangerous creature in Arcturus tried to hurt Lotte.

Those people had not been around for the one and only time Hannah and Barbara had corned Lotte and made fun of her when Sucy and Akko weren't with her; but Ilo had been, had heard every insult and, more importantly, saw just how badly Lotte was taking those insults, and that was when people reported Lotte's hoodie glowing an unearthly, violent green.

There was a reason Sucy had been sure Ilo's flames were strong enough to boost their broom alongside her potion when they were chasing after the Noir Missile. And not only had she learned just how hot Ilo could make their flames on that day, she'd also learned it could pick and choose what got burned or not. So Hannah and Barbara had only gotten their hair completely singed off, and hadn't been, say, burnt to a crisp, like more than half the walls and paintings that took up that hallway.

Ilo's control kind of slipped when it was angry.

Point was, everyone learned an important lesson that day: don't upset the sentient matchstick's "Mom" when they were around.

Minion One and Minion Two were just lucky that Ilo had already punished them before Sucy got the chance. Or Akko. Because there were, in fact, times when she wasn't smiling.

Sucy had seen that firsthand, after all.

Sucy shoved that thought away, focusing back on the conversation. That was all she should focus on; just that. "Yeah, I guess," she said, voice as indifferent as ever. She smirked. "Honestly, she's probably safer having a tiny will-o'-wisp as backup than you."

"Hey." Akko's glare was flat. "You didn't have to add that last part."

"I really did."

"No you—"Akko cut herself off with a groan. "No, you know what, I'm stopping before I give you more chances to keep roasting me like yakitori." Ah, it always did Sucy proud to see her guinea pig learning, even if only a little bit, and her smirk widened. After a second of rubbing her hand across her face in exasperation, Akko looked up at Sucy. "So, where can we find the forsakenwing?"

Sucy glanced up at the stars, and brought up the little mental map she had in her head. "Somewhere a bit south here, around that mushroom patch we passed by earlier."

"The ones with the scary faces like that make them look like horror movie monsters?"

"Yeah, those."

Akko shivered. "Why do mushrooms like those even exist?" she grumbled.

"Because they're cool," Sucy said, with complete sincerity.

Akko paused, and then chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess they kinda are; in a really, really scary kinda way, but still neat!" Akko didn't sound the slightest bit mocking when she said that. Sucy didn't know if that was just her being her usual nice self, or if she genuinely thought that, but still, she could appreciate the support. No one ever gave mushrooms the credit they deserved. "So I guess you're gonna snatch up some more of them on the way back?"

"Nah, I'm good." Sucy shrugged. "I don't really like getting too much of one mushroom, especially if they're not that interesting. I've got like a dozen similar types with way scarier faces in our room."

Akko stared at her. "W-where in our room?" she asked

"Don't worry about it."

Sucy grinned a little at the look of discomfort that flickered across Akko's face, right before her eyes narrowed. "Sucy, when we get back, we're gonna have a long talk about keeping scary things in our room without telling your roommates. Again." The frown her lips were set in suddenly flipped into a beaming smile, and Akko pumped her fist into the air. "But that's for later! For now, let's go find that cool magic bat and—"

Akko suddenly winced a bit, pulling back her hand down and looking at the bite mark their. There was no blood, but her skin did have a noticeable bruise. "Ow, ow, ow; that little guy sure has sharp teeth. This really stings."

"Ah, that might be because of the acid."

"The what!?" Akko screamed, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Those imps have acid in their spit." Sucy pointed at some of the ground the imp's spit had hit, and the blades of grass were slowly melting, bits of steam letting out an audible sizzling sound Akko only now seemed to notice. "It's why I had to use a special potion vial to keep it in. That stuff could melt steel." She tilted her head. "Did I not mention that before?"

"SUCY!" Akko shouted so loud the trees shook. She was visibly pale, her head whipping from the grass to her hand, face full of rising panic. "Why didn't you say that sooner! This isn't a funny!" She fell to her knees, cradling her hand with big, teary-eyes, like it was her child about to die at any second; or just one of her Chariot cards that got a stain. "Is my hand gonna melt off!? Oh, no, I can't afford a fake hand! Do you think Constanze could make me a new one? Maybe a cool one that could shoot missiles—but, wait, I can't just ask her to make me one for free, but I don't have any money, and I really-don't-want-to-lose-my-hand-help-me-Sucy—"

Sucy let out a loud, echoing laugh. The raspy, nail-on-chalkboard yet somehow still genuinely joyful sounds she only let out when she found something really funny, and only when she was around Akko. Her hands were wrapped around her stomach, doubling over in pure delight.

"Relax," Sucy wheezed, her smirk wide. "The acid only really effects plants and inorganic stuff. For witches, it's not nearly as strong, and is about as painful as a bee-sting."

Akko blinked, looking down at her hand. "Oh," was all he said, slowly standing up and wiping way some dirt off her legs. She sighed, and her shoulders visibly sagged with so much relief she looked like a deflating balloon. "Okay, good. I thought my hand was a goner there."

"If it was, it would've melted way sooner," Sucy said, lazily make a vague gesture at Akko's body. "But honestly, it'd take more than some imp to actually hurt you. Your body's as durable as you are dumb."

"R-right." Akko laughed awkwardly. Then, she smiled. "I knew you wouldn't actually let my hand melt off!"

"Not right now, no," Sucy replied, rolling her eye. But Akko's smile never wavered, like she knew Sucy didn't mean that. Sucy looked away, and said, "Let's go already."

"Sure!" Akko said, rushing over to her. But she stopped, wincing again, and she frowned petulantly as she brought up her hand. "Ow, ow, owie…"

Sucy looked at Akko's hand. Then, Sucy looked at her face, which was getting more pouty as she cradled her hand, and couldn't help but look at some of the other small cuts and bruises on her face, and then the ones on her legs.

Sucy let out an explosive sigh. She stepped forward, lifting her wand up. "Guinea Pig, hold still," she grumbled.

"Eh?" Akko looked up, and saw Sucy standing next to her, wand in front of her. Sucy gave the necessary swings and swishes of her wand, channeling the magic of the air and making the tip glow a brighter, yet strangely relaxing green light.

"Diosir Sorware," she said, and a shower of gentle green sparks fell on Akko. Almost instantly, all the bite marks form the imp, the small cuts from her getting pricked by sharp thorns or hit by branches from when she probably scavenged for Sucy's ingredients, but was too focused to even really notice, began to heal. Her skin mended itself together with a green glow, and the bruises, especially the bite mark from the imp, were erased by the sparks like they never existed in the first place.

Sucy stood up, and Akko looked down at herself in wonder. "Whoa. I keep forgetting, but you're really good at healing magic."

"Course I am," Sucy muttered. "Knowing healing spells makes it so I can keep experimenting on my test subjects. It'd be too troublesome to replace them if they, you know, croaked."

Akko seemingly ignored her, and a sunny smile was once again on her face. "Thanks, Sucy!"

"I just didn't want to hear you complaining the whole time," she replied instantly. Akko's smile was way too bright to look at, so Sucy looked away when Akko stepped closer.

"You know, you can say 'you're welcome, Akko, I love helping my friends!'" Her smile gained a mischievous glint. "I promise not to tell anyone you weren't sarcastic or mean."

Sucy's glare was flat. "That's not happening, Akko," she said. Then, she frowned, remembering something. "Wait, hold on."

"What?" Akko blinked.

"Give me your hand," Sucy said, and Akko extended it without hesitation. That always amazed her; that she never hesitated to do what Sucy asked, despite the very really chance she was about to poison her, or test out some new potion on her. Akko really was dumb.

A dumb, smiling moron who trusted her implicitly.

Without a word, Sucy reached into the pocket of her skirt—made with magic, as she wanted extra carrying space—and then pulled out a roll of gauze. Without even muttering a spell name, she flicked her wand to it, and a blue glow washed over the gauze for a second before vanishing.

Sucy put her wand on her hip, and then, ever-so-gently, she took Akko's hand with her own.

"Um…Sucy, why are you putting bandages on my hand? You healed me already, right?"

"Forest imps can sometimes cause phantom pains with their bites, even after your healed with magic," Sucy said, not looking up and slowly wrapping the gauze around Akko's palm. "The gauze is enchanted to prevent that."

There were calluses on Akko's hand; not a lot, but they were there, dotting on her fingers like little marks from a sharpie she forgot to wipe off. It didn't surprise her; Sucy had seen Akko lift cannons and grip brooms going thousands of times faster than sound. Seeing them there was just proof of how stubborn her friend could be. And also, surprisingly strong, far more so than most witches really should be. Just grabbing her hand could tell her that much from how firm it was.

It was also warmer than she'd expected.

Which was nice, as her own were getting a bit cold. That was why she noticed.

Sucy had reached the end of the roll, and she secured the gauze into a knot; snug, but not to tight. She slowly let go of Akko's hand, and her half-lidded eye met Akko's own.

"Leave that on for an hour," Sucy ordered flatly. "I'd also say don't do anything stupid for that long, but we both know that's impossible."

Akko just smiled. She opened her mouth, but Sucy spoke before she could.

"I did this just so you wouldn't give me a headache later about your hand cramping, not to be nice," Sucy said, setting her mouth in a frown. "So don't thank me again; it's getting annoying." She turned around without another word, grabbing her wand and lifted it up to illuminate her path. "C'mon. We got a bat to find."

Sucy had walked a few steps before she heard the sound of Akko's footsteps coming from behind her. And also, the slight sound of her giggling. Sucy rolled her eye, knowing what Akko was thinking. Well, she could believe whatever she wanted. Sucy didn't care.

Akko was quickly by her side, and she easily matched her pace. She glanced around the many trees surrounding them, taking them all in with every step.

"It still feels kind of weird," Akko said, seemingly more thinking out loud than talking to Sucy.

"What does?" Sucy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That this is really the same place where me, you and Lotte all had our first adventure, but it's so different now!" A wide, excited smile broke across Akko's face, and stars shined in her eyes. Sucy was sure they could light the path much better than her meager wand and the limitless magic in the air it used.

She chuckled at her own joke, and Akko continued. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy Arcturus looks so pretty now and doesn't look like a deathtrap anymore—but you probably wish it did."

"I do," Sucy agreed, giving her a tiny nod.

"Yeah, I figured!" Akko laughed again, a pleasant noise in the mostly silent forest. "But, it still just feels weird that it looks nothing like it did back then. Like this is a completely different place." She turned to fully face Sucy with her bright smile. "Don't you think so?"

"Eh. Not really," Sucy said, voice monotone.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Even if this place looks different, it's still basically the same forest. So I don't think it's 'weird,'" Sucy said, giving Akko a lazy shrug.

"I guess that's true," Akko said, looking back to the trees and their vibrant leaves and almost majestic bodies. "But you know, when I think back to that day, I get this big feeling of cog…cognito…cognitive dissonance!" Akko looked so proud she pronounced that word right and used it correctly, that Sucy couldn't help the snort that left her. "Yeah, that! It's like the image I have of Arcturus in my head is so different from what it actually is now, I just feel so…dissonant!"

"Oh wow, you're using such big words," Sucy's said, sarcasm in every word as she grinned. "I guess you have been reading those books Lotte lent you for our tests."

"Why do you say that like it's a shocking thing?" Akko asked, glaring slightly.

"Do you want the short answer, or the ten page essay answer?"

Akko pouted, turned her head with a little 'humph,' and they walked almost side-by-side without saying another word. It was rare, but there were times Akko could be quiet, and just enjoy the silence with her. And, despite the obvious efforts she was making to look mad, the fact she stuck so close to her and didn't try to shout some comeback about not being dumb told her this was one of those moments.

Sucy's grin grew a little, and she stepped a little closer, her elbow almost touching Akko's own. She couldn't risk this idiot tripping on something she couldn't see, after all, so she had to make sure her path was as illuminated as possible. She wanted 'Quiet Akko' to stick around for as long as possible before 'Shouting-Louder-than-a-Banshee-Akko' came back. That was why she got close.

They kept walking underneath the towering trees and deep shadows they cast. The leaves rustled from a silent wind, the sound mixing with hum of her wand, the soft buzzing of magical insects, and the pitter patter of a few unknown creatures scampering in the dark. Sucy made sure to keep an eye out for anything that might try to jump them; Arcturus was still kind of dangerous, and there was a reason not even the teachers were willing to explore it at the dead of night.

"Do you think about it?" Akko asked suddenly.

"Think about what?" Sucy asked, not turning to face her.

"The day we met."

Sucy blinked, but otherwise didn't respond. The sounds of the forest seemed to dim, and she could only hear Akko's delicate footsteps.

"I do. Back then, it was the day my dream of becoming an amazing witch just like Chariot got a little bit closer. It was where I found the Shiny Rod, and the start of so many crazy and amazing adventures with so many amazing people." Akko turned, and flashed her another impossibly warm smile that stretched from ear-to-ear. "And the day I met two people who'd become some of the most important friends in the world to me."

Akko stared at her, and they both stopped walking. Sucy still hadn't said anything, silently staring back into Akko's sparkling red eyes.

"So, do you think about it, Sucy?" she asked quietly.

Of course she did.

She thought about that day so much. It was when she finally met people her age who liked being with her. When her world changed forever, and in ways she never could've seen coming. That day had been where she found someone who wanted to be something she'd never thought she'd get: a friend.

It was when she had met Akko.

That was a moment she would never forget.

Akko was still staring at her, standing so close, eyes bright and earnest and eagerly awaiting her answer.

Sucy stared back, unblinking.

"I…" She didn't know what to say. She couldn't find her usual sarcastic quip or blunt, disinterested reply anywhere in her mind. It was suddenly so hard to look Akko in the eye. She settled her gaze on something over her shoulder, and, realizing she still had to answer her question, said, "Guess?"

Akko blinked, a bit of the eagerness fading. "You…guess?"

"Yeah." Sucy shrugged, with more effort than usual. "I mean, I don't think I think about it any more than, Lotte or something. Or you. It's just…something that happened, you know?"

Akko kept staring.

Sucy glanced to the shadows of the trees, suddenly sure she heard something moving there, and that was what forced her to look away from her friend.

She knew that wasn't the answer Akko wanted to hear, but it was the only answer she could give. The day they met meant more to her than Akko realized, but, well…admitting it out loud was…it was just…saying how much that day really meant to her to anyone, especially Akko…

It just wasn't happening. She couldn't say how much that day actually meant to her. So, she wouldn't.

Even if that meant disappointing Akko.

But she'd get over it. Of course she would.

Sucy looked back at Akko, who was staring at her with a tilted head and a small, thoughtful frown. Then, the frown flipped around to a smile so fast it almost gave Sucy whiplash.

"But you do think about that day?" she asked.

Sucy blinked at Akko's sudden cheer. "I…do. Yeah."

Akko was silent. For all but a second.

"Okay!" she practically sang

Sucy blinked again. "Okay?"

"Yep!" Akko's smile had grown wider, and her eyes shined a bit brighter. She looked oddly satisfied, like she just learned something so exciting that she couldn't help but want to giggle. And then she did, just before saying, "I understand, Sucy. Really."

Akko's smile was as warm as it was kind; so much that it seemed unreal.

But Sucy very, very much doubted she did. Otherwise she…

Otherwise things would get even…

Sucy let out a long breath, making it sound like a tired sigh, and then turned around. "Just help me find the bat already, Akko."

She walked off, and Akko was right next to her, still smiling. They walked in silence again, standing only a few inches apart, nothing but her wand and the somewhat starry sky above to light their path. It was a nice night.

And it was nice to spend it with her guinea pig. She could admit that much in her head, at least.

They were approaching the part of the groove where Sucy was sure they could find a forsakenwing. Like most bats, magic or otherwise, forsakenwings lived and thrived in the dark, and this part of the forest was quite literally the darkest, as even in the day time little light got in. Adding in the fact they also liked sleeping in tall trees and most of the ones here were some of the tallest around, there should be some bats around here.

"It's so dark," Akko muttered, glancing around at the pitch-black shadows that surrounded them. Even Sucy's wand struggled to shine bright enough to fend them off and let them see what was around them.

"Yeah, these bats like things really dark," Sucy said. "So try not to trip on your own two feet, Akko."

Akko frowned harshly; or, she was sure Akko thought she looked harsh, and not just sulky. "Okay, Sucy, I'm not that clumsy—"

Akko tripped, and she immediately let out a loud squawk, arms flailing as she fell.

Sucy's hand shot out without looking, and she caught Akko by the ponytail before she could fall on her face.

"You were saying?" Sucy asked, lifting Akko's head up so she could meet her flat gaze.

Akko's cheeks turned red. "I—that wasn't my fault! My foot fell into a ditch or, something!"

"A ditch?" Sucy muttered, and looked down. Sure enough, there was some kind of surprisingly deep trench where Akko's foot had stepped into. Actually, it looked less like a trench and more like…

Sucy frowned. With Akko still in her other hand, she stepped back, pulling Akko back as well as Akko calmly let herself be pulled by her hair. They both kept stepping back until Sucy stopped, poured a little more magic into her wand to make it a bit brighter, and then lifted it up to light the ground.

It wasn't a trench, or a ditch. It was a giant footprint.

One that looked a lot like a rooster's foot.

In fact, there were a bunch of giant rooster footprints nearby. Some of the trees were also missing some rather large branches, like something big and strong had moved through them and knocked the branches clean off. There were also what looked like bones from creatures of all different shapes and sizes scattered around the grove. It kind of looked like the remains of a crime scene, or, more likely, the feeding site for a certain giant monster she and Akko had met a while ago.

One that definitely wouldn't be too happy to see them again.

"Sucy," Akko said, eyes a bit wide. "Are those giant chicken footprints?"

"Rooster. But yeah, it is."

"Like the same kind of footprint a cockatrice would leave?"

"Yeah." Sucy slowly glanced around the grove.

Akko let out a big gulp. "The same cockatrice I called an idiot the first time we came here?"

"Probably."

Akko's face was pale, and her eyes darted around the darkness. "You…you don't think it lives around here. Do you?"

Sucy opened her mouth.

But a sudden intense, warm gust of wind made her pause, and Akko went even paler. As one, they both turned around, Sucy lifting her wand up and illuminating the space of darkness in front of her.

And from the shadows, came an enormous beak. Followed by matted brown feathers, the red, fleshy rubber-band like wattles on its chin, the equally red comb on its head, and a single eye that looked almost as big as her whole body.

A cockatrice was right in front of them.

But thankfully, it was asleep.

Sucy stared at its big, closed eye. Snot formed a thick bubble that came out its beak as it let out several surprisingly soft snores. Its head twitched, rolling slightly to the side, and then it let out another harsh, warm breath that blew into her body as it snored

Slowly, Sucy turned to Akko. Her hand had shot to Akko's mouth the moment she saw the cockatrice to stop her from screaming in shock, but Akko's own hands were already doing that job. With three hands on her mouth, Akko turned to look at her, eyes wide with panic and frantically gesturing to the cockatrice.

Yes, Akko, she saw the giant chicken; it was kind of hard to miss. Sucy gestured with her head to move back to the trees behind them, mouthing the words "quietly" as slowly and obviously as she could. Akko nodded, and Sucy took her hand off her mouth. With both their eyes still firmly on the cockatrice, they started to back away, taking slow, careful steps.

And that was when they found the forsakenwing.

Actually, it was more like it found them as it flew through the darkness of the trees with an almighty screech, and they watched as it smacked into the cockatrice's eye, and then fell back to the ground with a thud, knocked out cold.

The snot bubble popped, and the cockatrice's eyes blearily began to open.

Sucy stared, impassive eye unblinking.

…Oh, that was just, great.

The cockatrice started to lift its head, and a low growl leaving its throat, angrily rousing out of its dreamy daze.

Sucy's hand shot towards one of the more lethal potions in her robes, pulled it out, undid the cork as she pulled her arm back and then—

Froze as she saw Akko rushing towards the cockatrice, directly in the path where Sucy had been about to throw her potion.

"Akko, what are you—"

Akko arrived just a few inches away from the cockatrice's face, the mythical creature still not fully awake yet and trying to clear the sleep out its eyes. Akko took in a deep breath, and then, she started to…

Sing?

"Dō-shi-te…kimi ga naku no…mada boku mo naite inai, noni."

It was…it was a soft melody; one that carried on the breeze and gently whispered in her ears, making her think of honey-soaked smiles and sunny days. Akko was speaking in Japanese, so Sucy didn't understand the lyrics. That did nothing to stop her from thinking that Akko…Akko had a nice singing voice.

And she found herself wanting to hear more.

"Jibun yori, kanashmu kara… Tsurainoga do-cchi ka wakaranku naru yo…"

Sucy rarely heard Akko speak in her own language, and she especially never heard her sing in it, but there was a noticeable difference in how she spoke in Japanese than in English. Her cadence was…surprisingly elegant. Not in a dainty, aristocratic way, but more that, since she switched back to the vowels and consonants she first learned to say, her words had a nice little chime to them. It added a light, soothing pitch to her voice, not just because she was singing, but because that was just how Akko naturally sounded. It was almost…ethereal, in the sense that Sucy wasn't used to Akko sounding like…like this.

"Itsumo kimi ni…zu-tto kimi no…warratteite hoshikute…"

Akko had muttered something before that verse, and for some reason it felt like she was skipping a few lyrics. But that didn't matter to Sucy in the slightest. Every word that left her mouth had an almost effortless depth to them, like she was singing from her heart and pouring every bit of emotion into her voice, and all while still making it sound so quiet and kind and gentle and…warm. Which was fitting, really, for Akko. And with how she was softly petting at the cockatrice feathery chin as its eyes struggled to stay open, it was almost like she was singing a lullaby—

Oh.

Oh, Akko was singing to try and put it to sleep. Right. That made sense. She was just to busy focusing on Akko's voice to realize that.

Well…it wasn't a bad plan, so…she might as well let her sing and listen to how…different her voice was. She had nothing better to do.

Sucy watched as Akko stepped closer to the cockatrice, fingers gently rubbing circles on its eye.

"Hi-mawari no you na, massugu na sono yassashisa wo…nukumori wo zen-bu…"

Akko got even closer, and wrapped one of her arms around the cockatrice face, like she was trying to hug its whole head. It looked warm, even from all the way over here.

"Kore kara wa, boku mo…todokete yuki-tai…"

The cockatrice seemed to lean into Akko's touch, head slowly lowering back to the ground as its eye, guided by Akko's fingers and singing, started to close.

"Hontou no shiawase no, imi wo…mitsuketa…kara."

With that last, gentle whisper, the cockatrice eyes fully closed, and in a few seconds, it was snoring again.

…Huh.

That was…something.

Sucy could still hear Akko singing in her head as she stared. Akko was still standing close to the cockatrice, like she was afraid to move away from it. Then, somewhat stiffly, she moved to the side, picked up the forsakenwing from the ground, and slowly put it in the hood of her jacket. She moved backward, never taking her eyes off the cockatrice, and when she had finally arrived right next to Sucy, she abruptly turned, staring right into her eye, unblinking.

"Hold on," Akko whispered.

"Wait, hold on to what—"

Without warning, Akko suddenly moved and grabbed her legs out from under her, picked her up in her strong arms, and, before Sucy had even the time to gasp or hurl an insult, Akko sprinted like she was being chased by an angry Finnelan. Tree after tree passed by Sucy like a blur, every stray animal or sentient plant along the way ducking out of Akko's path, and the ones that didn't have the time Akko jumped over with the grace that would make an olympic gymnast green with envy.

She wasn't sure how long Akko ran, but eventually, she dug her shoes into the ground, digging up a small trench with her heels before she came to a stop.

"Okay," Akko gasped out, eyes wide, sweat dripping down her face as she panted harshly. "That…that was close."

It took Sucy a few seconds to process two things. The first, was that Akko was still holding her, one arm under her legs and the other secured around her neck, and more than that, was holding her exactly like someone would hold a princess in some old, sappy romance cartoon.

The second thing was that her own arms were wrapped around Akko's neck tightly, and her face was very close to Akko's. She could make out the sheen of sweat on Akko's face, feel her heartbeat through her neck. It wasn't as loud as she'd thought it be, but it still pumped a steady, rhythmic beat that Sucy couldn't help but focus on almost as much as when Akko had sung, and Akko's warm voice was suddenly echoing in her mind again and again without any signs of ending, and the sound was almost as pretty as Akko's—

"Sucy?"

Sucy blinked. She realized Akko had been staring at her with confused, bright red eyes; for how long, she couldn't say. But it had definitely been long enough for her to notice Sucy's own staring, and the fact she was still staring.

Without any hesitation, Sucy's hand smacked against Akko's face somewhat harshly, and hopped out of her arms, landing in a crouch on the ground.

"OW!" Akko shouted, taking a few steps back as she rubbed at her face. "What was that for—w-wait. Did I…I thought it was okay to carry you, but did I make you—"

"No, you didn't. You just smell," Sucy grumbled out; her tone had been as blunt and dry as she could make it, and she slowly stood up.

"Wha—I do not—wait." Akko frowned, expression becoming a bit pinched. "Do I?" Akko grabbed her jacket, brought it close to her face, and took a big sniff. "Oh good, I don't," she said in relief, and then turned to glare at Sucy. "I don't smell!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Sucy said, turning away. With her mouth forced into a tight line, she focused on her surroundings, ignoring Akko, and her indignant squawks. They had run into some kind of mini-clearing, the trees more spread out here, but it was hard to make out everything without any light. Her wand had fallen from fingers at some point, and the spell she used to illuminate the area had come to an end, making practically everything she could see inky black. But she was sure she heard it clatter on the ground somewhere around here.

As she searched, she was dimly aware of Akko letting out another "humpth!", and the sounds of her stepping closer. Sucy paused for a moment, and then there was a bright flash of green light illuminating the ground. She turned, and saw Akko's wand shining with green magic as she stood next to her, eyes darting around the ground, obviously searching for her wand as well.

Sucy stared at Akko, the green light casting her face in an otherworldly glow. And the more she stared, the more her curiosity got the better of her.

"Hey," Sucy asked suddenly.

Akko paused in her searching, and looked back at Sucy. "Yeah?"

"When…did you learn how to sing?"

Akko blinked, and then smiled. "Oh, did you like it!?"

Sucy didn't answer for a second, thinking about the best way to phrase her thoughts. "It was…something."

"Heh, yeah." Akko sheepishly chuckled, scratching her cheek. "Guess I'm kind of rusty," she said, taking what Sucy said as something insulting. Which was fine with her. "It's not really something I practice that much anymore. Singing was something I kind of did in my free time before I came to Luna Nova. I figured learning how to sing might come in handy if I ever wanted to do a big musical number in front of a crowd, ya know?"

Akko quickly stood up, and made a big, sweeping gesture with her wand, like the kind a dancer would give just as the music started kicking in at a musical. She even mimed herself tipping a hat at Sucy, her grin widening.

Sucy rolled her eye, but her lips did quirk up for just a second.

Akko giggled, and suddenly spun on her heels. "Yeah, so, it eventually turned into a kind of… hobby, I guess? But then I realized I had other things I needed to focus on then learning to be an awesome singer—like actually figuring out how to apply and get accepted into a magic school, which was stupidly hard to do." She muttered that last part under her breath somewhat sullenly. "So, I basically stopped doing it as much. But it did come in handy when I was learning English! I got super bored with a lot of lessons, so to spice things up I started learning the lyrics to American songs and sang them in-between, and that made everything way more fun!"

Akko beamed as she finished, and Sucy let out a faint, amused snort. "Yeah, that sounds like you," she said, standing up so she wouldn't have to keep talking from the ground, and stepped closer to Akko. "So, what exactly were you singing to the cockatrice?"

"A kind-of-sort-of lullaby my dad taught me!"

Sucy frowned. "A what?"

"It's not technically a lullaby, but when I was a kid, my dad and I saw a movie, can't remember the name, and I really liked the ending song to it. It was really pretty and nice, and even made me relax and get kind of sleepy. So he started singing it to me before I went to bed. He even changed the rhythm and pitch to make it more lullaby-ish." She smiled fondly. "That song always makes me think about home."

Sucy couldn't help but stare at that smile. A warm, happy smile brought on from thinking about her home. Her parents.

Sucy frowned, and looked back at the ground, walking away from Akko. To look for her wand. Akko's own wand provided enough light to look a short distance away from her.

"Well, good thing the cockatrice actually liked it," Sucy muttered, her voice just a bit clipped, but no one would notice.

Akko didn't respond right away, and Sucy could feel Akko's eyes on her back. "Er…yeah." Akko chuckled, and it sounded just the tiniest bit awkward to her. "Would've been really bad if it didn't. I really didn't want to it to try and eat me again."

"Oh what, are you scared of a chicken?" Sucy turned to grin at her, a sharp glint in her eye as she chuckled.

Akko chuckled back, a bit nervous, but this time it sounded closer to her usual warm laughs. She crotched down near a tree some ten feet away from Sucy, and looked around it's trunk. "Well, when the chicken is a giant monster and has a grudge against me, yeah."

Sucy snorted, and went back to looking for her wand, Akko's light illuminating the path. "What a shame. The so-called 'Savior of Magic,' defeater of magic nukes, scared of a chicken." She shook her head sadly. "Disappointing."

"Hey, don't act like you didn't run away the first time we met it!"

Sucy crouched down, and brushed aside a few tufts of grass. "Don't know what you're talking about, Akko."

"Yes you do!" Akko stomped her foot. "You were totally just as scared as I was when that cockatrice started shooting flames at you! I saw your face!"

"You're clearly delusional," she replied. Her wand wasn't here. Drat. Sucy brushed off the dirt, slowly standing up—

"No I'm not! It was literally right after you trapped me in that big hamster ball to get a feather and called me a 'sacrifice!'"

Sucy went absolutely still, heart missing a beat.

"The cockatrice was chasing me and Lotte, and you were all like 'try not to get eaten or turned to stone,' and when we were rolling and rolling in that hamster ball, I looked back, and you were plucking a feather out from that giant chicken's butt, and the cockatrice noticed you, and you noticed it noticing you, and you had on the biggest 'oh poop' look on your face I've ever seen, so don't you try and pretend that you…weren't…"

Akko suddenly stopped talking.

Sucy still hadn't moved.

"Sucy?" She could hear the frown in her voice, and the confusion. "Is…something wrong?"

Sucy didn't say anything. Then, slowly, she stood up from her crouch, and turned.

"Found a mushroom," she said, extending her hand and showing off a dark red mushroom that glowed slightly purple she had picked from the ground.

"O-oh." Akko blinked, and then squinted at the mushroom. "Is that the, uh…glowberry something."

"Glowberry crimsoncap," Sucy corrected, tone more neutral than normal, at least to her ears. She stared at the mushroom, focusing on it entirely. Scientific name Purpurisolum Ruficrims. Could only grow in magically rich soil found near birch trees, and its spores stopped similar magical fungi from growing in the area by essentially "infecting" the ground. "Surprised you knew the name," she muttered, voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey, when your friends with the biggest mushroom nerd on the planet, you pick up on a few things!" Akko said, and Sucy assumed she was smiling, but she didn't look up. A few seconds passed, the air growing awkward, and Akko slowly spoke up. "Also…I thought you already picked one up before?"

"No, that was a luminous crimsonhood." Sucy held it up a little closer to Akko's face. "The color for those aren't as dark as this one, and their glow is a different shade of purple."

Akko was still squinting at it. "I really don't see a difference."

"And that's why I'm the expert and you're the guinea pig," Sucy deadpanned, finally looking back up at Akko. "Also, have you found my wand yet?"

"Your wand—oh, right!" Akko quickly turned back, and all but dove into a bramble. "I'm positive I saw it around here. Hold on, give me a minute!"

Sucy stared at Akko. Then, she looked back at the crimsoncap, and slowly put it into her pouch. It was a boring mushroom, one she definitely didn't need, but it'd be a waste to throw it away after she plucked it up. So, she'd find some way to use it later. Probably.

Akko let out an "ouch!" as she poked herself on of the brambles, but for once, Sucy didn't laugh at her for being an over eager moron. All she could do was look at her with a deep frown and half-lidded eye, and think back to the day they had met.

And how she almost got her killed.

They…she, never really talked to Akko about how she had, essentially, used her and Lotte as monster bait. And had been willing to leave them for dead. While laughing about it.

Sucy wouldn't say she was actually hoping they died. As much as she found Akko annoying back then, she never once actually thought about killing her. The same went for Lotte, the 'meek-looking hanger on' she had met ten seconds ago, and had no real reason to dislike, let alone want dead. She even made them a rope cage they could, in theory, use to actually run away from the Cockatrice, instead of just snaring their entire bodies with rope and leaving them actually helpless.

But…she wouldn't exactly say she expected them to use the rope cage as pseduo-hamster ball to escape. And the cage she had trapped them in would've done nothing to stop the cockatrice from stepping on them like ants. Or stop it's petrifying breath. Or especially it's flame breath.

Just how quickly would they have died if the cockatrice had decided to try burning them alive instead of chasing after them? Not that death by fire was a quick-death.

Sucy kept staring, and her throat felt weird; it was harder to swallow all of a sudden.

"Okay, so!" Akko shouted, coming out of the brambles with a few scratches, but no wand; just a stick. "It turns out what I saw was not your wand, but just this dumb twig here." She gestured at said twig, frowning at it like it had insulted her, and quickly threw it away without another glance. "But don't worry, we'll find it! I know we will." She smiled brightly.

Sucy said nothing.

"Sucy?" Akko looked at her, smile fading and eyebrows slowly rising. Sucy kept blankly staring for a moment, her mind still thinking about the day they met, and everything she had done to her.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

Sucy opened her mouth, but she almost instantly closed it. She shook her head. "Forget it."

"Eh? But you were just—"

"It's nothing, Akko," Sucy said, waving her hand dismissively. "Just keep looking for my wand."

"O…kay?"

Somewhat hesitantly, Akko started looking in another bramble for her wand, and Sucy crouched down near a log, eye scanning the barely illuminated grass.

She was being stupid. Akko hadn't meant anything by bringing up how Sucy…left them behind. She had just skipped past the actual moment like it was barely anything worth noting. And, it honestly kind of was. That happened so long ago, and so many things had changed since that it really wasn't even worth talking about. Or even thinking about, which she had found herself doing more often.

And the only reason she had been thinking back to when she left Akko so much, was because…

Because of her.

"What is wrong with you?"

She could hear those words again; cold as they were judging. Spoken in that prim, way-to-haughty voice of everyone's favorite witch, and with blue eyes sharp enough to cut a minotaur's hide. All aimed at her, like she was some kind of criminal, like she didn't deserve to be here, like she didn't deserve to be with…

Sucy scowled, and her hand clenched a little harder on her wand.

Not now. She wouldn't let Ms. Perfect distract her, or think back to that fight, or to words that were not true.

Sucy let out a long, sharp breath, and closed her eye. She thought back to the mushrooms she had collected, listing off all their names, their effects, the potions they could be used for when they were brewed and the effects those potions could have. This would've been more effective with incense to burn, but she'd have to make do.

In, and out.

When the slight throbbing in her head and heart faded, she looked at things from a distance; logically, and without a hint of emotion. Like an executioner looking at a victim they've never met.

In, and out.

This was Akko. If she really was upset at her, she would've said something. Akko never asked for an apology, so, obviously, everything was okay. It had to be; Akko didn't hold a grudge against Ursula for lying to her and not telling her everything about Croix, and didn't hate Croix despite the fact she tried to hurt her friends and even tried to kill her multiple times, and was the main reason she had so many problems with magic.

In, and out.

Sucy almost hurting her wasn't nearly that bad. And no matter what a certain someone seemed to imply, the jokes she played on Akko were harmless. As much as Akko might complain, she never seriously tried to get her to stop. If she had, then Sucy would've. Of course she would've.

She'd never hurt Akko. Never.

And the same went for her.

In…and out.

Sucy wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually, she opened her eye as she exhaled one last time.

But even after all the effort she put into calming down, there was still a tiny amount of tension left in her body.

She looked back to Akko, who was in yet another bush as her legs kicked in the air.

They were fine. She was fine. There was no reason to dwell on things that didn't matter, or especially words from her. Akko was still here. She understood Sucy, and was her friend. Her best friend.

She wouldn't…

There was no reason to finish that thought, because it wouldn't happen again.

"Got it!" Akko shouted, coming out of the brambles with her wand, and big, triumphant grin. She ran back to Sucy, and handed her wand back. "Here ya go!"

Sucy stared at Akko's face. At her wide, happy smile, aimed right at Sucy, and how she could see no other emotion there. Just joy. And almost instantly, she thought back to the first time she really saw it.

After they had arrived 'on time' for the opening ceremony, Sucy had honestly been surprised that she was still allowed to attend, not that she showed it. Mostly because she had expected Akko or Lotte to tell the teachers about how she almost got them all killed by a monster. And she doubted even the pretty awful ones here like Finnelan would be okay with a future student almost committing manslaughter just for a potion ingredient. She had been expecting them to kick her out any at any moment, or even call the magical police on her, and had been more than ready to leave, or escape from the law, at any moment. But no, that hadn't happened.

Instead, some random professor who she'd never learned the name of had taken her to what would become her and her two best friends' future room. As she began to wonder exactly she was still doing here, if they were really accepting her, Lotte arrived.

And the moment Lotte saw her, she went still. Just for a second, but Sucy still noticed, and then quickly greeted her with a polite smile that strained at the edges. She tired to talk with her, but despite her efforts to hide it, Lotte was practically screaming "uncomfortable." Sucy hadn't really cared though; she was just thinking if there was even any point of staying in the school, even after learning from some passing professors about the possible extinct species of mushrooms Luna Nova supposedly had. She had her feather, the whole reason she even applied here, and yeah, getting rare mushrooms would've been a plus, but would that really be worth going to some failing school?

But then Akko arrived, and when she saw Sucy, there wasn't a hint of nervousness at seeing her. Or anger, or shock, or fear, or any other emotion Sucy had expected to see whenever someone saw her in the same room as them. Esepcially after she had used her plush toy as a puppet to attack her, had snakes wrap themselves around her arm and force her off a bridge, and used her as bait for a monster, and almost gotten her killed. And then, that very same girl did something even more impossible.

She smiled.

At her.

A bright, warm smile the likes of which Sucy had never seen before. It was like a sun made of just kindness rose on her face, and it had been aimed at her. The girl who, by all reason, Akko should've disliked. Hated, even. Who should've wanted nothing to do with her.

But instead, Akko smiled with all her heart, and wanted to be her friend.

At that moment, at seeing that smile from an impossibly warm girl, rare mushrooms became a reason she hadn't left Luna Nova any time soon.

And that had also been when her mind slowly but surely took that moment on the bridge, where she met a girl she thought was just a moron, but was so, so much more, and made it into something…special, to her.

Sucy kept staring at her smile. Then, slowly, she took her wand from Akko, and muttered a tiny, "Thanks."

"No problem!" Akko cheered automatically. Then, she blinked, and her eyes went almost as wide as a cockatrice. "Wait, did you just say 'thanks?!'" She pointed dramatically at her. "You!?"

"I've thanked you before, you know," Sucy grumbled out.

"Y-yeah, I guess, but, its almost always like, sarcastically! Or you don't actually say the word, and just kind of let me think you maybe thanked me, but you also could've meant it in a mean, backhanded kind of compliment! I didn't think you actually knew how to say it!"

Sucy's gaze went completely flat; almost dangerously so.

Akko suddenly looked sheepish. "Er…not that I'm complaining. I'm just not used to you actually thanking me so"—she made a vague, wishy-washy kind of gesture between the two of them—"directly."

No. She rarely did, did she?

"Yeah, well," Sucy began, and the idea of what she should say came to her quickly. But the words…wouldn't. Somewhere inside her, they got stuck, trying to decide what should come out of her mouth, piling up because she didn't know which one to pick, which ones she actually could say, all without it sounding weird since it was her saying it, or worst of all, hinting at how much everything Akko had done for her really meant to her—

"Sucy?"

Sucy had been staring, not saying a word, and Akko was frowning at her in confusion.

"Is everything okay—"

A low, painful sounding squeal came from behind Akko. Akko blinked, then frowned, reaching into her hoodie with one hand, and pulled out the foresakenwing. It seemed to be lulling in and out of consciousness as it groaned in her hands.

"Oh, I forgot about you for a second, Mr. Bat," Akko said. She gasped, eyes wide. "Wait, Sucy, come here! The little guy's hurt!"

Sucy raised a single eyebrow and slowly walked towards Akko. When she was close enough, Akko gently held out the bat. It was bigger than an average bat, but most of its pale purple body fit in her palm. Under the glow of both their wands, Sucy could make out dozens of cuts all over its body, bits of purple blood leaking and staining its fur. But the more severe injuries were the deep abrasions all over its body, like ropes had been tied around it so hard they tried to squeeze the life out of it. Probably got caught in a mandrake's vines and just barely escaped. She was pretty sure she heard some of its tiny bones crack as it let out another painful squeal.

Akko looked up to her, eyes wide and pleading. "Sucy, you gotta heal it!"

"Do I have to?"

"Sucy!" Akko glared at her slightly. "This isn't the time for jokes!"

She thought it was.

Sucy rolled her eye, and then took out a small pipette. "Okay, fine. Gimme a second." She put the pipette next to one of the cuts, squeezed the bulb, and pale blood slowly filled the tube.

"What are you doing?" Akko asked.

"Getting its blood," She answered, not looking up at Akko. "That was the final potion ingredient I needed, remember?"

"Oh, so this bat's the forsakenwing; that's pretty lucky—wait, no, shouldn't you be healing it first, not sucking up its blood!?"

"It's not dying or anything, Akko," Sucy said, her words clinically emotionless. "It can wait a few seconds."

"But—"

"If I healed it now, that would mean I'd have to hurt it again to get the blood." She looked up to her, raising an eyebrow. "Would you rather I do that?"

Akko sulked. "No." She looked down at the bat, expression so full of concern Sucy almost drowned in it. "But I don't want this little guy to be in so much pain."

"Akko, it almost got us attacked by a cockatrice."

"That doesn't meant I want it to suffer, Sucy," Akko said, firmly meeting Sucy's gaze.

Sucy held it for a moment, and sighed. "Your heart's way to big," she muttered.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Akko said proudly. And…from her, it kind of was.

Sucy let out a grunt, and kept sucking up the blood. Once the pipette was full, she put it away, grabbed another, and filled that up. Then she did the same with another. And another.

"Do you really need all that blood for your potion?" Akko asked, squinting at her with suspicion.

"Yep."

Sucy lied as easily as she breathed. About only half the pipettes she used so far were necessary for her potion, she just wanted some extra forsakenwing blood. It was a pretty rare potion ingredient after all.

But, even though her expression never once so much as twitched, Akko's eyes narrowed even further, like she somehow knew she was lying. "Sucy," she began, and there was something almost dangerous in her tone.

Sucy rolled her eye again, and then put away the last pipette before it could finish sucking up more blood. She held her wand over the bat, and muttered a small, "Diosir Sorware."

Somewhat duller green sparks than her last spell fell over the bat, but like Akko before it, the wound on the bat's body began to mend and repair with a gentle green glow. In a few seconds, all the abrasions and cuts on its body were completely healed, and it peacefully slept in Akko's hands.

"There. It's healed," she said, voice blank.

Akko smiled in response. "Thanks, Sucy. I knew you—" Akko paused, and then frowned.

"What is it?"

"You missed some."

"What?" Sucy frowned slightly, eye narrowing. "Where?"

"Here, see?" Akko said, gesturing with her wand to the bat's face. Sucy moved a bit closer to get a better look.

The bat had been laying on one side of its face before, so she hadn't been able to make out the left side of it. But now, she could.

And now, she could make out the all the scars criss-crossing on its left eye. Old, faded scars that looked like they came from some kind of animal with big claws or fangs that tried to rip out its eye. They extended and curved under its face, reaching to bits of its torn out ear. It was the ones on the eye though that honestly looked the worse to her.

And going by how milky what was left of its red pupil was, it couldn't actually see out of it.

"See? You missed all his scars."

Very slowly, Sucy looked up, not even blinking. "Akko," she said, voice carefully neutral. "Magic can't heal scars."

"Eh!? It can't?!"

"No," she stated. "It can't."

"How come?!"

"Healing basic wounds is easy, but the more severe an injury is, the harder and tricker it gets to heal. And that goes double for scars, because depending on how old they are, your body genuinely thinks thats how its supposed to be now, and so whatever healing spell you use also thinks its supposed to be like that, so the magic doesn't fix it."

She pointed at the very clearly old scars on the bat's face. "You could try and 'edit' the spell manually to get it to work on the scar, but you better be sure you have the skills to not mess it up. There's a reason most witches don't try to recreate things like limbs, or mouths, or ears, or especially eyes. It comes with a whole bunch of risks that if they take, the spell might do more damage than it would help." She paused. She looked back at the bat, and at its eye. "At best, you'd probably just give it worse scars if you tried. Or some kind of Frankenstein amalgamation of an eye and scars, if you were really that stupid to try."

Akko looked down sadly at the bat. "Oh." Her lips pressed together into a thin, displeased line. "That stinks."

"Yeah," Sucy said, after a moment passed. "It does."

Akko looked to the sky. "You think if I still had the Shiny Rod, I could've used Lyonne to heal the little guy's eye?"

"Maybe." Sucy had to pause for a moment. Slowly, she said, "But it doesn't matter now; you gave it back to the void of space." Or something like that. So it was pointless to even think about.

Akko didn't respond. She seemed to be lost in staring at the open night sky. There were times when Akko did this; look up into the night, like she was trying to find an old friend. Akko viewed the Shiny Rod less like a tool of great importance, and more like a stuffed animal that she held onto for so long and helped her get through so many bad days, but then, had to let it go.

And in those moments, when she remembered she didn't have that comforting "plushie", her soft face crumbled, leaving a heavy frown and eyes that had most of her warmth sucked out of them. That face always looked so wrong on Akko.

Was that the face she made, when she learned the truth about Ursula? When she sat alone in the snow, with no one around?

When there should've been someone there with her, throughout it all.

"You probably could, though."

Akko blinked.

It took Sucy a second to realize she had spoken.

"Learn to heal scars, even without that staff," Sucy continued, not sure where she was going with this. "Or, do any of the stuff you did with it and then some, honestly. I wouldn't be surprised."

Akko was staring at her, the look on her face unreadable, even to Sucy.

Sucy really had no idea what she was doing. "Ursula said there's a reason the staff chose you in the first place, right? That you had the power to bring magic back because you were you." Impossible in every way imaginable. "So…" She wracked her brains for something to say. "Don't look like that. Like you're about to give up. It looks weird on you."

More staring. And she still didn't say a word. The only sound Sucy could hear was the faint humming from her wand, and her heartbeat.

Ugh, why did she say that? Comforting people was not something she was good at, least of all Akko. Half of what she said probably didn't even make that much sense to her. She should've just kept her mouth shut, or say anything better than that—

"Thanks."

Sucy blinked.

Akko smiled softy at her, most of the sorrow gone from her eyes. "That means a lot, Sucy," she said, and she sounded truly grateful. "Really."

Sucy stared. Then, she turned, and waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever." She began to walk away, that soft, grateful smile still in her mind, and gestured for Akko to follow her. "We got everything we need for the potion, so let's go."

"Sounds good!"

"And hopefully that cockatrice hasn't woken up from your lullaby."

"Ye-yeah."

Sucy chuckled, and looked down at the pouch with all her potion ingredients for the Essence of Enchantress. Among other things, one of the big draws about that potion was that if it was added to some of her already completed potions, it should boost their potency and also give them a plethora of additional, interesting effects.

And there were certain theories about that potion that Sucy wanted to see if they were true or not.

But, even if they weren't, she'd still be left with an amazing potion. And, with their last day of school tomorrow before their holiday break, she'd have plenty of time to test out all the ways she could use it.

Just imagining all the new, dangerous possibilities suddenly available to her just so long as she finished just one potion made her chuckle again. And of course, she'd do it with her guinea pig. Just her and Akko, brewing potions.

A new grin formed on Sucy's face. One that felt different from all the other ones that came before. More…content, she guessed would be the word. And something else.

But that wasn't important.

"This break's gonna be fun," Sucy said, and even with her slouch, there was a a tiny, barely their joy that put a little bounce to her steps. Not a skip. Sucy Manbavaran did not skip.

"Yeah it is!" Akko agreed.

"And you better prepare yourself for a lot of experiments, Guinea Pig." Sucy's grin became downright evil, voice full of excitement that promised malevolent schemes and deadly poisons.

Akko laughed; more than a little fearfully. "Y-yeah. Don't worry, Sucy. My body and mind are ready for any…'tests.'" She said 'tests' with the same finality someone would have when writing out their last will and testament.

Another laugh left her, and Sucy turned, already imagining all the wonderful concoctions they'd brew, the funny faces Akko would make when she drank whatever came out of her cauldron, Lotte warning her not to be "too mean" to Akko but trying not laugh, and Akko would rant and get angry at her for turning her skin blue or something before she eventually laughed at herself along with Sucy and just smile at her in a way that just made her so glad she decided to stick around, and that Akko had too when everyone else had—

"Just please don't hit me with any really bad potions before I have to leave, okay?"

There was a loud, echoing crack in her head.

Sucy could barely focus on Akko's footsteps as they got closer, or the moment Akko kept walking past her, or the words that left her mouth as she kept walking without her. "Also, do you think it's okay to leave this little guy in a random tree, or should we try to find its home to? I don't want Mr. Bat to get hurt again, so, is there a way to tell, or should we…just…"

Akko slowly stopped talking, coming to a stop as she realized Sucy wasn't following. Then, she turned around, frowning in concern. "Sucy?"

The words Akko just said kept repeating in her head. One word in particular standing out, deafening all others and leaving her unable to focus on anything else.

Leaving.

Leaving?

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

An emotion Sucy couldn't name rose in her voice, just slightly. Akko's eyes went wide, and she looked incredibly lost; even a bit worried.

"E-eh?" Akko stuttered out. "I…I mean I'm leaving school for like a week-ish to go to Ireland over break. You know. Like I told you before."

Oh.

Only for the break. That was what she meant.

Sucy's fingers slowly unclenched from her wand, not really sure when she started gripping it just a little harder. She just meant she was leaving for a short while, and then—

Wait.

Sucy's eye narrowed. "You never told me you were leaving for break."

Akko blinked. "Uh, yeah I did."

"No, you didn't."

"Yeah I did!" Akko argued. "It was right after I—"

Her mouth hung open mid-word, expression going impossibly stiff.

"Akko?"

Akko said nothing. Then, slowly, she closed her mouth, lips thinning, and stared at her with a carefully blank, almost dumb look on her face.

"Okay, so," Akko began. "I screwed up."

Sucy's glare was flat. "Something tells me you're not just speaking in general."

"Ye-yeah. So…remember when me and Amanda went flying around Blytonburry?"

"When she crashed into the goblin bakery and almost started a cake war?"

"Uh, no. When that swarm of magic geese attacked us, and we had to get back my new hair-tie from their leaders who were trying to take over all the pounds that belonged to a bunch of baby ducks. And then the geese turned into a giant four-headed robot, and that was when Constanze showed up to fight with the Grand Charion, King Quackington and all his baby ducks showed up in his own giant robot suit, and we all got into a giant robot battle. Remember?"

Sucy nodded. "I remember. So, two weeks ago, ish?"

"Ye-yeah, that wasn't when we first came up with the idea, but it was when we, er, finished scheduling things and got the tickets. I meant to tell you about it before I actually left with Amanda for flying lessons, but, I met Jasminka on the way, and she wanted to give me a cute hair-tie she picked up from some fancy shop in Ukraine, and then I was gushing about how sweet she was and how I wanted to pay her back but she wouldn't let me because 'friends give each other gifts to make them happy, not to be paid,' and I hugged her and that was why I was so mad at those geese and why I kept smacking them around with my broom—

"Akko."

"Right! So, I got caught up with Jasminka, Amanda showed up 'cuz it was almost time for our lessons-slash-cool-flight-hangout-day, then we left, the geese thing happened, and by the end I was kind of tired after hitting giant robots with just-as-giant-glowing-magic-fists and my broom, so, I, er, told myself I'd tell you tomorrow. But then I…forgot. For over two weeks, apparently."

Akko smiled sheepishly.

The simmering glare Sucy gave her made Akko wilt like the world's guiltiest flower. "I'm sorry," Akko muttered, looking down at her shoes. "I honestly thought you knew. I mean, I've been packing my stuff for the trip, and I don't remember you questioning it, so I thought I did tell you."

Sucy frowned. She…had noticed Akko moving her stuff around a lot in their dorm. But Akko was constantly a blur of motion in their room, sometimes organizing her clothes or Chariot stuff every other day because it 'feels better to put it here today,' sometimes packing stuff to send to her parents, sometimes getting some gift from her new "fans" that had seen her save the world after being vetted by the faerie staff. And Sucy had been spending the last week researching every ingredients she needed for her potion, and had been spending more time in the library and archives lately.

Plus, it didn't exactly help that Akko hadn't been spending that much time in their dorms lately. Or just spend time around Sucy, or Lotte. All of them going to Arcturus together was honestly the first time in a while they all got together to have some fun. That things felt normal. And she wasn't counting the "group hangout" things with all their other friends, not only because it had been a while since they'd done what, but because Akko almost always went off with—

One word Akko had said at the begining of her explanation hit her with the force of a truck.

We.

"Akko," Sucy began, slowly, voice still neutral, even as that crack from before from expanded. "Why exactly are you going to Ireland?"

And who are you going with?

From within that slowly widening crack, there came a rising heat.

Sucy let out a breath, tongue tasting faintly like smoke, and waited.

Akko paused for a moment, but then she grinned; the same grin she always got when she was going to rant about something she was excited from head-to-toe about.

"Oh, well, a while back, like before Croix was a teacher, Ursula told me there's some kind of ancient-magic-tree that a bunch of witches turned into this like huge kind-of-sort-of-museum-library-club-house-thing, and we're gonna try and find it!" she said, and that…was not at all what Sucy was expecting her to say. "It apparently 'disappeared' or something 'cuz it needed a lot of magic to stay in the 'physical world' and kind of became a ghost-tree-thingy no one could find or interact with while it traveled through a bunch of dimensions. But now with magic back, it came back too!"

Sucy blinked. A few times, actually, as she processed that. "And, you want to go to this tree…because?"

"Because apparently one of the witches their was doing a lot of research on Wagandea pollen, and there are a bunch of rumors she was really, really close to finding a cure for witches that got hit with it!" Akko was breaming, so much so Sucy could practically see excited, firework like sparks buzzing around her face. "There could be a cure to help Ursula fly again, Sucy!"

Oh. Oh, that was why. She had been wrong.

Sucy's shoulders sagged a little, the heat dying like it was never their.

Akko continued, rambling to her ecstatic heart's content. "When we learned about that research, we told Ursula about it and convinced her to come with us to see if there's a cure, and even Croix is gonna show up too—as a hologram on her magic roomba because she's still kind of in jail, and not for that long because again, jail—and I thought it be cool if while we're looking for the tree the four of us see the sights too when we can!"

It was just a trip with Ursula. And Croix. Sucy frowned, but since that woman wouldn't be there it person, there was only so much she could do if she tried to mess with Akko again. So, even though the only other person to watch her back was Ursula, she was sure Akko could handle herself if Croix did try anything. Though, from what she heard from Akko, Croix did seem to genuinely want to repent for basically everything she did to Akko. Still, it wouldn't hurt to get Akko to take one of Sucy's more nasty potions with her in case she ever felt the need to make someone else a guinea pig—

Wait a minute. Akko was still saying "we."

And also, talking about the four of them.

The heat came back twice as strong, and the crack widened further.

"Sucy, I had no idea there was so much cool stuff over their! Catchy music, the castles—non-magic and magic—all the cool Celtic magical animals and spirits that hang around in nature that only got cooler when magic came back, and, surprisingly, a bunch of awesome food that don't have an ounce of potatoes in 'em! Because I am seriously sick of eating those things—"

"Hey."

Akko blinked, half-way through pumping her fists into the air. "Yeah?"

Sucy stared, pale-red eye unblinking. "You said you're going to this tree because you found out about some research those witches did on Wagenda, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"So did you find out about that research?"

"Oh, no, I didn't, that was—"

Akko suddenly closed her mouth, stopping herself from talking. She stared at Sucy, expression once again blank and dumb-looking, not saying a word. Either something on Sucy's expression showed—which she'd never allow—or, more likely, some sixth sense Akko had concerning danger quickly told her to shut up.

But Sucy had a very, very good idea what she was about to say. A name, specifically.

"Akko," she said, and her voice sounded….off, to her ears. There was a tightness there she rarely heard before. A perfectly constructed neutral, half-lidded eye looked right into Akko's bright red. "Who else is going on this trip?"

Akko suddenly looked incredibly awkward. Then, with a very noticeable amount of hesitation, spoke.

"Di…Diana."

Like shattered concrete, the crack inside her split wide open.

And in the very core of her being, the heat turned into something dark and big and ugly, and it growled.

-0-​

In a forest of magic and home to creatures rarely seen in generations, the night was dark, but full of wonders. From the spirits of the land to the animals that defied so many laws, magic wasn't just in the air, but suffused in every inch of the forest. Even the so-called monster that lurked in the forest couldn't erase all the wonder that existed here; all the new life that came because of the return of one majestic tree born from hope.

But, deep inside its groves, there was something that didn't quite belong their. That seemed to be their despite all the wonders around it.

It was a tree. A sick tree, one that looked dead to all. One that looked nothing like the other trees around it, or anywhere in the forest. It existed in the darkest parts of the forest, where no light reached it. It's thin, sickly branches hung limply, and the roots in the ground seemed to be withering by the second. With its distorted black bark and fading shadows, it seemed to be a tree that was a breeze away from tipping over. There were no signs of life whatsoever.

Until there were.

In the dark of the night, a lone branch on the tree twitched. Not from a wind. Not from any forces in the forest. Even in a world of magic, that motion was unnatural.

And then, it moved again. The sound of bark shifting and the creaking of dying limbs echoed like a low, hateful moan. The tree's gnarled branches began to twitch, all in one direction.

Towards one witch with a single red-eye and buried feelings she wanted no one to see. But they were. To all who knew how to look.

And by something not even remotely human.

AN: Hello there! Black Mage here, coming at you with a new story.

For those of you that follow my other stories, you're probably wondering why I've started a new one. Well to keep it simple, this story has been far easier to write and more fun to write than any of my current ones. Not to say I'm abandoning them, but that, whether it be because of my grief or my other issues, it just feels my other stories are a bit harder to write for, as compared to this one.

And to be honest, This is a fic I've wanted to write for a while now. LWA has a very big place in my heart and is one of my favorite anime of all time. Might even be my favorite anime period (or tied for favorite at least) And I have wanted to write fanfic for this fandom for a while now. And this fic is something I've had in my head for just as long. Even a while back when I was talking about it with a friend of mine, they got me in contact with an amazing artist to make this awesome cover for it back then, and the excitement I felt back then is just as strong as it is now.

So yeah, that's why I started this story: wanting to get out a story I've been excited for a long time, and to express my love for an anime that means so much to me. And what better way than through a Angst/Horror story!?

…I swear, I'm not weird.

But more seriously, this story was born from wanting to explore some of the details of Sucy's backstory that couldn't make it into the LWA tv show because of time constraints. This is gonna be a character study of Sucy, or my interpretation of her character at least, how other characters view her, and how hard it can be for the "creepy witch" to deal with her own feelings and insecurities. And my brain just so happens to think the best way to do that is through angst and horror.

Onto some things in the story itself: be sure to keep in mind that, if it wasn't obvious, Sucy isn't the most unbiased narrator here. Take what she says as "fact" with a grain of salt.

Also, important info: some of you may have noticed what looks like a reoccurring grammar mistake for one specific word. I can assure you, it isn't.

An I'm gonna warn you guys right now: there will some dark themes in this fic. I don't wanna spoil anything, and because there are certain details I haven't ironed out yet, but there may be a chance that the rating of this fic will go up. However, even if it doesn't there will be a lot of dark elements in this story. As a precaution, no matter the rating, I will give content warning for every chapter that has elements I thing could be upsetting to readers, should these elements appear in said chapters.

Finally, expect updates on a bi-weekly basis! That's right people, I'm gonna try and have a consistent update schedule for the first time in my life. And it really feels like I can pull it off for this story. So in two weeks, expect another update for this story!

So, that's about all from me. Don't hesitate to tell me what you liked and/or didn't like about this chapter. And if you can, please support me on pa tre on! Any donations really help support both myself and my family, and makes it so that I don't have to take so many jobs and gives me more free time to write. This is Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!

 

[The Black Mage]

Art done by the wonderful Pili BlueBerry! Be sure to check out her awesome art when you can!

 

[underscore]

This was great! Talk about a rough crush though, ouch

 

[The Black Mage]

This was great! Talk about a rough crush though, ouch

Click to shrink...

Thank you very much for commenting, underscore! Got any favorite moments?

Also yeah. Sucy's feelings can be described as "rough." They can also be described as "messy" or "a gordian knot of repression." You'll see why as the story goes on.

 

[The Black Mage]

Diana.

Ms. Perfect.

Everyone's favorite witch.

The one who, until very recently, used to let her cronies and everyone in school mock Akko, and just glared at Akko like she was beneath her.

The girl Akko had gone so far to help, even when by all means she didn't have too.

The girl that helped Akko save the world.

Who had saved Akko at her lowest. Just her. By herself.

And not…

And not any of Akko's other friends.

Sucy Manbavaran stared, face completely still. She couldn't come up with anything to say, despite already expecting Akko's answer. The thoughts and feelings in her head were so loud and intense she had trouble telling what they were. Her throat felt clogged as she tried to decide what she should say, what she could say.

And all while a growl rumbled through her like thunder before a storm.

"Diana," was what came out of her mouth.

"Y-yeah." Very nervously, Akko rubbed the back of her head, suddenly unable to meet Sucy's gaze. "Diana."

Sucy's lips pressed into a thin line. She let out a "hmm", and then went quiet. Akko kept rubbing her head, and Sucy never stopped staring.

"When did you two…schedule this?" Sucy asked.

"It, um…i-it was a month after we stopped Croix's Noir Missile," Akko said, and never in the entire time Sucy had known her had Akko looked so awkward. "We, uh, we're talking about all the magic stuff that had come back, and I remembered the tree, and how it should've come back too. I told her about it, she got interested, and thought maybe she'd have some more info on it some of the old books she had in her house and, uh, she did. That was, that was where she found the rumors about the cure. She showed me, we talked about it, talked to Ursula, then talked to Croix, and…figured out where it should be. Kind of. 'Cuz even when it came back, it's…it's invisible, so…we need to do some more spells when we go to Ireland to try and figure out the spot it's in."

The more Akko spoke, the more the awkwardness turned to worry.

Sucy still hadn't blinked. Akko visibly had trouble holding her gaze. Sucy opened her mouth slightly, then closed it. The words failed to form, even in her head. How could they, when she could barely part through all the noise going on in there?

"Sounds neat," Sucy eventually mumbled out. And no more words came after. Akko frowned at her, and Sucy looked away, as if bored of staring. Neither said anything; they just stood there, under the dimming glow of their wands. And all the while, her expression never once twitched, and her eye never showed an ounce of emotion.

"Please don't be upset."

Sucy blinked. Slowly, she looked back at Akko, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Don't be upset." Akko suddenly looked incredibly guilty. "I know you and Diana… haven't gotten along yet," she said, and it was clear to both of them she was understating things. "But that wasn't why I didn't tell you, I honestly just forgot, so please don't be mad at her or think this was her fault or something."

It took Sucy a moment to respond. "Akko, I'm not upset about this," she said. "I know you're dumb enough to forget to tell me stuff like this." Sucy rolled her eye, but the motion felt harder to do than usual.

"O-okay," Akko said, with a lot more hesitance than Sucy would've liked. "That's…good."

They were silent for a bit. A few crickets chirped. A breeze blew by, ice cold like the night air had suddenly become.

"When are you leaving?" Sucy asked, voice as blank as her face.

Akko glanced to the floor. "In…two days."

"Two days." Sucy stared, her eye still half-lidded and neutral.

"Yeah." Akko rubbed the back of her head again, mouth drooping like the ground itself was pulling at the corners. "Sorry."

Sucy just let out a quiet, bored sounding noise. Her lips threatened to twitch, but she held them in a firm, neutral line. "How long, exactly, are you going to be gone?" she asked. "You said 'a week-ish,' but do you mean more, or less than a week?"

"Ah, um…m-more."

"How much more?"

"Maybe…a week-and-a-half? T-two weeks at most. Ireland's really big, and the spells are gonna take some time to set up to help us find the tree, so…yeah."

Sucy processed that. She let out a tiny, almost unnoticeable breath, closing her eye.

Two weeks. Just two weeks, that was it.

All of which Akko would be spending with Diana. Everyone's favorite.

Something hot like acid rose up in her throat, trying to crawl out of her mouth and work its way onto her face. That tried to stay alive inside her.

And she could still hear that growl.

Sucy thought of mushrooms, a whole world of them. She named off every mushroom she could see in her head, ordered from the ones she liked least—which was still a lot—to the ones she liked the most. It was a where she knew everything, where she understood everything. And understood that those blood pounding and headache inducing things inside her weren't needed.

So, she got rid of them.

With almost surgical precision, what felt like a blade chopped the head off those idiotic things running around in her mind, and did not stop until none were left. The very slight, burning sensation in her throat faded; her chest felt lighter.

And all those troublesome thoughts and feelings were dead now. For the most part.

The growl in her head was still there, lower now, but echoing hatefully.

She kept stabbing at the source until she couldn't hear it anymore.

Sucy opened her eye, and made her mouth smirk. But it felt a little more uneven than usual. "Two weeks with Ms. Perfect, huh?" she asked, letting out a laugh that was closer to a scoff. "Sounds like a real pain."

Akko frowned. "Hey, don't call her that."

"Oh, c'mon, it's accurate. She acts perfect, thinks she's perfect, so she's Ms—"

"Sucy, seriously, stop calling her that." Akko's frown went from firm to hard-as-steel, and Sucy's mouth clicked shut. "I told you before: she really doesn't like that 'nickname' you gave her. And she doesn't think she's 'perfect' either. So don't call her that. Please."

Despite that last word, Akko wasn't really asking. Not with that tone.

Sucy scowled a little, and clicked her tongue in displeasure. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered, not agreeing to anything.

Akko realized that, and this time her frown turned sad. She sighed. "Look, Sucy," She started, only to quickly stop talking. It took her a moment of visible contemplation to work out what to say next. "I…I get that you and Diana…are pretty mad at each other, after everything that happened in Blytonbury."

Sucy's face tightened, taut like a razor-wire.

"And," Akko continued quickly, eyes darting around like the right words she should say were hidden just out of sight. "I know I can't force you to stop being mad, not that I would ever force you to ignore your own feelings to make me happy, but I just hate seeing you this upset, just like I hate seeing Diana being upset, and I'm trying to find some way to get you two to work out everything and just be friends with each other, but…but…"

Akko trailed off helplessly, clearly at a lost.

For all that she was a moron, Akko could be smart. And she had recognized there was some tension between her and Diana, back when she and the rest of her friends started to "bond"—her words—with the blue team. And that was before even mentioning all the little fights she had with Diana. Like when Sucy focused more on her potion work instead of whatever was being talked about during some group hang out thing, and Diana somewhat scolded her out for not paying attention to whoever had been talking; or when her blunt comments were met with Diana politely, if firmly, telling her she "didn't have to be so hash"; or her making a quip about Akko being dumb, and Diana immediately defending her, like she thought she meant it as a genuine insult. Small things that, at the time, hadn't bothered her that much; of course they didn't. But it added up.

But to Akko's credit, she never tried to force her and Diana to interact. After she got a handle of scheduling when and how she could spend time with her friends, and when they could all spend time with each other, Akko had set up almost every "fun group stuff day" in a way that Sucy and Diana didn't have to interact, but could if they wanted too. And how doing that would "really make me happy, so please give her a chance, Sucy, pretty please!" Most of the time they both chose not too, but there had been times when Sucy talked with Diana about some topic that, somehow, caught both of their interest. A potion she had been researching that Diana had never heard of before and wondered about the origins, and Sucy had explained, sparking a discussion on magic and potion theory. Or Diana using some ancient spell that Sucy thought could be useful for her own work and she asked her some questions about it, and Diana explained all the little intricacies with expert ease, and did it so clearly it was simple for her to understand, putting every teacher at Luna Nova to shame. Which wasn't a high bar, but still.

Moments like those that had been short, definitely not as "friendly" as someone like Akko had been hoping for, more a result of clinical interest than anything else, but…they hadn't been unpleasant.

Akko had thought that was a great step in being friends, though. It had led to her asking both Sucy and Diana if they wanted to go wandering around Blytonbury with her, and only her, as the rest of their friends had been busy. She had just wanted to go to random stores or cafes that "looked cool and maybe head to Last Wednesday at the end for some hot chocolate!" Sucy wouldn't say she wanted to hang out with Diana, and with Akko acting as the only buffer between them, but she didn't really have anything better to do that day. And Akko clearly wanted her to try and get closer to Diana, so at the very least she decided to try; to make sure Akko didn't bother her later about it or something. At the time, Sucy thought the worst case would be Diana just sternly telling her not to be so rude like the little taskmaster she was, and Sucy would just roll her eye and ignore her.

That was not the worst case.

No, the worst case had turned out to be Akko stepping in to stop her from throwing a somewhat toxic potion at Diana's face, and Akko also stopping Diana from trying to blast Sucy with her wand. After they had already fought for like a minute, because she hadn't been around at the start.

Akko had been through a lot since she'd started Luna Nova, even being her literal guinea pig, but it was only when she was holding Sucy back that she looked so horrified.

And seeing that face had…had bothered her.

A lot.

Akko had wanted to know just what was going on, but Sucy hadn't answered because she couldn't stop glaring at Diana, stop feeling so angry she couldn't speak, the pain in the left side of her face only making it even more intense, and it took everything she had not to hit Diana with some of her actually nasty potions. And Diana had just glared back with eyes of pure ice so cold they practically burned.

Then, in the middle of Akko's frantic questions, Diana apologized for "making a scene," voice showing no emotion whatsoever, and then she said it would be best if she leaved. But not before she said one last barb to Sucy.

"Be sure not to let your present company try to kill you again."

And after that…

After that, she…didn't like thinking, about what happened.

Because it wasn't important. It didn't mean anything; everything was fine. It was just…just…

Not important.

The only thing that was important was that ever since that day, any chances of "bonding" with Diana had died. In the almost two week since then, Sucy had barely interacted with Diana. Akko hadn't really scheduled any "big" group meetups with all of her friends since then; because of all the tests and junk the teachers were giving out before break, everyone's schedules were getting busier and busier, especially Diana's, so there wasn't really a chance to have another "meetup," at least according to Akko. Which meant that the only times Sucy actually saw Diana were in classes or in the halls, and every time she did, they glared at each other in silent contempt, or made spiteful jabs at each other. Well, more like spiteful "punches," really.

Something all their other friends noticed. Especially Akko.

Sucy looked at Akko's very nervous face, and she realized she had been quiet for a while now.

"Akko," she said slowly, tone carefully indifferent. Sucy paused for a moment, staring at Akko's guilt-ridden, helpless look. Sucy closed her eye, gathered the words, and sighed. "I'm not upset. If you want to spend time with Diana, you can. I told you before, just because I think Cavendish is a massive—witch," she corrected at the last second, knowing Akko wouldn't like her saying the obvious. "Doesn't mean you can't…have fun with her, or whatever. I'm not upset about something like that."

Her words just made Akko frown deeply. "Sucy…"

"Seriously. It's fine." She waved her hand as dismissively as she could. "You like spending time with her"—For some reason—"so spend time with her. It's your choice, not mine."

Akko was silent, and Sucy could tell she was carefully deciding what to say next.

"I just want you two to get along," Akko said softly, eyes big and pleading. "I know you don't think so, but I really think you two could be—"

"Akko, I really doubt Diana even wants to be my friend." Sucy frowned, and looked away. "Especially after a fight that bad." Not that Sucy wanted to either.

"I think she might surprise you," Akko said, lips hesitantly pulling into a small smile. "She's kind. Like…really kind."

Sucy's frown deepened; just a little bit. "You don't say."

"Yeah! Seriously, she's one of the kindest girls I've ever met. So, you know, you shouldn't think that she'll never want to be your friend. She might even try tomorrow!" Akko's smile turned sheepish. "Or…you could be the first one to try?"

Sucy stared, unblinking.

"I am like, 90 percent certain if you said you wanted to talk, she'd be willing to listen and—"

"Akko." Sucy's eyes narrowed into a tight, barely restrained glare. "I don't want to talk to Diana, or be her friend."

Akko's face crumpled into a million pieces. Her shoulders almost audibly fell, and the dejected look her suddenly gloomy red eyes gained was one Sucy had been seeing a lot more than she liked. And, like every other time, she had caused it.

Sucy looked away again, and her frown felt heavier.

Sucy wasn't oblivious to just how, to put it lightly, "awkward" Diana was making things. And…how Sucy was making things more "awkward" too. Akko had the biggest heart out of every person she'd ever met. She wanted to make the people around her smile. And that especially applied to her friends. For all that she could sometimes be a bit oblivious or get too emotional or just be plain dumb, Akko always wanted to make sure her friends were happy.

But what happened when two of her friends couldn't be happy, just because they were in the same room together. When each time they so much as saw each others' face, instead of trying to fix their problems, at best, they either chose to pretend the other wasn't their, threw out increasingly mean-spirited insults, or just glared at each other with barely restrained distaste and anger?

Akko cared about all her friends deeply, but what was she supposed to do when all her efforts to get two of her friends to get along kept failing, and became more and more obvious they would just never get along?

"Akko."

Her name left Sucy's mouth before she could even really think about it. Akko looked up from morosely staring at the floor, and blinked.

"Yeah?" she asked.

There were so many thing she wanted to say, that she didn't even know how to begin saying. But seeing Akko's hurtful look on her face, what she decided to say was, "You don't have to do this."

"Eh?" Akko blinked again, with even more confusion.

"You don't have to keep trying to fix my problems with Diana, or her problems with me. It's not your job to try and get us to be friends. Especially when neither of us wants to be friends." Sucy gave her a lazy looking shrug. " So…if you want to hang out with Diana, or me, you can. It's your choice. I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it."

Sucy had told Akko similar things before. That she shouldn't feel the need to fix problems that weren't her fault. That she could leave things be, and not try to change anything. There would be no risks that way. But, just like all those times before, Akko's eyes became defiant, and her lips pulled into a tight, determined frown.

"Sucy, I get why you're saying all this stuff"—No, she absolutely did not—"But I know things can get better."

"I really doubt that," Sucy groused, and the sigh that left her was more annoyed than usual.

"They can! I know you two really well," she said, despite the fact she knew Sucy for over a year, and Diana had at best started being somewhat tolerable to Akko only three months ago, after that little visit to her house. "And I know that you two can get over this fight. You're more similar than you think—and that's not an insult," Akko added quickly when Sucy's frown went a little deeper. "You just need a chance to see that."

"Akko, I gave Cavendish a chance." Her glare was ice-cold. "And it didn't work out."

Akko's gaze wavered, but the conviction quickly came back just as strong. "Look, if you don't want to give her another chance now, I get it. It's probably too soon." She slammed a fist into her chest, right where her heart was. "But I'm not gonna give up on making you two the kind of friends I know you can be! If I can save magic, I can definitely save this friendship!"

Sucy stared. There wasn't a single ounce of doubt in Akko's face as she spoke. She really meant every word. Not that Sucy was surprised; Akko Kagari never gave up on something. Under normal circumstances, she even found that endearing, not that she showed it.

But right now, all that unending optimism did was make Sucy frown.

"Akko, you really, really don't have to do this."

"I want to," Akko instantly replied.

Sucy let out a loud groan. "Why do you have to care so much?"

"Because I'm your friend! And I'm Diana's friend too. I don't like seeing you guys fighting, and I wanna fix this. That's what friends do." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And to Akko, it was.

But those earnest words did nothing to help her steadily rising irritation.

"Akko, you are the only one trying to 'fix' this," Sucy said, trying not to sound that annoyed. "The rest of our friends don't care, so, maybe, you should follow their lead."

Akko blinked. When she spoke, her lips slowly moved into a confused, and concerned, frown.

"Sucy…they do care that you're fighting with Diana. You know that, right?"

Yeah. She did.

But they weren't concerned like Akko was.

Sucy remembered Hannah and Barbara giving her icy glares and fierce scowls every time she passed them in the hallway. Lotte fearfully looking between her and Diana, like she was a fight to break out any moment. Jasminka, Amanda and Constanze looking at Akko as she dejectedly looked down at the ground after Sucy rejected yet another attempt at trying to reconcile with Diana, each of their faces having varying degrees of confusion and concern, before looking to Sucy with different intensities of narrowed eyes. Ursula talking with Akko from a distance Sucy couldn't hear, but could see Akko's frustrated and confused face, and, for just a moment, see Ursula's eyes flicker to her and frown with an emotion Sucy couldn't place.

Every one of Akko's friends, and even her favorite teacher, had noticed her and Diana fighting with far more disdain than before. No one had really said anything to her, but it was obvious what they weren't exactly okay with her being so resentful to Diana. That wasn't even mentioning whatever Diana was telling them about her and the reason they were fighting. It wasn't causing that many problems now, but that was really only because they hadn't all hung out as one big group in a while, and because Diana was busy with her little tests. But at some point, whether it be a group thing or something else, even if it were for just a minute, Sucy would have to spend time again with Diana.

And none of them wanted to see Sucy throw even more spiteful jabs at Ms. Perfect. Akko wouldn't either, especially when it became more and more clear to her things would not get better. That Sucy wasn't going to be friends with Diana.

And in that case…when that happened…

"Sucy?" Akko asked, her frown getting deeper. "You know they care, right—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sucy said, killing those thoughts to focus. Her eye narrowed at Akko. "But be honest: has Cavendish even said anything to make you think mean she'd be willing to talk things out."

"Well, not recently, but—"

"Then it sounds like that's your bigger problem," Sucy pushed on, speaking somewhat more aggressively than normal. " Like I've been saying, even if I did want to make up things with Diana, she wouldn't. I've never seen her so much as apologize to you for all the stuff she and her minions did to you over the last year—"

"Hey, she has—"

"—Not to mention how she can't recognize a joke if it hit her on the head," She went on, words becoming more fast paced.

"Look, Sucy, I know Diana can, take things a bit to seriously, but—"

"Akko, she doesn't know what the word 'fun' means." Sucy's tone was getting noticeably sharper with every syllable. "She's a massive teacher's pet, has the biggest stick up her 'you-know-what' I have ever seen—"

"Hey—"

"—is always acting like she thinks she's better than us like the arrogant little witch she is—"

"Sucy, seriously—"

"—and she's just so much of a pain to be around to be around." At some point Sucy had started glaring, lips threatening to split into a scowl. It actually took some effort to have only a little venom in her voice, and not an entire cobra's worth in it. "So, if Ms. Perfect doesn't want to stop being such a massive witch, then maybe she isn't worth the effort to care about, so just stop being her—"

"Sucy."

Sucy stopped.

Akko was glaring at her. Not in her usual "Sucy, you big meanie!" kind of way; not in her pouty, more annoyed than actually upset kind of way; not in any of her usual ways that made Sucy smile and want to tease her about it.

The glare on Akko's face was just stone-cold; foreboding in a way that genuinely made Akko look almost…threatening.

It was almost as intense as that look she gave her back then.

"I'm not gonna stop caring about Diana," Akko said, and her the way her voice turned the already chilly air even colder made it clear no one would tell her otherwise. She crossed her arms, and her glare somehow became even harder. "I don't abandon my friends. Not now, or ever."

Sucy didn't move. Couldn't.

Yeah.

Yeah, she figured Akko would say that. Of course she would.

Of course, she'd choose to stay with Diana.

The forest fell away, and Sucy was back in that moment at Blytonbury. She was shaking so badly, blood roaring in her ears, and pain on the left side of her face was that was just so bad, but she refused to let it show, even when Cavendish walked away with a furious gait to her every step. And then, as anger left her every breath, when her lips started to peel back into a vicious snarl and she prepared to do something to that witch, she turned.

And she saw Akko, her face more worried than she'd ever seen before, looking at Diana's retreating back.

Her boiling blood suddenly went cold. Something like sludge rose in her throat, noxious and asphyxiating. Akko frantically looked back to Sucy, then quickly back at Diana. She repeated that a few times, and with that sludge-like feeling in her throat getting worse and making her insides feel sick in a way she'd never felt before, Sucy watched her, every other sight vanishing from view.

And then Akko left her.

"Sucy, hold on, I'll be back!"

Akko hadn't so much as glanced at Sucy as she said that, running after Diana with a worried shout of her name. Akko left her; alone, and in pain.

She left her. The girl she…

The girl she cared about the most, left her. For Diana.

Sucy didn't respond. Her face suddenly felt very odd; heavy in a way she'd never really felt before. Akko's glare fell off her face so fast it was like it had practically burned her, and her eyes were suddenly wide.

"Sucy, I—I didn't mean to sound like I'm angry at—I know she's been mean to you, but—"Akko was gesticulating wildly; panicking, really. Sucy didn't know why. She wasn't upset about something she long since figured—she pushed that thought down. "I just, I want you both to, I want you to—"

Akko clapped her hands in front of her, and she stopped talking. She closed her eyes, took deep breath, and when she opened them, her eyes were calm, sympathetic in a way that tried to tell Sucy she understood.

As impossible as that was.

Sucy was so very still as Akko continued.

"I know you're angry at Diana, and you have a right to be angry," Akko said, and her voice went quiet, the words struggling to reach Sucy. "But…she's nice. It doesn't seem like it to you, and I get that and it probably sounds so dumb to hear me say that, but she is. Just like you. That's why I think you two can get along. And I'm doing my very best to come up with some way to get you see to see that side of her, just like I'm trying to convince her you're nice and not…you know."

Yeah.

Yeah. She knew.

Her mind brought up the memory of cold blue glaring at her like she was less the dirt, and the phantom pains of her wrist being grabbed in a grip made of iron.

"What is wrong with you?"

Cavendish made it very clear what she thought Sucy was.

And 'friend' had been the farthest thing from her mind.

Akko was still staring at her, eyes still wide with concern, and she almost frantically kept going. "I wouldn't be friends with someone if they were just a big jerk, Sucy. I'd never be with someone if they were always mean to the people I cared about."

No. No, she wouldn't, would she? Who would want to be friends with someone that was just a jerk? That was mean to her or her friends and never really showed them, or could show them, anything other than apathy and deadpan quips?

Or who couldn't get along with everyone's favorite person who was so nice and oh-so perfect?

"And, I, know she's hurt you, but, she had her reasons—not that that's an excuse or, uh, invalidates—I think that's the word—your pain, but, it makes everything kind of, a complicated mess, and I think the best way to clean up that mess, and make you two stop fighting, is—"

"Akko."

Akko abruptly stopped rambling.

Sucy stared at her, eye half-lidded, looking practically dead to the world, and sighed. "I get it, Akko. I…shouldn't have said you should ditch Diana." Like she ever would. Akko made that abundantly clear. Nothing Sucy could say would change that. "I'm…"

The word was right their. All she had to do was say it.

But she couldn't get it past all those stupid emotions make her mouth feel like lead. So she just stood there; saying nothing.

All while Akko grew more and more concerned.

"Sucy, I'm sorry," Akko said, even though they both knew she had nothing to apologize for. "I know it looks like I'm being a bigger idiot than usual, but I'm not ignoring the fact you…you kinda hate Diana. I…I've never had two of my own friends not like each other before, and I'm trying to find the best way to fix everything between you two. Because I just…" She looked down, and after a pause, slowly looked back up. "I just…I just want all my friends to be happy and smiling together, ya know?"

Akko smiled, but it was a hesitant, fragile thing. More of a desperate plea, really; like Sucy should've gotten over herself and just get along with Cavendish already so Akko would stop smiling like that. But she couldn't.

And never would.

It was only a matter of time until Akko realized that. And the choice she'd have to make.

That she already made.

With the grace of a guillotine descending on a criminal to be executed, she killed those thoughts, and every single feeling that came with it. She thought of all the mushrooms in her bag, remembering every location she picked them up from, listing them in alphabetic order, listing all the other times she found mushrooms from the same species, listing every single potion she could think of she could make with them. She just kept listing and listing and listing until mushrooms were the only thing in her head, and nothing else.

In, and out.

She was calm.

Calm.

She was always calm. She had to be.

Sucy was silent. Ice-cold air brushed against her skin; there were no buzzing of insects; no rustle of leaves, or animals running around the ground. Arcturus was completely still, just like Akko's tiny, strained smile that didn't belong on a face usually so warm.

And then, the smile fell off her face with a crash Sucy swore she could hear, and its place, there was only worry. "Su…Sucy? Are…what's wrong?"

Sucy's mouth didn't so much as twitch. All she did was turn around, and start to slouch away.

"Sucy?"

Step by step, she kept going deeper into the shadows of the forest.

"Sucy, I—I'm sorry! I don't know what I said, but I'm sorry it upset you!"

"I'm not upset," Sucy said, the response automatic. "We got all the stuff for the potion, so I'm heading back to Lotte."

Footsteps quickly came from behind her. "Sucy, what did I say? I didn't mean to—"

"I'm not upset, Akko." Sucy didn't turn around, and her mouth twitched. In and out.

"You don't sound like you aren't."

"Then get your ears checked." It was almost painful to keep sounding that neutral. In and out. In and—

"Sucy, c'mon! I'm worried about you–"

Sucy turned.

Akko backed away the moment she saw the scowl on her face.

"Does it look like I care?" Sucy said, not shouting, but the anger in her voice more than made up for it, her eye full of venom, and her glare just as deadly. "Just shut up already Akko. Is that seriously so hard for an absolute idiot like you to do, for once?"

Akko looked like she slapped her. Hard.

Sucy immediately turned back, and she realized the grip she had on her wand was a little tight. Like how her chest was a little tight, and made it hard to breathe with all the emotion their. She took a steadying breath, thought of mushrooms, and killed every stupid feeling that just wouldn't stay dead.

In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

But even as she tried to deal with her feelings, the silence from Akko was still noticeable. Still something that made it oh-so-easy to see her upset face in Sucy's mind, and red eyes suddenly full of hurt she had caused. Not from her words, but from how she said them. How angry she sounded, when Akko didn't deserve it. When she was just concerned.

"What is wrong with—"

Shut. Up.

Sucy let a deep, long breath. She killed that voice and her words, and did the same for the unmistakable rumblings of another growl before it even had the chance to echo through her head.

Just shut up.

Another breath left her, and this one was closer to a sigh. "Akko, I," Sucy began, and the words immediately got stuck in her throat. She paused for a few seconds, lips pulling down. "I…I didn't mean that."

That was an awful apology. She didn't even sound sorry. But it was honestly the best she could manage. All she could say, when her mouth was so heavy and her throat was so choked.

Akko didn't respond. Sucy kept working the muscles in her jaw, trying to push past that cement that shut her mouth, to say what should've been obvious, but she just…it was just so…

She was silent, frown deepening. Thinking about mushrooms didn't help her open her mouth to just say something. She just stood still, glaring at nothing.

And then, she felt a familiar warmth on her fingers.

Sucy blinked. She looked down at her hand, the one not clenching her wand so hard. There were fingers their, delicately, almost shyly, really, wrapping around a few of her own. She blinked again, and looked up.

Akko was staring at her, eyes gentle and caring. And, was holding her hand.

"I'm sorry," Akko said, voice softer than a whisper; her lips were set in a deep, remorseful frown. She glanced down at Sucy's hand, and then back to her, the question on her face clear.

Sucy said nothing. But, she didn't try to pull her hand away from Akko's. It…wasn't a bad feeling, like being touched usually was for her.

Sucy had a…thing, about people touching her. Of the very few people she was even okay with touching her in the first place, she had certain…preferences, for how they could and couldn't touch her. To simplify things, in general, as in outside dangerous situations, like how they just ran away from a Cockatrice, or a few very rare circumstances, Sucy didn't like it when her friends touched her without giving her a warning. She did her best not to show it, but she always hated it when someone touched her when she wasn't expecting it; that went double for anyone she didn't like touching her.

Akko knew that. She had discovered that about a day after the Papiliodia thing, when she surprised Sucy with a hug. The exact details, weren't all that important, but after she had splashed Akko with one of her more "sadistic" potions, it had led to a…surprisingly understanding conversation. After Sucy had gotten Akko to stop rapidly apologizing for making her "uncomfortable." Which was way too overdramatic, and implied things that weren't true in the slightest.

But, ever since that day, Akko had learned the "okay" and "bad" ways—Akko's words—to touch Sucy. Hugs were okay, just so long as she made them obvious, gave her enough time for a chance to deny them, and weren't too tight—at least, by Akko standards. Pulling on her arm or shaking her shoulders she would allow if, again, Akko made it obvious, and only if it didn't go on longer for a few seconds. Grabbing her wrist was a no-go; always. And that especially applied to—part of her face.

But touching her hand was…situational. Mostly, it depended on her mood, and how the other person gripped it.

And whenever Akko gripped it, there was never a painfully sharp, prickling sensation on her skin, like scalding needles stabbing into her bones. There was just warmth.

Sucy's gazed into Akko's hesitant, guilty red eyes. She felt Akko's fingers pull back a little, like she was preparing to let her hand go.

Sucy lightly squeezed Akko's hand, and her fingers stopped moving.

"Why are you apologizing?" Sucy asked, still staring at Akko's far too dark, sad eyes.

"For…for forgetting to tell you about the trip," Akko said, voice a regretful, tiny sounding thing. "For making you upset."

"I'm not upset," Sucy groused, but the words came out more tired than annoyed.

"And," Akko continued, eyes dropping all the way to the floor. "I'm sorry for…for everything that happened in Blytonbury."

Sucy thought of cold eyes glaring fiercely at her.

Of the burning pain on her face.

And how Akko left her.

Sucy's thoughts became nothing but mushrooms, and she took in a long breath, letting it out in a silent whisper.

"That wasn't your fault," she said. "You were just…trying to make your friends happy. It's not your fault me and Cavendish got into a fight."

"It feels like it is," Akko muttered.

"It's not."

Akko didn't believe her. She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it, like she was hesitant about what she was going to say next. So instead, she said nothing else, gaze still on the floor, facing scrunching up as she contemplated something heavy. Sucy couldn't stop staring at her conflicted, guilty look; something she had caused, and something that did not belong on Akko's face. Not at all.

Sucy took in a breath. And, hesitantly, she squeezed Akko's hand again. It took a second, but Akko slowly looked up from the floor.

"You did nothing wrong, Akko," Sucy whispered, trying to smooth out her face into something…comforting. "Nothing at all."

That…that was the right thing to say, wasn't it? Those were the words she should've said, right?

So why did Akko look even sadder now?

"Sucy, we both know I did. Especially when…" She trailed off. And just by the look on her face, Sucy knew what she was thinking about, and it made her go still.

Don't say it.

"When I…"

Don't say it.

"When…"

Don't.

"When I came back from talking with Diana to see you."

Despite all her efforts, the memories came, and Sucy's world changed.

She was trudging through Blytonbury, alone, hand on her face, and heading back to the leyline with a scowl that tore her lips apart. Then, she was suddenly on the leyline, alone, shaking so badly she had trouble keeping her grip on her broom. Then she was walking through Luna Nova, alone, and everyone was giving her space like she was leaking poison from her every breath. And no matter who or what tried to get her attention, she was dead silent all the way to the door of her room, even to Lotte, who kept trying to get her to talk, but her only response had been to shove her out of the way, and slam the door right in her face.

She went to her desk, roughly pulled her chair back, and sat down. She didn't say anything, didn't even take out her cauldron to make a potion or work on previous ones, didn't even try to dry out her wet, tea-stained hair. She just kept letting out ragged, guttural breaths, her whole body shaking with heat so intense all she could feel was fire.

And all while she gripped the left side of her face so hard she swore she felt blood on her fingers.

She had no idea how long she stayed like that, how long the rest of the world faded to static as her rage burned and burned, despite all her attempts at thinking of just mushrooms and all the years worth of mediation methods she knew but failed in that moment. And even as more time passed, her anger didn't really lessen, but just clawed its' way deeper inside her, until it reached the center of her being; and it, stayed their, lurking; slowly changing into something else.

Something she could only describe as dark and scaly and alive when she just wanted it to be dead.

And then someone knocked on the door. Sucy ignored it. They knocked again, a bit more insistent. Sucy kept ignoring it, still gripping her face so hard, rasping breaths leaving her mouth like smoke from a furnace. The knocking came again, and this time it was more insistent, somehow conveying they weren't gonna leave until the door was open.

So with a deep, monstrous scowl, Sucy stood up, stomped her way to the door, and opened it with a glare that promised poison and flames and death.

And she paused.

Because Akko was the one had been knocking. Her anger, for the first time, cooled down, because it was Akko, because she was here, and not with Ms. Perfect.

But then, she saw Akko's face. And even with how angry Sucy was, even though this was Akko, for a moment, Sucy felt herself freeze on the spot.

Akko looked serious in a way Sucy had never seen before. And she didn't like it. She didn't like that look on her face, like it was cut from hard, unfeeling stone. Didn't like the weight to Akko's frown and narrowed eyes that seemed so judgmental, aimed at her with a knife-like intensity. She didn't like it one bit. It made her…uncomfortable. A tiny bit. But it was something she never thought Akko could make her feel.

And that feeling proved to be completely justified when Akko opened her mouth, and spoke in with a tone that had no emotion whatsoever.

"Sucy…we need to talk."

Sucy didn't know it was even possible for Akko to sound so cold. And she would quickly learn that, as unfeeling and lifeless and devoid of any warmth Akko's voice had been, it was nothing compared to when Akko got furious.

"Sucy?"

That one word broke her world of cold glares and imminent shouts. Bit by bit, the forest returned to her; the cold air that bit into her skin, the haunting trees surrounding her; the fading glow of her wand.

Akko's worried look on her face.

It took some effort, but Sucy got her jaw unclenched.

"It's fine," she said, through the weight in her throat that made speaking difficult. When did it get like that?

Akko's worry only grew. "Sucy—"

"It's fine," she repeated.

"No, Sucy, what I said was really mean and—"

"Akko, I get it." Sucy's eye narrowed at Akko, a slight edge to her words. She closed her eye, and thought of mushrooms, focusing on those thoughts, and only those thoughts. "You already apologized for, saying all that stuff, and I forgave you," she said, voice indifferent, just like usual. "I wasn't even that upset in the first place."

Akko, for some reason, looked unconvinced.

"Look, what you said, it wasn't even that bad." Sucy had heard worse. Been called worse, than anything Akko had said to her back then. Honestly, it was more like Akko had been less insulting her, and more just…stating facts.

Fact after cold, hard fact.

Sucy sighed, and looked away. "So stop apologizing. I'm fine. Everything's fine. You can go off with Ursula and Ms—Cavendish, to Ireland. I don't care. It's—"

In her mind, she was back in Blytonbury, and she could see Akko leaving her for Diana.

See the worry on her face for Cavendish.

And then that worry turned to a judgmental stare when she looked at Sucy, stepping into their room without so much as blinking, and then as they talked, that judgement slowly turned to anger, and then to outright fury in a way she'd never seen from Akko before, and then Sucy was backing away into a wall and then Akko had screamed at her that she—

Stop.

She killed those thoughts, and then there was only calm.

"—fine," she finished, after a slight pause. And her voice…changed a little, mid-word. Almost cracking, really.

She was just tired. She'd spent more time talking now than she usually did in a month. She was calm. She was always calm.

Sucy let out a breath, still looking away, still filling her head with every kind of mushroom she could list off. She rubbed her throat a little, having a bit of trouble swallowing. She could all but feel Akko's eyes on her, and her big, worried frown. Which was stupid, because she was fine. How many times did she have to say it before it sunk in? Before she believed that?

She would've said it again if her throat wasn't so ridiculously tight right now. If her own chest wasn't constricting and constricting so much it stopped her blood flow and made that part of her numb, and if her own head would just stop replaying all the things Akko shouted at her as she stood frozen to the spot or stop those stupid phantom sensations of her heart being stabbed again and again when it was just words and she didn't mean them—she didn't—and they weren't even that bad.

Sucy suddenly felt another squeeze on her hand, the warmth and touch enough to distract her. But it was the words she heard that brought her back to the forest.

"I'll be back."

Sucy went still. It took her a second to process that, to make sure those words were really spoken, and then, so slowly the air wasn't even disturbed, she looked back.

Akko was staring at her with a firm, yet somehow so gentle, and so warm, gaze.

"I'll be back before you know it, Sucy. And then we'll do a bunch of fun, probably kind of dangerous potion stuff!" she said, thrusting her other arm up into the air for emphasis. She lost some of her energy, and her expression became more subdued. "I'm sorry if I ruined any big plans you had, just like I'm sorry about all this big, complicated messy stuff going on right now between you and me and, and Diana, and that…that I can't spend time with you for the first few weeks of break."

Sucy could practically feel the regret coming out of Akko's every word. Regret that she couldn't spend time with her.

She stared, unblinking, and then, the sorrow vanished from Akko's face, and she smiled brightly. "But we still have two days before I leave! Tomorrow it's gonna be kind of busy 'cuz I'm going to see Andrew in Blytonbury to catch up and hang out with him, and then we're going to met up with the green team at that new pizza place—" Akko abruptly stopped talking, face going pale. "I, I did tell you about that at least. R-right?"

"Yeah, you did," Sucy said, almost without thinking, nodding with an eye that still hadn't blinked as Akko sighed in relief. "But, what about after that? On Friday? You're leaving than, aren't you? How can we spend time together?"

"Yeah, but I'm leaving pretty late at night. Like, eleven-o-clock-to-midnight late. I think it has something to do with the timezones, and making sure we can actually take the fastest ley lines to Ireland since some connect further, or 'have more potent magic' to let witches travel faster, but are only open during certain times and phases of the moon. Or something like that. So, since I don't have any other plans that day, I'm one hundred percent free to spend the whole day with you!" She gave her a thumbs up.

Sucy stared.

"And Lotte," Akko added, like she forgot about her and was quickly correcting herself. "All three of us can do whatever we want on Friday!"

Akko looked at her, smile warm, red eyes shining. She looked completely sincere, and there was no reason to think otherwise.

But her chest still felt tight. Too tight.

"You…mean that?" Sucy asked.

Akko blinked, but quickly smiled again with just as much excitement. "Yeah! I'm completely free on Friday, so it'll be you and me and Lotte havin' fun—"

"You really mean that?"

The words left her before she could stop them. And before she knew it, she was right in front of Akko.

Sucy clamped her mouth shut, and Akko's smile slowly fell, replaced by confusion.

"I, yeah. I mean it, Sucy," Akko said. "There's nothing going on for me on Friday, so we can do whatever we want."

Akko stared at her, eyes bright and earnest. Sucy impassively stared back.

She still sounded sincere. Still sounded like she had every intention of keeping that promise.

So why did it feel like she wouldn't?

A judgmental stare, then an angry and furious glare, was all she could see.

"Sucy?" Akko asked, stepping a little closer.

Sucy looked away, mouth set in a neutral line. All she had to do was nod, and showed she believed her. Or just say she believed her. It was easy.

But her mouth wouldn't open. Her head felt to heavy to move. Why? Why couldn't she just do that one simple thing? Why couldn't she get past that stupid bile-like clog in her throat and just talk to stop Akko from looking so concerned?

Again, she saw red eyes glaring, and enraged words echoed in her head.

What was…why was she so—

There was a squeeze on her hand, gentle, and warm enough to make her forget about the cold night air. Sucy looked down.

Oh. Right.

She was still holding Akko's hand. Akko had never once let her go.

"Sucy."

Sucy looked up.

Akko was staring at her like nothing else in the world mattered.

"You're important to me," she said.

Sucy's chest did something at those words. Something that both made it feel tighter yet somehow lighter at the same time, and something that made her unable to look away.

"Wha—"Her mouth was heavy, but, somehow, the weight felt different from the one she'd been feeling most of the night. "What?"

"You're important to me," Akko repeated, not hesitating for a moment. "I know that I haven't been spending as much time with you lately because of, you know, everything that's been happening, and…and me forgetting to tell you I'm leaving probably just made you feel like I was avoiding you or something, and made you feel bad—"

"I didn't say that," Sucy almost instantly denied.

"—but that doesn't mean you still aren't one of the most important people in my life."

Akko said it casually. Like it was the easiest thing in the world, to admit how much she cared about her. Sucy felt a bit bitter, and something not-so-bitter.

But she mostly felt the warmth from Akko's hand as she kept gently squeezing.

"I know I keep trying to get you and Diana to be friends, but I don't want you to think I'm upset at you for still being mad at her, or that I don't want to spend time with you because of it. And…if I ever made you feel otherwise, I'm sorry." Akko lowered her gaze in guilt. "I'd never abandon you like that, Sucy."

Sucy's eye had widened, just a fraction, and her breath caught in her throat. She suddenly squeezed Akko's hand again. To…let her know she could keep holding it, if she wanted too. Akko was, still feeling guilty and all that other stuff, and Sucy…didn't want to upset her again by denying her. So she kept holding her hand.

Holding it with a steadily tightening grip. Wanting to make sure she held on. That Akko…wasn't gonna let go.

Akko didn't seem to notice her grip, and looked back up. "I…I don't know how I'm gonna fix everything with Diana. But, no matter what happens, I just want you to know…" She seemed to struggle with the words. Akko glanced down at Sucy's hand, still held in her own, then back at her face. Akko let out a breath, and looked right into her eye with a firm, unwavering conviction. "If you ever feel alone, I'll always be there for you. Always."

Akko squeezed her hand, and Sucy realized that it was…quivering; just a little. But as the warmth from Akko's hand filled her palm, it stopped. Sucy was reminded that, for all her rules, the more Akko kept hanging around her and staying with her, the more she was…fine, with however Akko wanted to touch her. Even on the rare times she surprised her by mistake, Sucy…Sucy was starting to mind less and less. She was getting more and more fine with her bone-crushing hugs every day. Fine with just how close she liked to get, and how she had come to expect Akko to try and touch her, and when she did, would do nothing to stop her.

It honestly surprised her just how much she didn't hate Akko holding her. How much she…

Liked it.

Sucy couldn't so much as blink as Akko kept staring at her, still so close.

"So…if you wanna talk, about anything"—Akko's eyes were full of warmth, just like her voice and the rest of her face—"I'll listen."

Sucy stared. Not so much as twitching. That tight-but-lighter feeling in her chest was stronger than ever, and now, she could hear what sounded like a steady, rhythmic beat that was echoing throughout her entire body and getting louder. It took her a moment to realize what it was.

Her heart.

It was beating faster.

Just a little.

Sucy swallowed. She opened her mouth, and sucked in a quick breath, but it didn't feel like any air had gotten through the tight knot her throat had become. Her hand was shaking in Akko's grip, and, and was it sweating?

No. Of course it wasn't. Akko's was. And even Sucy's hand was sweating a tiny bit, it was just from the fact that Akko's hands were so warm it suddenly felt like she was gripping a furnace. Not because she was….because she…

The beat of her heart kept echoing. Her eye was unblinking as Akko kept staring at her with her sincere, bright eyes; the message in them was clear.

You can talk to me.

I'm here.

Sucy's mouth practically opened on its own.

"Anything?" she asked, and her voice was quieter than it had been all night.

"Yeah. Anything."

Once again, there was no hesitation in Akko's voice. In her eyes.

"Anything?" Sucy repeated, more forcefully, to get through the tight, tight knot in her throat.

Akko nodded, as solemn as Sucy had ever seen her. "Anything, Sucy."

She squeezed her hand again. The warmth had never once changed. And that was what made it a bit easier to find the words.

"Akko," Sucy began, clenching Akko's hand a bit tighter. "If you…"

Diana's cold eyes, and then the image of Akko running after Diana, were all she could see.

Her stomach became lead. Her voice got slower; hesitant, in a way it hadn't been in years.

"If…if you…if you…"

She didn't finish. Her mind wouldn't stop bringing up memories of Diana glaring, or Akko leaving her for her, or Akko glaring at her and then shouting at her and the words she said, how things had just kept getting worse no matter what she did, and the words died in her throat before they ever properly form.

But then there was a rush of warmth from her hand, slowly spreading through the rest of her, pushing away those thoughts. Akko had squeezed her hand again.

"Take your time," Akko whispered, warm red eyes patient and understanding in ways Sucy wasn't used to seeing from anyone.

Sucy stared. The weight inside her started to fade. Slowly, she breathed in, and let out a small breath, calming herself faster than she had the entire night.

"Akko," she started, focusing only on Akko's smile, not her thoughts, and let the words, simplified, but the meaning still so important, come out. "If you had to…choose…"

Her heart was in her throat, beating painfully. She had no idea what would come next.

A breath that was shakier than any before left her.

"If you had to, would you choose—"

There was a tiny, squeaking like noise that sounded almost like a groan. Sucy blinked. Akko did too, and they both looked down.

In Akko's other, bandaged hand, the forsakenwing—which Sucy had completely forgotten about—was waking up. Its unscarred eye blink, the scarred one only doing a facsimile of one, as the eyelid their barely even twitched. It shook its tiny head, the drowsiness quickly leaving its gaze, and looked up at both her and Akko. It stared at them for a second.

And then it started screaming.

Sucy and Akko flinched at the noise, badly. It was like having a pair of drills shoved in both ears that met in the middle of her skull.

Yet somehow, Akko's voice was louder.

"OWOWOWOWOW!" She screamed, and Sucy flinched again. With tears in her eyes and painfully grit teeth, Akko looked down at the bat, and shouted again, but this time at a much lower volume to be heard, while also trying to sound soothing. "Hey, calm down! We're friends! We're not gonna hurt—"

There was a loud rustling from behind them, like the unfurling of wings. As one, they turned, Sucy lifting her wand up higher.

There was a tree behind them. One that had an entire colony of bats on every branch. Not forsakenwings, but nosferatu blue-bloods, bats that looked almost exactly like regualr bats save for their longer fangs, pitch black sclera, and a dark blue patagium—a membrane of skin—on its wings, and could also launch a dark-blue, viscous liquid that was almost like blood from their mouths, that would release a powerful odor a few moments after contact with whatever they had deemed as their prey. They were also extremely territorial, and more than willing to sink their fangs into anything and anything they considered an enemy.

Sucy got a first hand look of that aggression as the bats all but collectively glared at her and Akko, let out an angry cacophony of screeches, and then flew off the branches on jet black wings and headed right for them.

The forsakenwing, meanwhile, flew out of Akko's hand, unexpectedly into Sucy's wand, knocking it out of her grasp and to the ground, and then flew into the night.

Sucy looked at her now empty hand, and then to the ground where it was to far away to grab in time. She then looked at the retreating back of the forsakenwing flatly.

"I should've plucked your heart out," Sucy said.

Akko just screamed again as a mass of pure black descended towards them, letting go of Sucy's hand.

Sucy frowned, quickly running through the potions she that could best deal with these bats, hand reaching for her robes and scouring inside them.

But she never got a chance to, because Akko was suddenly in front of her, her wand whipped out with lighting speed as, at the same time, she grabbed Sucy by the waist and pulled her close, and faster than she'd ever heard, Akko shouted, "Metamorphie Fociesse!"

She wiped her arm out in front of her, and green energy suddenly washed over the bats like a crashing wave. There was a poof of smoke, and then, bright pink butterflies, ones that almost looked like the shape of hearts, came from within, harmlessly flying past them. The fading green lights of the spell cast a perfect glow on her face, highlighting her protective frown, and the determination in her eyes made it clear no one was getting past her.

Sucy's somewhat wide eye blinked. A few times, actually. The night air was suddenly less cold on her face.

Akko's head whirled to Sucy, and she was still holding her. "Are you okay?" she asked, bright eyes wide, and looking way more panicked than she really should've been. But that didn't mean Sucy…didn't appreciate the concern. And Akko was still holding her. "Ah, wait, did I grab you to hard? I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking and—"

"You're fine," Sucy said, keeping her monotone steady. She was still staring, and her stomach was suddenly full of an odd, almost tickling sensation that made something bubble up to her throat. She swallowed, with some difficulty. "You've…gotten really good at that spell, huh?"

Akko practically preened. "Ah, nah, that was nothing!" She bashfully rubbed the back of her head, smiling widely. Like turning a bunch of living creatures into a bunch of harmless insects in less than a second and on the fly wasn't impressive on its own. Akko looked away, eyes closed, and said,"You should see what I can pull off when I'm practicing with Ursula. I can turn a whole statue into a bunch of cute, mini-glowing elephants that can fly. And I've almost got down that, 'turn into a bunch butterflies and flying in sync' trick she did in all her shows! It's way more impressive than this."

"You…"Akko's hold on her felt so tight; she could feel her fingers dig into her waist, not painfully, but firmly enough to remind her just how strong she was. How close she was holding her. "You don't say?"

"Yep!"

Akko giggled, smile still so warm; and close.

Sucy kept staring at Akko; in her mind, she still clearly saw that determined face Akko had on. The way her eyes all but shined, how she looked so protective of her, in a way Sucy hadn't seen in…she couldn't really say. But, as she stared at Akko's lips and the shy smile on them, and as her mind kept repeating that Akko was still holding her, here and now, it suddenly felt like she'd keep doing that; protecting her, choosing her and no one else, like she'd really would always be here for her, and it made her chest flip with that tight-yet-lightening sensation again.

Made her warm, from head to toe.

"But uh, what were you trying to say before about choosing—"

Akko turned, opening her eyes. She quickly stopped talking.

And Sucy realized just how close she was to Akko. At some point, her arms had moved to wrap around Akko's waist and back, her head leaning closer, and now, her face was probably not even inches away. Their noses were almost touching.

Sucy went still, like her whole body had become stone. She couldn't so much as twitch. Akko didn't either. She could feel Akko's breath on her face. Her heartbeat, through the fingers on her neck, and even through her own chest.

Could Akko feel her own?

They both kept standing still. Kept waiting for…she didn't know. Some signal for when it was okay to break, whatever this was? Sucy didn't know. She just kept holding Akko. And Akko did the same.

But then, Akko's face did something Sucy had never seen it do before, when looking at Sucy's own: screw up in pure disgust.

"Ew, gross."

Every bit of warmth inside her died.

It was the tone that did it. That one full of revulsion and disdain. That made Sucy's heart just stop as that word echoed in her head, and brought back hundreds of different words from hundreds of different voices that were screaming in her head; words she had heard so many times, that she never wanted to hear again, that she thought she'd never hear from Akko of all people, and one word, the loudest, the one she always heard the most, that stabbed her the most, stood out.

"Disgusting."

Disgusting.

Always that word.

She thought she had escaped it.

She thought things were different with Akko.

But Akko just called her that.

Akko just called her that.

Something inside her chest let out a horrible crack as a part of her face burned.

-0-​

In a rapidly decaying groove, a dying tree let out a crack. It was not a crack of age, nor a crack of an inevitable death.

No, this crack was a signal for something. Of the walls of an ancient prison crumbling, even if just slightly.

The tree's branches creaked again, but this time, while still weak, they sounded determined. The excited moans of a beast slowly breaking its chains.

And with every creak, the grass around it started to change; from alive, to decaying, and then, dead. Some of the others trees followed, their faces twisting, bodies falling apart.

And on the face of that dying tree's body, its prison keeper could do nothing but watch as the trees branches continued to creak and moan with sounds that were almost like laughs as its continued to try and reach one witch who's feelings were roaring to all who could hear.

Hey there! Black Mage here, coming at you with a new chapter.

Okay, won't lie, I was hoping this chapter would be longer, but I didn't have as much writing time as I wanted, but I did manage to uphold my schedule! So yay me!

So, onto the chapter itself, again, I just want to make it clear, Sucy isn't that reliable of a narrator. There are things she can be wrong about, and things she's letting her own biases color. This is going to be the last time I'll say this, because from here on out, her biases are going to really color her narration, and, save for interludes, she will most likely be the main narrator of every chapter.

Also, just gonna let you guys know now: the next chapter is gonna have some dark content. I'll put some content warning at the beginning so you guys know what to expect, but know that's gonna be a small example of the dark things that will happen in this story.

So, that's about all from me. Don't hesitate to tell me what you liked and/or didn't like about this chapter. And if you can, please support me on pa tre on! Any donations really help support both myself and my family, and makes it so that I don't have to take so many jobs and gives me more free time to write. This is Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!

 

[The Black Mage]

Art done by the wonderful Pili BlueBerry! Be sure to check out her awesome art when you can!

 

[NonsenseLurker]

But then, Akko's face did something Sucy had never seen it do before, when looking at Sucy's own: screw up in pure disgust.

"Ew, gross."

Click to shrink...

I am a bit confused here But I assume you will eventually explain what happened right here.

 

[The Black Mage]

I am a bit confused here But I assume you will eventually explain what happened right here.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for commenting, NonsenseLurker!

Yeah, you'll find out why Akko said that in the next chapter. Let's just say the reason isn't what Sucy's thinking.

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

Obviously, ye.

We must have Ze Angst first, so stupid emotional spirals inbound before they get solved sooner or later. Maybe.

 

[The Black Mage]

CW: This chapter contains detailed descriptions of anxiety and panic attacks, auditory and visual hallucinations, and traumatic flashbacks. Viewer discretion is advised.

The heat and pain was one she knew intimately. One that she hadn't felt in so long, and hoped it meant that she'd never feel them again. But she was wrong, and she hated that she was.

But not nearly as much as she hated how much it burned.

Sucy Manbavaran pushed Akko away so hard they both almost fell back.

"What?" Sucy stepped back, all the warmth she felt just a second ago replaced with pure ice, one eye wide. "Wha-what did you just say?"

Akko's eyes were wide too, still stumbling before she forced herself to stop, and she stared at Sucy with what almost looked like confusion mixed with worry. "Sucy?"

"What did you just call me!?" She hissed, and the ice that filled her got colder with every second; she almost tripped on her own feet as she kept rapidly stepping back.

That face Akko made kept repeating in her mind. And her words.

"Ew, gross."

There was no longer a growl in her head; just an all consuming roar.

There was no way, no way. Akko couldn't have said that, she couldn't have. It couldn't be happening again, she made sure to always—to make sure that no one would ever find—how did Akko see them? That protection was still their, she could feel it. Did Diana somehow figure it out and tell Akko how to see them for herself, just to make sure Akko would never choose her. Because why would Akko want to be with someone who had—someone who's face—someone who was disgusting—

The heat on her face got worse; scalding in all the worst way, like her blood was boiling underneath skin, and made it impossible to ignore the pain.

To ignore it.

Akko still had on that perplexed and concerned look for a second, but then her face turned ashen, as if she was the one that should be panicking right now. "No, no, no-no-no-no-no-no NO! Sucy, I—I wasn't talking about you, I was—"

"Don't you lie to me!"

Akko froze.

For the first time in years, Sucy shouted. Raised her voice so much it scratched and tore at her throat. She glared at Akko with emotions so intense and hot, that she could feel changing every of second, it made it impossible to form any kind of apathetic mask. The snarl that broke across her face was equal parts angry as it was just pained. "You called me disgusting!"

It wasn't supposed to happen again. She did everything she could to make sure it wouldn't. But then she met Akko, let her get close because she thought she could trust her, that things were different, that things were better, but she was wrong again.

"No, no, no!" Akko was moving again, frantically waving her hands, rushing to Sucy with eyes that just kept getting wider. "I was talking about—"

She pointed at her face, her mouth moving.

And Sucy could only hear those voices again, all their scorn and mockery and laughter, and that word. Always that word, never ending, echoing loudly inside her head.

Right alongside that hateful roar.

Akko's mouth kept moving, no sounds coming out, but then, as the voices kept rising, her face flickered like the pure white of a damaged movie screen just starting up, and then her eyes were covered in shadows, but the smirk on her face, one that looked just like all the ones she'd seen before, was impossible to miss.

"Ew, disgusting."

It felt like her guts had been ripped out, and she couldn't breathe.

No. No, not again. She didn't—she couldn't—

She clenched her eye shut, fingers clenched so hard on her arms she felt her nails start to pierce her skin, forcing herself to breathe again. When she opened her eye to glare, to let venom hide the pain and hurt, Akko's face had changed again. The smirk was gone, and her face was twisted with panic Sucy had never been more sure was a lie.

"S-Sucy, why are you looking like—you heard what I said, right—"

Akko had gotten close enough to where she could reach out, her hand bridging the gap between them.

Sucy smacked it away with every ounce of rage inside her. Akko's hand didn't feel warm any more.

It just hurt to touch.

"Did you plan all of, this!?"" Sucy was shouting again, eye glaring with pure hate that felt just as hot as the pain inside her. "Was this just setup for, for a joke!?"

"I—what?" Akko still looked at her with that fake confusion. "Sucy, what are you—"

"How did you know?" Sucy kept stepping back, her chest so tight her ribs felt like they were piercing her lungs. Every breath that left her was heavy; like she had to fight to get even a molecule of air into her body. "How did—who told you? Who told you!?"

"I don't—told me what?"

"You know what! That I have—that I'm—you—" Sucy couldn't remember the last time she stuttered over her words so badly. The last time she trembled so badly she had trouble standing. Or the last time her face hurt so much.

The last time it burned so badly.

Blue eyes were suddenly judging her, and then her voice echoed like a banshee through her.

"What is wrong with you?"

Another roar came, all but making her ears bleed.

"Sucy, please, I swear I wasn't—"

"Shut up! Just shut up already!" Sucy screamed, hands going over her ears. She kept stepping back, shaking her head, trying to get kill off all the voice shouting insults in her head, to silence Diana's words.

But all that other noise paled in comparison to that cracking deep in her chest. A crack that let heat seep in and made her chest feel like it was being ripped apart by razor-sharp claws from the inside-out as something tried to get out.

And more cracks were forming by the second. Breaking down all the restraints she built over a lifetime.

The roar came again, loud and deafening.

Even louder than her own heart, which was beating so loud it sounded like a moment away from exploding.

Akko quickly ran towards her, reaching out with a hand, but Sucy smacked it away again. And she hated that. Hated how doing just that took far more effort than it should've. Hated how her skin felt so tight all the air left her, squeezing her and locking her inside her own body. She hated how Akko's hands suddenly just hurt to touch, even for just a second, when she wished that it didn't, that it still felt warm and filled her with warmth and wished that things had actually been different this time.

The voices came again, all their loud words stabbing her with every echo, and the crack inside her kept getting bigger. Just like that horrible burning. Like how her thundering heart got louder. Like that roar.

It was suddenly so hard to see past all blood in her eye.

It was happening again.

"Sucy—"

She could barely hear Akko's voice through all that painful sound, but it was enough to make the blood go away. Sharp teeth bit into her lip, trying to distract herself with pain, clenching her eye shut, fingers digging even deeper into her arms, like that would somehow help her deal with skin that was clammy and cold and hot and that felt like chains coiling around her from the inside out.

It was happening again.

She tried to think of mushrooms, but their was no way to order her thoughts into something calming, or kill off her feelings when she couldn't even get her stupid lungs to breathe again. When Akko called her disgusting and everything was too loud and her heart kept beating so hard and felt a moment away from bursting into paste and the cracks kept getting bigger and the heat spreading throughout her became fire.

And then, all she could see was some thing looming over her, breathing flames and hate.

And all while her eye burned and burned and burned.

It was happening again.

She was about to be thrown away like disgusting trash again—

Sucy's foot stepped back, but instead of ground, all she felt was empty air.

Sucy's eye shot open, head whipping around.

She had been moving back to a part of the grove that suddenly went from a flat ground to a very steep hill. And now she was falling back. Her arms flailed, trying to regain her balance, but her body kept leaning back, her feet just about to leave the ground.

"Sucy!"

Something grabbed her by her arm, and pulled, stopping her fall. Sucy stumbled forward, and found herself looking at Akko's panicking, wide-eyed face.

But she couldn't even focus on Akko's bright red eyes when she felt constricted in her own skin, when she couldn't breathe, when the burn was so bad it was like everything was on fire, and Akko touching her just reminded her about how awful everything felt and her hand was so close to her wrist—

Akko let go, and immediately took a few steps back, hands raised. It was so unexpected Sucy had to blink. Akko then stopped, and pointed at her cheek.

"You-have-blue-junk-on-your-face!" she shouted in a rapid-fire burst of words.

What?

Akko was still pointing to at herself, jabbing the air to emphasize the gesture. Sucy slowly mirrored her, and when her finger touched her cheek, she felt something warm and sticky. She brought her finger up to her face, and saw that the tip was covered in some blue, viscous liquid.

And then their was the smell. It wasn't the worst thing that she'd ever smelled, but it did make her nose wrinkle and frown. What even was this—

She suddenly remembered the bluebloods, and the foul smelling spit they could unleash. And she realized that Akko had been looking more at her cheek than her face when she…when she called her…

Oh.

"One of the bats spat some gunk on you and I didn't notice until you were really close and I could smell it!" Akko shouted, frantically waving her arms. "That was what I was calling gross! The bat spit, not you!"

Sucy stared, needing a moment to let the realization settle in.

Akko hadn't been talking about her. It…

It wasn't happening again.

The roar went silent.

"Oh," Sucy said, blinking slowly. "That…that was what you meant."

"Ye-yeah! That was it." Akko chuckled; it was as awkward as her smile was strained. "This was just one big misunderstanding. Kinda…kinda funny, right?"

Sucy kept staring. Another realizations slowly came into her head. She didn't move.

Akko's facsimile smile fell off, and then there was just regret on her face. "No, of course it isn't, stupid Akko," she muttered, lowering her gaze as she rapped her head a few times with her fist. She looked back up, bright eyes staring right at her, and said, "Sucy, I'm so sorry. I would never call you gross. Or disgusting."

Sucy still hadn't so much as twitched.

Akko's eyes filled with even more concern. "Sucy?"

She didn't respond. Couldn't. Not when the air she could get into her still shrunk lungs felt stilted. Not when her skin was still too tight on her bones.

Not when Akko had seen her freak out.

Her heart was still beating so fast, in that too loud, moment away from exploding out of her chest way, not at all like how it beat so fast when Akko was holding her hand. When it had been pleasant, and didn't just keep reminding her how tight and awful and cold everything was.

But she had to say something. To convince Akko she was fine, and show her what happened wasn't anything worth talking about. Or even acknowledge happened in the first place.

Opening her mouth felt like brewing a potion where she forgot all the steps, and all while dealing with limbs that had turned to stone and a heart that wouldn't stop beating so fast, and when part of her face felt like burning even when she was so cold.

"O-okay," Sucy said, monotone back, if a little shaky. And with a tremor to her voice. She tried to swallow, but nothing was going down her throat. "Okay. I…that's…" The words weren't forming in her head; couldn't, when her thoughts were crushed under the weight of all the things happening in her body. That locked her inside her own skin with that too loud heartbeat she couldn't just get to slow down already.

The worry on Akko's face kept rising, twisting into something that almost made her look scared. "Sucy, you look kind of pale."

"I…always am," she said, and it took so much effort just to get those words out. Especially when the air wasn't doing it's job and getting her lungs to work for some stupid reason.

"I mean more than usual. Like a lot more than usual." Akko stepped closer, but it was suddenly harder to see her face. Why was Akko's face getting darker? Even the forest look like it had entered a new stage of rapidly darkening night. "And, and you're kind of breathing pretty hard right now."

Sucy tried to respond, but when she tried to speak, only a short, choking kind of gasp left her. More darkness rose as her face kept getting hotter while the rest of her got cold. All other sounds went deathly quiet as her rapid heartbeat became the only thing she could hear. She bit her lip again, focusing on the pain, lowering her head that became heavier than cement, hands clenching into tight, shaking fists.

But even in her current state, she could make out Akko getting even closer to her, one hand reaching towards her. A hand that looked more shadowy by the second, that suddenly looked so cold and so much like the hands from her past and didn't look warm at all.

Sucy whipped around, and the glare she sent Akko made it clear what would happen if she continued.

Akko froze, and quickly pulled her hand back. She took several slow, careful steps back.

Sucy kept glaring, even when Akko was nowhere near her and couldn't touch her, even when she knew she shouldn't be so harsh to Akko and that she was acting like a complete idiot right now in front of her. This didn't make sense; it wasn't happening again, so why was she acing like, this? So what if Akko saw? So what if she acted, a bit off when Akko called her—called her that? So what if it meant that she would want to ask questions and meant that she would want to know why she was acting so weirdly? That…

That she would want to know about then.

She could still hear their voices. Feel that scalding heat on her face. It made everything so much harder; from trying to think, to getting her heart to stop beating so painfully fast. To stop feeling like if she so much as moved an inch, it would stop beating, but never start again.

And Akko was right there, watching her in the rising shadows. Seeing everything. Sucy had no idea what expression she had on right now, but she knew it was about as far from blank or neutral as possible. And Akko could see it. See all the emotions she failed to kill before they bled onto her face.

Akko had a front row seat to Sucy losing more control of herself than she had in years, and she hated that. Hated how…exposed she felt. Raw, like a festering, poisoned wound that kept bleeding something deeper and darker than blood, something that no one was supposed to see.

And the longer that wound was uncovered, seen by everyone and everything, the more her heart kept beating harder, to the point the pain there started to overwhelm that scalding sting on her face. The voices rose and matched the sound of her heart bursting inside her crumbling ribs and lungs.

And then Diana's voice deafened everything else.

"What is wrong with you?"

Another growl quickly followed those judging, cold words, just as loud as them, if not louder.

Sucy fists went even tighter, nails digging into her skin, teeth biting deeper into her lip. She wanted it to stop. She wanted all those voices to be quiet. She wanted Diana's words to stop hitting her again and again from inside her own head. She wanted to stop shaking and for her chest to stop feeling so tight and get past the fact she felt like throwing up even when her stomach had never felt emptier and to just be able to breathe again.

But that awful burn on her face and the coldness from everything else just kept reminding her how wrong her body was, and things kept getting darker, and Akko was right there and seeing her act so pathetic and was probably just about to—

"Sucy, what was that potion you gave me that made my nose really long?"

Through sheer incredulity, Akko's voice got through all the noise in her head; her too-tight skin and icy blood and shrinking lungs. Slowly, Sucy blinked, processing those words.

"Wha…what?" she said, voice small.

"That potion that gave me a long nose. You know, like a few weeks after winter started? And I got a really bad cold, and I asked you to help make it go away."

The memories of that day Akko was talking about came forward. It had been cold enough to bite into her skin and almost make her shiver, so she made sure to brew her potions near Ilo, and Lotte also stood close by her familiar while she fed them cherrywood—one of Ilo's favorites to snack on. It made their flames and warmer, turning them a pinkish shade of red, and also left a kind of sweet tang in the air that was pleasant on her tongue, and made the cold a bit more bearable.

Akko had been there too, sniffling and sneezing every other second because she had been out late the night before doing…what was it?

"Making giant snowmen with the green team, and having Wangari, Marianne and Molly judge 'em."

Oh, right. Sucy and Lotte hadn't joined in because she had some protections for some of her mushrooms she had growing in their room, and she wanted to check on to make sure they working on her mushrooms didn't die from the cold. And Lotte had to study for a test and also call her parents, so she couldn't go either. It meant there was no one around to make sure Akko didn't do something dumb. Like say, give the snowmen's "kids" her jacket and mittens so they'd "stay warm," and did so in the middle of the night.

Which was what she had done. Again.

It lead to Akko basically using every tissue Luna Nova had to offer and looking honestly pretty miserable for most of the morning. She spent most of it in her bed, face red, tears in her eyes, and smile nowhere in sight. So, to get her to stop distracting her with her begging and crying and sneezing, Sucy decided to cure her cold.

But she hadn't used a potion; she told Akko multiple times it wasn't a potion, it was a—

Sucy frowned. "You…you mean the elixir?"

"There's a difference?"

That made a different kind of burn rise in her face: the heat from a not small amount of annoyance rising behind her eye as it just held back from twitching. "Yes, Akko. There is a difference. We've been over this."

"Sorry. Really sorry." Akko's voice sounded different; still gentle, but just a bit more quiet than usual. Like she was doing her best to make sure her words were still calming, and that they didn't disturb the air around Sucy. Or just Sucy herself "Could you explain it again?"

"Why should I?" she muttered, even though she was forming the explanation in her head already, a force of habit she had when talking about magic around Akko. It was either explain the same thing again and again, or risk her whining for hours until she did. Sucy would much rather deal with the former.

At least by actually explaining, Akko wouldn't whine, and would instead just smile and giggle and stand close to her. That was way more pleasant, compared to her whining.

"Because you always make it sound so cool. Way more than Professor Lukíc does. Honestly, you should probably be the one teaching her classes."

Sucy gave the area of pitch black she assumed Akko was talking from a side-long, shrewd glance. "You're laying it on a little thick, Akko."

"I'm really not," she said, with the kind of casual certainty that made it clear she meant every word. "I could listen to you talk about potions for hours." Akko's footsteps echoed quietly, and she could feel her bright eyes looking at her with that big, pleading look she always got on when she was asking her for a favor. "So…please?"

It was easy to focus on Akko's words. On her warm tone, and how it sounded so much nicer than all the noise going on in her head. That honestly reminded Sucy a little of her singing voice, not in the sense it was all that melodic just, that, it was…

It was nice to listen to.

Her chest felt lighter. Heart slowing down for the first time.

Sucy sucked in a breath through lungs that could finally take in a little air, and said, "Elixirs are distilled magical liquids that generally have stronger magical effects on the body than most potions, and are also aimed more to 'heal' someone's body from an illness, or strengthen their magic in some way, or both. Sometimes potions are used as a 'base' for the elixir, but calling an elixir a potion would be like calling a smoothie 'water' just because you used a lot of water to make it."

"Oh, I get it now! Thanks." Akko let out an appreciative hum. She sounded closer. "What did you use?"

"Some fire spirit essence," Sucy continued, and the words got easier, her throat less of a knot. "Month old gouda to cool down the essence, since that cheese works best with the potion. Squid ink to make sure the color was right. Fermented Garlic to help stabilize the whole thing. A few mushrooms."

"Mushrooms, huh? What kind?"

"Dragon's breath to make sure the potion was strong enough." She paused for a second. "They're…they're the ones with skin that kind of looks like scales. They even release these spores that are like green, purpleish fireballs."

"Oh, that sounds really pretty!" Akko's enthusiasm couldn't be faked.

Sucy chuckled a little. "It is," she said, tension oozing out of her shoulders. Dragon's breath was one of her favorite mushrooms, actually. "I'd show you if I had one, but they're out of season here, so they're had for me to get, or grow."

"That's okay, Sucy. We can find some another time." Somehow, she knew that Akko was already imagining going on some adventure to get some dragon's breaths, no matter how hard it might be, just because Sucy might want some. "What else did you use?"

"A quarter of a silver hareblooms to make sure the elixir acted fast. About half of a nourishcap to make sure your body could absorb all the nutrients in the elixir, and that your nose could expel the cold without any problems." She paused. Something new welled up in her own stomach; it made her feet fidget. "A…a shiitake."

"Shiitake?" She could all but hear Akko blinking. "I thought you said shiitake wasn't that good of a mushroom for elixirs?"

It wasn't. There were about a dozen different mushrooms that could do the same job as a shiitake for most elixirs, outside of very rare circumstances and potions. And that cold elixir hadn't been one of them. But…

"I had one on hand, so I just used it out of convenience," she said, and that was true. "Besides, it…it made it less likely you'd vomit it out all over me, since…"

Since Akko liked shiitake.

"Since it helped with the tase," she muttered.

Akko didn't respond right away. She could feel her presence, how close she was, but still didn't try to touch her skin that wasn't so tight anymore, but was still wrapped around her lungs like icy chains. And that burn was still there on her face, smaller, yes, but noticeable, and it just made her hate how her body was acting. How it was noticing the smallest things, things that she knew shouldn't bother her, but did.

"You really know a lot about mushrooms, huh, Sucy?" Akko asked, and her words snapped Sucy's focus away from that burn and everything wrong with her body. "It's really cool how much you love them."

Sucy blinked. "You…You think that's cool?"

"Of course!" Sucy actually heard the nod Akko gave her. "It's…it's really nice, hearing what you're passionate about. Mushrooms, potions, mushrooms and potions, all that other stuff you think is cool. Seeing you gush about how much those things mean to you always makes me smile."

She could all but feel one of those smiles aimed at her, bright like the sun and with kindness to match.

The tightness that made everything so suffocating went away, and the shadows started to follow.

"I don't 'gush' about things, Akko," Sucy said, some of her dry, blunt snark returning to her voice. But she couldn't hide the small little grin on her face. "You gush. Like about all your 'Chariot Merch.' I just state facts."

"C'mon, Sucy, no need to be shy." She heard Akko step closer. Sucy didn't back away. "You can admit you fangirl over mushrooms as much as I fangirl over Chariot."

"I am not a fangirl, Akko."

"You kinda are."

"Shut it."

"Won't make it not true."

"I will use your Chariot poster as kindling for my cauldron."

"Wha—you wouldn't!"

"Try me, Guinea Pig."

Neither spoke. She could feel Akko's outraged glare on her. Then, Akko started chuckling, for seemingly no reason at all. And then, Sucy did too, more quietly, but still genuine. At some point, Sucy realized she had lifted her head up when moments ago it felt too heavy to move. That her heart wasn't beating a hundred times a second and was at a steady, calm rate, and that she could breathe again.

That some point, the shadows and darkness that had lingered in her vision completely vanished, just like all the rest of the voices and sounds in her head and that tightness in her skin. And she could see Akko, standing so close to her, and beaming at her with a warm, sunny smile.

The burning was gone like it was never there in the first place. Sucy laughed a little louder.

"Feeling better?"

Sucy blinked. Akko's gaze was still bright, but the worry was there, just underneath her smile.

"You're not…not still feeling so bad, right?" she asked.

Sucy stared. When she opened her mouth, all the came out was denial.

"I…Akko, I was fine—"

"Sucy." Akko's smile was gone, lips in a firm, if gentle, line. "Don't lie. You weren't 'fine.' You looked really, really…" Akko seemed struggled on her next word. "Upset," she said, and from the increasingly worried look on her face, it was clear Akko thought she was understating things.

Sucy looked away. It…it hadn't been that bad. She had just been kind of surprised when Akko had, had seemingly called her that. And had been a bit…embarrassed, when she realized Akko had seen her freak out over nothing. She had been through worse than that. Way worse.

"Can I…" Akko sounded hesitant. Sucy glanced back, and saw that Akko was half-reaching out with her hand to Sucy's own. And that Sucy's own hand was shaking a little. It was obvious what she wanted to ask; to do again, but wanted to make sure Sucy was okay with it first.

Without really thinking, Sucy reached out to Akko's hand. So that…so that Akko…so that she could feel…

Akko gently clasped her fingers around Sucy's hand, and filled it with warmth. Her shaking stopped like it was never there. "Sucy…can you please tell me what just happened?" Akko asked, and there was more concern on her face than Sucy had seen all night. "I've never seen you act like that before. Was that all because you thought I…I called you 'disgusting?'"

Sucy swallowed something that tasted like cement mixed with acid, burning and clogging her throat. "I…" The words weren't there. Not that she even wanted to find them. Because she knew what Akko wanted her to say, but she wasn't…if she said it, that would mean she'd have to explain why she…that she hated being called…

There was another squeeze, and her hand felt even warmer. Sucy realized that she was staring at the ground. And because of that, she could see Akko stepping closer. And see her reaching for her other hand.

"It's okay." There was a tenderness in Akko's words now that, as impossible as may sound, made her voice even more kind and caring than it had been throughout the night. "I said it before, and I'll keep saying it again and again…"

Akko took her other hand. Her callused fingers slowly interlocked with Sucy's. More warmth flooded her hand, then her whole body. She looked up.

Akko's face was inches away, salty breath brushing against her skin.

Sucy went unnaturally still, and her heart started beating faster. Not in the painful way, but in that pleasant, warm way that made the world fade away and left just Akko's soft, kind face.

"You can talk to me about anything, Sucy." Akko tilted her head, and smiled with nothing but honesty, and care so few people ever showed her. "Always."

Akko's eyes gazed right into her own. Eyes that were still so bright, still so understanding. And they still had the same message as before, softly echoing in her ears like a song.

I'm here.

They were two simple words. Words she rarely heard before. Words that could so easily be lies. But with Akko, it was so easy to believe them. That she cared for her. That she would be here for her. That she'd stay with her.

Always.

Sucy looked down at the hands holding her own. Hands that were so warm, and made her feel just as warm, even warmer, and more than anything else made her feel…feel so…

She kept staring.

Akko gently squeezed her hands again. And that made her heart beat even harder.

"So…can we talk about what just happened?" Akko asked. Her smile faded, and worry took away some of the brightness in her eyes. "Because I'm worried, Sucy."

So many thoughts and feelings came from nowhere yet everywhere inside her, and warred in her head; there was a part that was shouting at her to deny, to say she was fine; another part that wanted to try to explain at least some things if it meant Akko stop worrying about her; another that just wanted to keep holding Akko's hand and keep feeling that warmth for the rest of the night. So many things running inside her that she didn't—couldn't—deal with to get them to stop, or even know if she…if she should stop them. All she did know was that the way her chest was all but bursting with, with something that made her want to talk more than she had in years because she just felt so…so…

Safe.

That was it.

She felt safe with Akko.

To the point that she was actually considering talking about then.

Sucy opened her mouth. To say what, she had no idea.

But Akko's next words made her freeze.

"You…you looked kind of like how you did when we were fighting and I said—"

There was another high-pitched screech; one that saved her from reliving that moment again. Akko turned around, and Sucy did too.

Another blueblood bat was flying towards them with an ear-piercing screech. And before either Sucy or Akko could react, it was suddenly right in front of Akko's face.

And then, at the last moment, it suddenly swerved around her.

And slammed into Sucy's face.

Sucy let out a muffled gasp, hands letting go of Akko as they instinctively went to the bat that was trying to bite her eye. She pulled and swatted at the bat, and, without thinking, she took a step back.

Once again, onto open air.

Sucy had just pried the bat off her face when she realized she was falling back to the steep hill, her eye widening.

Almost as wide as Akko's own eyes had become as she rushed to her, hand outstretched, inches away. "Sucy—"

The bat suddenly flew out of Sucy's hands, and, whether on purpose or just because it was panicking so badly, went right to Akko, crashing into her face hard. Akko shrieked, and her arms flailed as she fell onto her back from the unexpected crash.

Sucy had just enough time to see that before she fell over the edge, and Akko vanished from sight, and her world turned upside down.

…This was gonna suck.

Sucy hit the hill with the back of her head first, and her skull practically rang like a bell. Then she was flipping and rolling on her sides, limbs flailing with every impact, bouncing around all the trees and brambles and shrubs so quickly all her surroundings became blurs of dark greens and grays. And every impact her body took seemed to be worst than the last, to the point it felt like the forest was sucker punching her every other second.

Sucy did her best to protect her face and minimize the damage. She kept tumbling down and down the hill, ricocheting like an out of control pinball off a few trees and bushes. Pained grunt after pained grunt left her as she tried to find a way to stop herself, but her fingers couldn't grab anything to slow her down, and she just kept rolling and rolling down the hill.

And as she tumbled, the scream Akko let out echoed through her head and the entire forest.

"Sucy!"

For all the experiments she put her through and the life-threatening adventures they went on, Sucy couldn't remember the last time Akko sounded that scared. Not that she could really focus on that when she was still tumbling.

Something cracked, and Sucy didn't like how the odds weren't zero the sound came from a bone.

She wasn't sure how long she continued to roll, time kinda got hard to keep track of when the world wouldn't stop spinning, but, eventually, she reached the bottom, crashing through another bush before landing face first in the ground.

Sucy didn't move, still as a corpse. She laid there for several seconds, every part of her aching.

Then, when the dizziness faded and the world stabilized, she pushed herself off the ground, and spat dirt, a scowl on her face.

"I hate bats," Sucy muttered. If she saw that blueblood again, she'd take its wings as a trophy. And if she found that stupid forsakenwing, the whole reason for this mess, she was killing it with her bare hands.

But revenge would have to wait. For now.

Sucy grunted, slowly standing up, trying not to wince in pain. She glanced around; it was hard to see, but it looked like she had ended up in another groove, one with less trees and one that was much smaller and more cramped than usual, but that was all she could make out really in the dark.

Of course, she was also more focused on her body than her surroundings. She could feel bruises of all sizes forming on most parts of her body, though none on her face; and she didn't have any broken bones, so that was good too. She reached for her wand to cast another spell, but when she found nothing but empty air, she remembered how she never picked it up after it was knocked out of her hand. And she didn't have any healing potions on hand because she needed those ingredients for the elixir.

Great.

Sucy grunted again, this time far more annoyed. She patted away at the dirt on her clothes with a frown. Usually it was Akko that ended up rolling around in the dirt and looking like an idiot, not her. She couldn't say she cared for the sudden role reversal.

Speaking of her guinea pig, Sucy was still surprised at how scared she sounded. It wasn't like Sucy hadn't taken worse things than falling down a hill, so she shouldn't have been that worried—

Wait. Did Akko know it was a hill? It was pretty dark, and Sucy really only saw because her vision was used to adjusting to the dark fast, but Akko's wasn't. So to her, did it, what, looked like she fell off a cliff?

Sucy looked back up, gaze impassive. Then, raising her hand next to her mouth, she said, "Hey, Guinea Pig. I'm alive."

No response from. Which, to be fair, she hadn't really shouted that loudly, so she probably didn't hear her. Even if, with how quiet the forest was, her voice still should've reached Akko.

"Hey. I'm down here."

Still nothing. Sucy frowned, and raised her voice as much as she could.

"Akko!"

Dead silence. She couldn't see much from the bottom of the hill, but there were no signs of anything having heard her. Or anyone climbing down it to try and find her.

…Did Akko—

No.

No, of course not. This was Akko. There was no reason to think she'd, do that. Especially not after what everything she just told Sucy. Moron probably just got lost or something, or tripped and fell down to some other part of Arcturus. And probably got caught up in trouble too, and would need her friends to bail her out, like usual. So, she should focus on helping Akko, and get out of here.

Sucy's hand went to her skirt, intent on pulling out some of her potions to try and see which one was best to get her out of here, but she paused. On the way to one of her pockets, her fingers hadn't brushed up against anything there.

Where was her pouch?

Sucy's frown deepened. She looked around at the ground, but it was still too dark to see anything, even for her. She reached for a pocket in her jacket, and pulled out a vial full of blue liquid. She shook the vial a few times, and it started to glow a light blue. With one last shake, she undid the cork, and from the vial, the liquid popped out like a small set of fireworks, rapidly swirling in the air and taking the shape of several small, blue orbs that floated around her. Together they produced a little bit more light than the amount her wand could produce, but the orbs wouldn't last long, so she had to be quick and—

Sucy took in her surroundings. Really took them in.

This part of the forest looked…off, from the rest. It wasn't like the restored, storybook fantasy world Arcturus had become. It looked more like it did before magic had been brought back. Mostly.

Because even back then, no part of Arcturus looked this dead. The ground itself looked like it was made of ash, more like chalky gravel than it was dirt. What little patches of grass she could see were a decaying, broken shade of grey, and she could make out bits of the grass crumbling from the silent breeze. The few trees that were here all just looked withered and lifeless; there were faces on them, like most of the trees in Arcturus, but the ones she saw were broken, like something had burst from within the bark and shattered them. But from what she could make out of the remnants of those faces, it kind of looked like they had been screaming.

And then there was one tree that caught her eye the most, one not that far away from her, and somehow, looked even more unnaturally placed than anything else she'd seen. It was arguably the most "alive" one—and she used that word very loosely. It's bark was as black as a starless sky, gnarled branches extending like claws from withering, sickly thin limbs. What caught Sucy's eye the most, was that on its trunk, more of its almost burnt bark extended, taking shape into something that almost looked like a body; a witch's body, even, going by the broken, tree-bark looking hat on its head. The "witch" was connected to the tree with pitch-black wood that almost looked like stings, her head tilted down, and hat covering whatever face the she had on.

And right in front of that tree, with some of the many potion ingredients she gathered spilled out in front of it, was her pouch.

Sucy stared at her pouch. Then, she stared at the tree. The orbs from her flashlight potion cast most of its body in eerie, flickering shadows.

…Yeah, no. She'd seen this horror movie before.

Sucy reached into her pocket, took a purple vial, and then, chucked it at the tree's trunk.

It instantly caught on fire.

A murky, neon-ish green flame consumed the entirety of the trees body, controlled enough not to burn anything but the ashy grass and dirt around it. For several seconds, the green flames burned and burned, rising and flickering, spreading little embers of green around that didn't burn anything save for the tree and its roots, and all while Sucy watched with a half-lidded, emotionless eye.

Green flames were always better than red and orange.

The flames suddenly vanished in an instant, like they had never been there before. And the tree…honestly, it looked better than it had before. Sure, some of its branches were now hanging limply, branches swinging and barely holding together, and there was a new coat of burns, normal black ones and deep green ones, all over its body, but it all somehow made the tree look less dead.

But since the tree wasn't screaming, it very clearly wasn't alive. Or wasn't alive anymore. And that potion also would have scared off or burned any malevolent spirits, so it wasn't possessed by one. It was just a weird tree.

Just a tree, that looked creepy even by her standards.

Sucy stared at the tree. At that weird, witch-like body that fused into the trunk. She frowned, took a step forward—

There was a crack, and she instantly stepped back. Her eye darted around, and she saw one of the branches limply hanging off one of the tree limbs breaking bit by bit; she watched the last of the strands of bark connecting it to the tree shattered with a pathetic crack, and then hit the ground with a whimper.

Sucy stared, not so much as twitching. Slowly, she let out a breath, and frowned.

It just surprised her. The noise had just surprised her, that was it. It was a tree. A weird tree, even by Arcturus' standards, but just a tree. The fact she just lit it on fire with her potion proved it wasn't alive, or possessed by any dangerous spirits. It looked unsettling, but she was Sucy Manbavaran. The definition of "unsettling." She was the meanest, most sadistic, scariest witch around.

And she did not, ever, get scared.

She kept frowning at that witch-looking body on the tree. Then, she let out a grunt, and walked toward her pouch, the orbs of light following her closely. Her footsteps echoed in the silence of the night—had the forest ever been so quiet before?—and when she was right in front of her pouch, she gave one last glance at the tree. At that witch.

It only creaked with its gnarled, burnt branches, the sound like a slow, dying moan. And the witch was still looking at the ground.

Sucy forced out another grunt, and went to pick up her pouch. The orbs of light flickered, the sign that they were starting to lose juice, but she only needed them for a few more moments. Once she secured her pouch around her hips, she picked up some of the ingredients that had spilled from it. She had to hurry up though, Akko was probably still looking for her.

Probably. If she hadn't gotten into some trouble. Or if she hadn't just—

Sucy thought of mushrooms, and kept picking up more of her ingredients. The purple toads feet were shoved into her pouch, the mugwort in the shape of a helix quickly following, and then she got into a rhythm and put away as much as she can as fast as she could.

There was no way. She was being dumb. She was. It wouldn't happen again. It wouldn't be like back when—

Sucy's hand picked up a vial of forsakenwing blood, but paused when she felt something wet on her fingers. She pulled it back, the flickering lights of her orbs starting to dim by the second, but she could just make out the cracks there, and see how the blood leaked from it.

And then those memories hit her.

Her hand was suddenly smaller, holding another vial, with a different, much more important liquid; one that was red as blood, held by an equal tiny hand.

Then it was almost taken by bigger hands.

Then held gently by hands she had always been so sure would never leave her.

And then the vial was on the ground, just like her, red liquid bleeding from the cracks on it like blood, bleeding just like her as she desperately held onto it, as fires surrounded her and burned and burned but not nearly as bad as her face burned, and as she stared at her reflection in the vials cracked glass, she could see that her eye was—

Sucy dropped the vial from limp fingers, her heart feeling like it was trying to explode.

Mushrooms. Mushrooms, think of those. They reproduce through spores and grow in the dark, in places nothing else could ever survive in. And that when double for the magic ones, like dragon's breath, like all the other ones that thrived in a dark world where they had no one, where everything was out to get them, but they still adapted and fought and grew into something amazing that no one could ever hurt again.

Akko had even said they were cool. And she would come find her. She would. Always.

So breathe.

A shaky breath left lungs that felt like they had been ripped to shreds, and only just barely got put back together. Hands that were hugging her body so hard it felt like her fingers had made dents in bones that suddenly became glass started to go slack. Skin that coiled tighter than any snake slowly went loose. The abyss that had opened right under her heart and filled her with nothing but sheer cold started to fade back to nothing.

But heart still beat so fast and so loud, and the heat on her face was still there.

Sucy clenched her eye shut, ignoring flames and the pain and the everything from that day that kept appearing from the dark and surrounded her, and just kept breathing, kept thinking about mushrooms and nothing but mushrooms and then thought about how Akko would be here any second.

She kept thinking like that, crouching on the ground and gripping herself tightly, breathing in and out even when it was so painful. Her heart started to slow down. Her face stopped burning.

And then, Sucy let out another breath, and slowly, the forest returned, and with one last thought of mushrooms, those memories were sent to their deaths.

That…it had been a while since she…since her thoughts gotten that bad.

It didn't matter. That was in the past. She was fine. Completely fine.

She always had to be.

On shaky legs, she stood up. She wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead with a trembling hand. Her breathing was still a bit heavy, and she slowly picked up the rest of her spilled ingredients and put them away.

She was fine. There was no reason not to be. No reason at all to think keep thinking back to moments she hadn't thought of in years. She was just a bit…off balance, because of everything going on with her and Akko.

And Diana.

Sucy frowned, and as she moved around to gather the rest of her ingredients, as the tree branches started to creak, a different heat from the one her face had just felt started to rise inside her, and she didn't try to stop it.

That was really why she'd been acting like this. Ms.Perfect was the reason her thoughts and feelings had become so, so intense. She was why Sucy kept thinking about things that were better off forgotten. She was why she was losing more control of her thoughts and feelings than she had in years. She was why she couldn't stop thinking about how she'd been treating Akko ever since she met her. She was why things were changing between her and Akko, and not for the better.

Diana was why it had started to feel like she couldn't be safe with Akko.

The heat kept rising, going from uncomfortably hot to scalding; embers to raging torrents.

And she let it keep burning, twisting her face into something angry.

It was because of Cavendish that everything was so wrong. Just because Akko for some reason liked her even when she was the biggest witch in all of Luna Nova. When she was the one that had grabbed her wrist so hard and had said all those things to her and lead to that fight and was why the rest of Akko's friends looked at her with those faces that Sucy couldn't read and that she hated how she couldn't tell what they meant or what they were thinking but Akko didn't even care about that or that Ms. Perfect had hit her so hard on that part of her because of a joke!

Her hands were clenched into fists so hard they were shaking, and she heard that growl again. For once, she did nothing to kill the source, and just let her blood continue to boil away, preventing anything else from forming inside her. She rapidly stood up after picking up another toad's foot, the orbs around her flickering more and more as they circled around her, the tree creaking louder and louder. She glanced around, and saw that the last thing she needed to pick up was the vial forsakenwing blood she'd dropped, and was now by the fallen branch of the tree.

Lips in a snarl that was barely human and mouth tasting like ash and smoke, Sucy stomped towards the vial with anger so hot and raging it was draconic, and reached over the branch to grab it.

It was because of Diana that she kept having all these stupid thoughts and feelings about Akko and why she had that stupid fight with the best friend she ever and would ever had and why Akko had said—

Red eyes, angry as they were judgmental, so lacking in warmth she'd always seen in them, glared so hard they practically stabbed her.

Just like how the words screaming in her mind tore open her heart.

"So I guess it's time we stop being friends and I just leave, huh, SUCY!?"

All her anger was snuffed out.

Her eye went wide as it burned.

And as those horrible, horrible words kept echoing, emotions she didn't want to name and wounds that she could never bury no matter how hard she tried consumed her from within, and left an empty, abandoned cold.

And that was when there was an echoing creak, she pulled her hand back on instinct, and something stabbed into it.

Sucy let out a hiss as she instantly pulled her right hand back, grabbing it with her left one. Something wet was leaking down it, and she turned it around.

There was a small gash across her palm, dripping blood down her hand and arm. Sucy looked at the fallen branch, and with the fading light of her orbs, she could just make out a surprisingly sharp piece of broken bark that jutted out right in the path she reached for the vial. How did she miss that?

Sucy looked at the branch, then to the tree and the witch sticking out of it, her glare tight with pain and accusation. But the tree and the weird humanish body on its trunk didn't twitch. It just stood there, silent as a corpse, not even creaking any more.

Sucy scowled. She tore her eyes away from the tree, and looked at her hand. The pain was getting worse, and more blood kept leaking.

"Shit," she muttered, switching back to Bisaya. The orbs around her died without warning, and left her in the dark. Great. Wonderful. Now she was going to have to get out of her without any light. Completely alone, because no one had found her. Like she'd been—

Sucy's hand was shaking. From the pain. She let out a breath, killed those other thoughts, and focused on her hand and the pain. With her other hand, she started to reach for the bandages in her robes.

But that was when she noticed something. A small, green light that was rapidly descending down the hill. Sucy squinted, the light getting bigger, and she could just make out what looked a person. A very Akko shaped person.

Because it was Akko, sprinting down the hill at an uncontrollably fast pace.

"Sucy, are you here!?" Akko shouted, and with every step the worry and fear in her eyes became more clear. She reached the bottom of the hill, but immediately tripped, arms flailing as she shrieked and fell into a roll. Like the world's loudest armadillo, she screamed and rolled and rolled on the ground until she crashed into a tree, face first, and came to a stop, face slowly sliding down the bark with painful cracking sounds.

Sucy stared. Her shaking stopped.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Akko muttered, pulling herself away from the tree, still holding onto her glowing wand. There was an angry red mark on her face as she rubbed her head. When she looked up with pained, squinted eyes, she saw the half broken, seemingly screaming face on the tree, stared for a moment, and immediately shrieked again in pure fright, jumping to her feet and running back.

Right into Sucy. They both stumbled, Sucy more so than Akko.

"Ah, sorry, Sucy!" Akko said, recovering first. "That was my—" She stopped talking, eyes going wide, and then she smiled in pure relief. "Sucy, you're okay!"

Sucy kept staring. Akko was here. She found her.

She hadn't left.

"Ye-yeah," Sucy muttered, trying to keep her voice in its monotone, a tension she didn't know was there leaving her. "I'm fine."

Akko instantly ran up to her, standing a few feet away. "Sucy, I was so worried when you fell, because it was so dark I thought you fell off a cliff or something, and I was really worried when you didn't—" Akko's eyes dipped, and she stopped talking. Her relieved smile plummeted to a concerned frown. "Wait, Sucy, your hand's bleeding!" she shouted, pointing at her hand.

Sucy blinked, and looked down. "Ah. Yeah."

"Don't just say 'yeah!'" Akko was suddenly right in front of her, gently grabbing her hand in a way that there was no chance of her hurting it. "Do you still have those bandages from before?"

"I—yeah I do."

"Gimme."

"What?"

"Gimme them so I can bandage you up!"

"Akko, I can do it—"

Akko leaned closer, and Sucy could clearly the resolute look on her face, the determined line her lips were set in, all highlighted by that glow of her wand that cast her face in ethereal light. She wouldn't be swayed. Because she wanted to make sure Sucy was okay.

Her chest did that weird, lurching kind of motion from before, when Akko told her how important she was to her, but Sucy ignored it. She looked away, sighed, and reached into her pockets and pulled out a roll of gauze. "You remember how I told you to wrap gauze?"

"Yep!"

She tossed the gauze. "Go nuts, Guinea Pig."

Akko caught it, and instantly began to work. With a delicate care that most wouldn't expect, Akko wrapped the gauze around her palm. "Don't worry, I'll fix you up real quick."

"Akko, it's a cut. It's not that big a deal."

"It is to me," came Akko's instant response, looking up for a moment with eyes that showed just how seriously she was taking this. How much she cared for her.

Sucy's chest lurched again, heart beat quickening. Akko looked down, and Sucy stared. Heat rose, but it wasn't like any she was used to feeling, and it made her face feel…pleasantly warm.

She was glad Akko wasn't looking up.

"How'd you hurt yourself?" Akko asked, not looking up and still applying the gauze, and doing a good job at that.

It took a moment before she responded—before her heart beat started to slow down. "Blame that tree over there," she muttered

"Tree?" Akko looked up, and Sucy gestured as lazily as she could her head. Akko turned, looked over Sucy's shoulder, and went a little pale. There was just enough light from her wand to make out the tree in all its eeriness. "S-Sucy, why does it look like there's a person coming out of it?!"

"Because that's what it is," Sucy deadpanned.

Akko shuddered. She then looked around her, seemed to only now realize just how this spot of Arcturus looked more like the set of a horror movie, and her eyes went wide as saucers. "Wh-what's with this place!? I thought the last Word made everything here look pretty!?"

"I guess you missed some spots," Sucy said,

Akko's eyes kept darting around. "Y-yeah. Guess I did," she said. She frowned slightly. "Should….should that have happened?"

"Don't know. Not like many people have ever cast the last Word of Arcturus." Sucy smirked. "But honestly, I'd be more surprised if you somehow pulled off a spell perfectly the first time."

Akko pouted. Then, she sighed. "Well, if you can insult me, I guess you really are fine."

Sucy chuckled, and grinned. A genuine grin. She really was fine, wasn't she? Even after reliving those memories just a few seconds ago. It really was amazing just how quickly Akko could make her smile. How Akko helped her deal with those thoughts and feelings better than she ever could by herself. Just by being acting like herself. By being her with her.

Her grin started to change. Turning into something more…something different than the grins she usually wore. Not that Akko could see, as she went back to focusing on her gauze.

"But if you weren't hurt, you could've at least told me so when I called out for you!" Akko said, a bit sullenly. "I was really worried something happened."

Sucy stopped grinning, and frowned. "You…called out for me?"

"Who do you think was shouting your name so loud?"

"I didn't hear anything."

Akko blinked. "What?"

"I didn't hear anything," Sucy repeated.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Akko looked a little confused. "I…thought I was pretty loud. All the animals definitely thought I was when they ran away from me. And I'm pretty sure the cockatrice heard me. At least, I think those angry chicken sounds were it. Did you really not hear anything from me?"

"Not a word."

"Huh."

They were silent. Sucy frowned as Akko kept putting on the gauze. She…she should've heard Akko. If Akko had been shouting so loud it woke up a cockatrice, she should've heard her, right?

Then again, she was aware just how badly she could get lost in her head. Especially during those moments. So, maybe that was why.

But still, something about this…bothered her. Like a little itch she couldn't scratch.

The gauze went tight, and Akko finished tying the knot on it. "There we go!" Akko said, smiling proudly. "How does it feel?"

Pretty good, in all honesty.

"It's decent," Sucy said, rubbing her hand. "Better than the first few times."

Akko chuckled sheepishly. "Y-yeah. I've been practicing to get better." She looked around at the trees, and there was no missing the fear there. "But, uh, can we, maybe, leave here, please? This place is givin' me some bad vibes."

Sucy rolled her eye. "Okay, you big baby, we'll leave in a second." Really, they were all just trees. There was nothing to be scared of. "I just need to—"

There was a crack so loud it was almost a scream.

Sucy jumped, and Akko did too with a little shriek. They whirled around, Akko increasing the glow of her wand.

And they could clearly see the body of the witch on that tree cracking, the bark that extended like strings from it s back starting to break. There was a loud, crumbling crack.

And then the witches head fell off its body. It rolled and rolled away from the tree, and ended up only a few feet away from Sucy and Akko, looking up at them.

And under the light of Akko's wand, they could see the head didn't have a face. It was like looking at a mannequin, except somehow more lifeless, like something had wiped away at any traces of even imitation humanity.

It looked even more unsettling than all the screaming on the other trees.

Sucy took a step back.

"Sucy?"

She turned.

Akko's face was very pale, eyes wide and afraid. "I really think we should—"

Sucy didn't let Akko finish.

She grabbed her hand like lightning with her un-bandaged hand, and began to briskly walk away, Akko letting out a surprised little shout as she pulled her along. Sucy kept walking with Akko's hand in her own, not turning back to look at the vial of forsakenwing blood she'd left at the tree. Because it was cracked, she didn't want to get blood on her fingers again, and she wanted to get to work on her potion right away.

"Yeah," Sucy said, swallowing through a very dry throat, walking away just a bit faster, because they really should meet up with Lotte as fast as possible. "Let's go. Now."

Akko quickly matched her pace. "Y-yeah. Um, you know, I can probably turn into a big elephant and fly us out of here—I've gotten pretty good at it and can definitely carry people safely. And flying is really, really fast."

Sucy considered that, but shook her head reluctantly. "There's too many trees here that would smack me and knock me off, and there's a not zero chance something might try and turn a big juicy elephant into a snack." They were almost at at the base of the hill. "You remember how to do Tia Freyre to let yourself basically walk on air?" She asked, not turning to look at her.

"I—yeah, I've even been practicing it a lot with Ursula—"

"Okay, good." With a few more quick steps, they were at the base of the hill, Sucy's breathing coming out a little heavy; from the walking. "So cast it right now, and we can get out of here—" Sucy's hand shot to the holster for her wand, and found empty air. She let out a choking, muffled swear as she remembered. "My wand."

"What?"

"My—I dropped my wand when the bats attacked." She let out a groan, and she brought her other hand up to massage her somewhat sweaty brow. "Now what—"

"I have it."

Sucy whirled around. "What?"

"I saw you drop it and picked it up." Akko reached into her jacket, and held out her wand. "Here—"

Sucy snatched it out of her hand. "Tell me that sooner, dumbass!" she hissed out, glaring with an angry red eye.

Akko leaned back a little, eyes a little wide. And it was that look that instantly reminded Sucy that, for all the times she insulted her she rarely, if ever, swore at her. Least of all in a hiss that was closer to a scream than it wasn't.

"Sucy?" Akko said, more confused than angry, quiet voice carrying in the stilted air.

Sucy let out a breath. Then another. She swallowed again, throat tight, and her heat beat a little quick. She closed her eye, taking in another breath. "I—I didn't mean to sound mad at you," she said, as calmly as she could. "I just…we wasted enough time here, and I want to start working on my potion."

Akko was still staring, and now her face started to shift to concerned. "Um, Sucy, are you—"

"Akko, we don't have time for dumb questions. Let's just go.This night hasn't exactly been the greatest for me, and I'd like to go home already—"

Akko winced. It took Sucy a second to understand why.

Her grip on Akko's hand had gotten tight. So tight she started to feel Akko's delicate fingers shake underneath her grip, not in fear, but pain.

Sucy let go of Akko like she'd been burned.

Akko cradled her hand, looked at it for a second, and then stared at Sucy.

Sucy said nothing. She just looked at her with a somewhat wide eye, chest tight in all the worst ways and with all the breath squeezed out of her.

"Sucy?" Akko stepped closer, eyes kind and gentle. "Are…did something happen here after you fell?" She frowned, concern rising, and Sucy instantly knew what she was about to say. "Because you look—"

"I'm not scared," She denied instantly, glaring at Akko. Akko met it with her calm, caring gaze. After a few moment, Sucy had to look away. "I just want to get back to our dorms sooner than later. There's…nothing to be scared of here. There's just trees. I checked."

Yeah. There was nothing to be scared of. That tree wasn't alive, her potion made sure of that. There was nothing to be scared of. She just wanted to go back to their home, and rest after a long, long night.

Sucy let out a breath, thinking of mushrooms again. "I'm not scared, Akko."

Akko didn't say anything. It was quiet again.

Sucy turned, and let out another breath. She brought a clammy hand up, and massaged her sweaty head. "Let's…let's just go. Please."

Akko still didn't say anything.

"A-Akko?" Sucy turned.

Akko was staring at her. And whatever she saw made her swiftly walk up to Sucy, and then grab her hand; gently, but firmly. Sucy made no moves to get her to let go.

"Yeah. Let's go." Akko raised her wand up, nodding firmly. Sucy was about to let out a relived sigh, but then Akko added, "We can talk later."

Sucy went a little still.

Talk?

What did she mean by talk?

She was suddenly hit with memories from that fight. Of images of Akko's bright eyes looking madder than ever. Was, was that what she meant. Was she actually going to follow through with what she—

What was she thinking? Akko wasn't going to do that. Not now. Not ever. Her head needed to stop coming up with those stupid thoughts and the rest of her needed to stop feeling so cold when there was nothing to worry about, to be so—

"What's the best wand movements again for Tia Freyre?" Akko asked.

Sucy blinked, looking at Akko's bright eyes and raised eyebrows. "I—there are none."

"Really?"

"Yes. You've done this spell a hundred times."

"Ah, sorry, thought it might be different since I didn't have a broom to use it with."

Sucy frowned. "Wait, didn't you just say you've been practicing with Ursula to do this spell without one?"

"What—oh! Er, I, we have, yeah, but…" She chuckled awkwardly. "We haven't been practicing the spell that much, ya know?"

There was something about what she just said that seemed kind of strange. But before she had time to think, Akko had stepped even closer, smiling that dopey, sheepish smile of hers.

"So…can you show your guinea pig how to do it. Please?"

Akko fluttered her eyelashes, eyes big and pleasing. And warm.

Sucy focused on that; on Akko's warm eyes and tone, her smile, the way she was still fluttering her eyelashes. Sucy let out a breath, chest not so tight—at least, not in a bad way, even though tightness shouldn't feel so light and almost comforting—and formed the words.

"Okay. When you do Tia Freyre without a broom, you have to focus more on the air, and then…"

As she explained the spell to Akko, Sucy found it easy to forget about how she had been a bit—unsettled, by everything that had happened in the night. To forget about weird tree-witch and its inhumanely blank face. Just being with Akko took her mind off everything but her dumb face, big, warm smile, and bright red eyes that were impossible to look away from.

So it was easy to miss how her hand started to sting more than it should.

Easy to miss how the witch's face, for less than a second, gained an actual expression, but one that was worse than all the screaming, agonized faces of the trees in the groove, just before it vanished and its face split into a dozen, impossibly quiet fissures.

It was easy to miss how that old tree and its pitch black skin and burns suddenly throbbed like an old heart just starting to pump blood.

And it was easy to think that the sudden shiver that went through her was just from the cold, even as a growl echoed through her.

One that almost sounded the same as the ones she always heard, but was just a little different than usual.

And it would only be when everything went wrong that she'd get the first idea of what, exactly, made that growl sound so intrigued.

Just like how she'd realize that sound she thought was creaking, dying branches, was in reality cruel, malicious giggles.

AN: Hey There! Black Mage here, coming at you with a new chapter! And once again, I have upheld my biweekly schedule! Go me! Next update will be on August 6th!

So onto the chapter itself, the setup for the main events of the story are almost done. Soon, you guy will get to see what exactly is going on with Sucy, and the first hints about that tree and what it did to her.

Also, I hope the content warning was good enough that it didn't surprise anyone about how dark things got here. If you think I should add anything to it, let me know.

And with that, these notes come to a close. Don't hesitate to tell me what you liked and/or didn't like about this chapter in the reviews! And if you can, please support me on pa tre on! Any donations really help support both myself and my family, and makes it so that I don't have to take so many jobs and gives me more free time to write. This is Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!

 

[NonsenseLurker]

I mean more than usual. Like a lot more than usual." Akko stepped closer, but it was suddenly harder to see her face. Why was Akko's face getting darker? Even the forest look like it had entered a new stage of rapidly darkening night. "And, and you're kind of breathing pretty hard right now."

Click to shrink...

Akko remains on the rizz
Seducing all sorts with those sorts of words

 

[The Black Mage]

Art done by the wonderful Pili BlueBerry! Be sure to check out her awesome art when you can!

 

[The Black Mage]

She couldn't help scratching at the bandages on her hand.

Sucy Manbavaran frowned as she, Akko and Lotte snuck through Luna Nova. After over a year of getting into trouble, they had gotten pretty decent at avoiding getting caught whenever they broke Luna Nova's rules. They knew all the littler corners they could hide, the schedules of the staff and students monitoring the halls and where they would and wouldn't patrol, allowing them to plot out the best route to get back to their rooms undetected.

Of course, none of those methods were really needed when a majority of the guards helped them sneak back in.

"Thanks again for helping, Asterios!" Akko whispered at the janitor walking ahead of them.

Asterios—the massive minotaur janitor—turned his head slightly and gave Akko and the rest of them a nod, and a grin that looked small on him, but would've looked massive on anyone else. Even when compared to all the other minotaurs at Luna Nova, Asterios was the biggest; so big that all three of them could walk behind him side-to-side and be reasonably hidden from any passing teachers or students that patrolled the hall. Of all the benefits of Akko standing up for the faeries here, them helping the three of them break the rules and not get caught was the one she liked the most.

The faeries letting her use parts of their body like hair and skin or, in the spirits cases, bits of their essence for potion ingredients, was a very close second.

In a matter of minutes—with only one close call when Finnelan had passed them by, and they all had to climb onto Asterios' back—they arrived at the last corridor just before the little junction that led to their room. They had broken the rules, got what they wanted and had a fun little adventure, and were about to make it back to their dorm without anyone finding out. It had all the makings of a perfect night.

But that was only if Sucy ignored what had happened in the forest. That she learned Akko was leaving soon. How she acted, and what Akko had seen.

Sucy's lips were in a deep frown, thoughts stuck in a loop. She kept thinking back to how she and Akko escaped that weird groove, and the look she kept giving her. Even when they met up with Lotte—and Lotte fretted over Sucy's injured hand, and Sucy had to calm her down and tell her she was fine—she kept giving her quick, unreadable looks.

And as they traveled back to Luna Nova and stealthily made their ways through the halls, Akko kept sending her those looks, constantly looking back at her when she thought Sucy wasn't paying attention. At least Akko wasn't saying anything.

Yet.

When they arrived at the little hallway that led to their dorm room, the three of them entered the corridor, and Akko turned to Asterios, the unreadable look nowhere in sight as a wide smile spread across her face.

"I'll be sure to get you an extra big spell stone for you and all your friends," She whispered, raising her thumb up at him. "We really appreciate all the help!"

Asterios raised a thumb back, smiling so big he showed off his teeth and massive mouth. Which was how he naturally smiled, yeah, but with Akko, there was more joy in it. All the faerie workers here had similar smiles when it came to Akko. Asterios turned, starting to leave, but paused, like he just remembered something.

"Asterios?" Akko asked, blinking as she titled her head in confusion. "Something wrong?"

Asterios turned back to Akko, reaching for a large white bag tied to his belt. He then pulled the bag off his belt, reached into it, rummaging around the insides for a moment, and deftly pulled out a woven basket full to the brim with scones that definitely didn't look like it should fit there. Must've been a magic bag. The scones sat on the checkered blanket, and there were even a little section cleared out for three containers full of different jams and some tiny knives to use for spreading them.

"Ooh, scones!" Akko eagerly took the plate. "And they're piping hot!" Akko said, voice rising in her excitement.

"Hey, moron, keep your voice down," Sucy whispered without much heat, rolling her eye.

"Sorry!" Akko said, still grinning at the scones. "Asterios, give a big thank you to Jackie and Jiāng Yí, these look so yummy!"

Asterios nodded again, smiling as he tipped his hat, and then turned around and made his way back to the entrance of the hallway.

"Bye-bye!" Akko said, waving at Asterios' back. After he left the halfway, Akko looked back at the scones, picking one up and giving it a big sniff. "And I was just starting to get a bit hungry." She quickly took a big bite out of it, and a delighted smile spread from ear-to-ear on her face, eyes shining with stars. "Umai!"

"That was really nice of them," Lotte said, also looking at the scones with a smile. Then she looked at Akko, and her smile gained a small, teasing bent. "You're gonna share those, right?"

"I'm not that much of a big eater, Lotte!" Akko said, giggling lightly. "Of course I'm gonna share with you two!"

Akko held up the basket so that both Sucy and Lotte could take a better look at it, or maybe even take a scone. Sucy wasn't really looking.

She just kept walking past the basket, past Akko and Lotte, and headed to the door to their room.

"Eh? Sucy?" Even without turning around, Sucy could see the confused frown on Akko's face. "Don't you want some?"

"Not really," she muttered, and her voice was a little lower than usual. "I'm not in the mood for scones." Or really, eating anything.

When she got to the door, she felt Akko and Lotte staring at her back. And she could all but see the smile leaving Akko's face as she frowned.

Sucy didn't look back, twisted the knob, and opened the door.

Their room was just like how they left it; Akko's bed a mess of covers and blankets, Chariot poster hanging proudly by her wall; Lotte's shelf near her bed full of her notebooks and novels, with some being scattered around her bed, but more organized than Akko's mess of a bed. Sucy's bed, with no decorations on the walls, just a few shelves where she kept her various potions and ingredients bottled up. And then there was the long desk against the wall where all three of them studied at, or "put the rest of their stuff that didn't fit in their beds", in Akko's words, or was, in Sucy's case, the workstation for where she'd make her various potions. Provided she cleaned up anything there, if she didn't give Akko and Lotte a warning to clean up first before she started making new potions. She'd learned her lesson after she accidentally burned a part of Lotte's copy of Nightfall Volume 84.

The disappointed glare Akko had given her that day, alongside Ilo's heated one as Lotte looked down at her burnt book like a kicked puppy, to this day made her triple check to make sure nothing in her workstation or planned potions and experiments could possibly interact with any of her friends' stuff.

Sucy glanced around the room. There was absolutely nothing out of place. Everything was exactly the same as they had left it.

But it felt…different, stepping back in. Like she was entering a place that looked the same as her room, but as she glanced around, she noticed things that made it feel like she was somewhere else; somewhere new that just had a coating of familiarity painted on top of it. Like how on their bench, there wasn't as much as Akko's junk as there usually was. Or how Akko's bed was just a little less messier than usual, because there weren't as many clothes scattered all over the place.

And as she kept looking over the room, her eye caught something just hiding in a little corner, and partially covered by the orange jacket Akko sometimes wore. It was a suitcase, one that was full to the brim and leaking clothes and what looked like a few plushies.

Sucy stared, eye half-lidded. Then, realizing she had at some point paused just in front of Akko's bed, she looked away, and kept walking to her own. She heard Akko and Lotte's footsteps behind her a moment later. They quickly stopped, and for some reason, it felt like they were having some silent conversation. Without her.

She didn't turn back, mouth threatening to pull down. She forced it to stay still, and moved to her bed. Once she was close enough, she started undoing the buttons and clasps on her jacket. All while dealing with the same, looping thoughts, and while trying to keep her blank expression locked in place.

"We can talk later."

Her fingers twitched, and one of the buttons got a bit stuck. This time, she did frown, and she pulled at the button harder.

There was no reason to keep thinking back to what Akko had said so much. So what if she wanted to talk? Akko just wanted to check on a friend after she saw some things that she thought were concerning. Even if it wasn't that big of a deal. But still, it was just a talk. One she had even been okay with back when Akko had been holding her hands. So, she was okay with it now.

Even if she wasn't exactly sure what Akko would ask. Or talk about. Or what she might remember during those talks.

The button was stubbornly not coming undone, not helped from how her hands fingers kept twitching. Because of the stinging from her cut. One that got a bit worse and made her want to scratch at her hand.

If Akko wanted to talk, she would accept it. But, she really didn't think she'd would, what with her being busy scarfing down those scones, and Sucy planning on organizing her ingredients and then starting the prep work for her potion, and then both she and Akko would probably just head right to—

"Sucy."

Sucy paused in trying to undo that last button with her somewhat shaky fingers. Very slowly, she turned around.

Akko was sitting down on Akko's bed, Lotte on her left side. Both of their jackets were off, and both were smiling at her; Akko more so than Lotte.

"You seriously gotta try these scones, Sucy!" Akko said, jostling the basket a little for emphasis. "They're really good."

Sucy blinked. That wasn't what she was expecting. But still, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Akko, I told you, I don't want to eat," she said, dismissively rolling her eye. "Go devour them by yourself."

"C'mon, Sucy, you can at least try some!" Akko said, and Lotte nodded in agreement, and also nibbled on a scone herself. "Especially when you haven't eaten that much today."

Sucy frowned in confusion. "I did eat."

"Sucy." Akko's gaze went flat. "You've only had mushroom soup for 'breakfast'"—She didn't know why Akko was saying it like that, the soup had been her first meal of the day; even if was at noon—"a strawberry granola bar, and some purple sludge from one of your vials."

"That was not sludge," Sucy said, frown pulling into something more annoyed. "That was a nutrient potion. I told you before—"

"Yeah, yeah, it's a magic protein shake except the body gets even more health junk than you would've if you had a meal." Akko blinked, as if remembering something. Her eyes narrowed pointedly at her. "Actually, isn't it barely better than a small meal?"

Sucy rolled her eye again, a bit more forcefully, and crossed her arms. "I'm not a glutton like you, Akko. That's honestly all I need."

"So you didn't eat anything after that?" Lotte suddenly asked, concern in her eyes.

"I did," Sucy said, the lie coming out easily. Her voice didn't waver, and her words were as indifferent as always.

Lotte squinted at her, as if trying to see something better.

Akko just pointed dramatically at her. "Liar!"

Sucy groaned, and palmed her face. How did she—was Akko just psychic when it came to food stuff? Could she hear if someone has or hasn't digested any food recently?

Lotte let out a little gasp. "Sucy, you shouldn't do that!" she said, a surprisingly firm frown on her face. "Nutrient potions might give your body the nutrients it needs and a little extra right now, but you're supposed to eat something after to avoid the negative side effects!"

"Lotte. I know that. I am literally the best potion maker here." Sucy let out another groan, feeling the onsets of a headache coming. "You don't need to explain this."

"Then why didn't you eat anything after?" Lotte said, tone suddenly becoming a lot more scolding. Before she could say another denial, Lotte continued. "You know if you don't eat, you'll get headaches or mood swings or even more hunger from that potion later on."

"Yeah!" Akko agreed, nodding fiercely. "So get your butt over here to eat some scones!" Akko said, thrusting the basket at her with way to much seriousness.

"I'm not hungry," she insisted, sounding maybe a little surly. And her words were maybe a bit sharper than they should be. "I'll take another potion in a bit to make the side effects manageable. Or just eat later. So would you two just drop it."

Sucy turned away without giving them a chance to respond, and went back to fiddling with her jacket and the stupid buttons there, a scowl almost breaking across her face. She really wasn't that hungry, and she was more focused on just putting this day behind her already. She wanted to organize her ingredients, do some of the prep work for the Essence potion, and do literally anything else than think about how Akko was leaving in literally just two days, or how she saw her freak out in the forest, and wanted talk about something she wasn't sure about anymore, or sure where that conversation might lead to. Sucy was half-tempted to forget the potion work and head to bed early, just so that way this day would end without having to have a talk that wasn't necessary, and so that she could forget about the stupid stinging sensation in her hand that made her fingers twitch and made her unable to undo the last stupid button on her jacket.

Sucy resisted gnashing her teeth in frustration, but a hint of that scowl started to split her mouth. She heard movement behind her, and again, it felt like Akko and Lotte were having another silent conversation. Well, that was fine with her. They could talk and eat or do whatever without her. She just told them they could. Besides, it wasn't like Akko wasn't already doing that with—

"Sucy."

That was Akko again. But her voice was a lot more gentle than it had been before. Kind too. Like back in the forest.

The stinging on her palm and the button were suddenly the last thing on Sucy's mind, that tone all but guiding her to look back.

Akko had stood up, and was smiling softly at her; just a bit bashful, but still oh-so-caring. "Food always taste better when we're all eating together. I'd feel really kind of guilty if we were eating and you weren't." She rubbed the back of her head, and gave her a look like she was about to ask for a big favor. "So could you come at eat with us…please?"

Akko grabbed a scone, and held it out. She shook it a little for emphasis. Sucy stared, more at Akko's face than the scone. At all the warmth in her smile and bright eyes.

When was the last time she just sat with Akko and ate some food with her?

Sucy kept staring, impassive red eye unblinking. Then, she out a loud, almost-painful sounding sigh.

"Fine," she said, making her tone sound as neutral as it always was. She undid the last button on her jacket, threw it off her shoulders and onto her bed, and then slouched her way towards Akko. And Lotte, who was smiling at her too, even giggling a little. "But they better be good."

Akko's smile somehow went even wider. "Yay!" she cheered, just over the fact Sucy was willing to eat with her. Sucy's lips almost twitched, but she fought the urge off.

It probably was better to eat something now. She honestly wasn't sure when exactly she ate that granola bar—the last piece of actual food she had all day—and it would've been a pain to deal with nutrient potion side effects if she pushed things off for to long.

Besides, she doubted Akko would try and talk to her about how she acted when she was stuffing her face. Or if she was smiling like that.

Akko sat back down on her bed, and quickly slapped the spot to her left for Sucy to sit down in over and over again . Sucy rolled her eye, but she still sat down and took the scone that Akko was still holding out for her. The scone was still pleasantly warm, and a buttery aroma hit her nose as she brought it closer. Well, it smelled good, at least.

Sucy opened her mouth, and her sharp teeth bit into a slightly crispy crust that crumbled pleasantly in her mouth as she chewed. Huh. It wasn't as buttery as she thought; it was, of course, but it was a more subtle richness. She could taste a hint of something sweet—probably vanilla—and it only made her savor the richness just a little bit longer as that light, not-too-dense-or-airy dough was broken apart by her teeth. It was like taking a bite into a buttery, fluffy cloud.

"So?" Akko asked, grinning widely. "How is it?"

Sucy stared for a second, then shrugged. "It's pretty decent," she said.

Akko's grin widened, and she turned to Lotte. "Did you hear that Lotte? Sucy loves it!"

"Do go putting words in my mouth," Sucy grumbled, elbowing Akko in the arm, but she didn't seem to notice at all. If anything, her elbow was feeling a little sore. Sucy frowned at Akko for having stupidly toned arms.

Lotte giggled, Akko joining her too, and Sucy rolled her eye. Sucy finished off the rest of her scone, savoring the taste of butter and sweetness, and then reached for another scone. But there wasn't a need, as Lotte quickly held out one for her to take. Sucy nodded at Lotte, taking the scone and quickly biting into it. She glanced at Lotte as she also took a scone, but then, she broke off a small piece from it, and placed it behind her.

Sucy stretched her head a little, wondering what Lotte was doing. And that was when she saw Ilo sitting just to the side of Lotte's legs, and taking the piece of scone she broke off. She almost forgot about them. They hadn't really made much of a sound after she and Akko met up with Lotte. All they did was stare at them.

Kind of like how they were staring at Sucy right now. Their head was tilted, and they looked almost confused as they kept looking at her with those beady, unblinking eyes on their face.

Sucy raised a brow, but Ilo gave no response. The flames that made up its head just kept swishing back and forth in an invisible wind.

"Sucy, have you tried the jams yet?" Lotte asked, and that brought Sucy's attention away from Ilo.

Sucy shook her head. "I'm not really a fan of that strawberry stuff they use here."

"I am!" Akko said, dabbing a new scone with a heavy amount of the light red, strawberry jam.

"It's not just strawberry, they have two more." Lotte brought up the two containers. One was a deep purple, and the other was a orange color with some kind of green shavings on top. "The purple one's lingonberry," Lotte explained, smiling a little wider. Lingonberry jam was one of Lotte's favorite snacks, almost as much as umeboshi was for Akko. "And the other one is…well, try it. I think you'll like it"

Sucy's eyebrow rose a little higher, but she obliged. She grabbed the container of the orange jam, and spread it on her scone. She took a bite out if it.

Her eye went a little wide as a sweet, tangy flavor hit her taste buds, followed by a little punch of tartness.

Sucy quickly swallowed, and stared at her scone. "Is this…mango?"

Lotte nodded. "Yeah, I think so! Maybe not the exact kind you like, but I think they used some sweet and bitter mangos to make it."

Sucy blinked. The only time she ever admitted to liking the fruit was that time they all went out to a restaurant and it happened to have some decent filipino-ish food. She said "ish" because they had to make some substitutions, what with being in England, but it was still nice to get some kind of filipino food in her. And it happened to come up when she was ordering that she liked mango, carabao specifically, and usually liked it with something sour.

Sucy looked down at the jam. "How'd they know I liked mango?" she asked.

"How do you think?" Lotte asked. She nudged her head, and Sucy followed the general direction.

She saw Akko devouring another scone, jam and crumbs staining her face and mouth.

Sucy turned back. "Akko told them?" she asked. Her voice was a lot quieter. "She…remembered that?"

"Of course she did," Lotte said. Her smile getting a little wider; more fond. "We always pay attention to the things you like."

Sucy blinked again. "Oh." She didn't know why that surprised her. Of course her friends would listen to her. She'd seen it before, and Akko even told her she liked hearing her talk about mushrooms and potions. It was just…she didn't expect them to pay attention to little, off-hand mentions like what her favorite fruit was. Or for Akko to notice and remember those things.

Her chest did that lurching pull again, the one that made it more obvious to notice her own heartbeat. She didn't know why.

Lotte's smile grew a little. "Yeah," she said, even though Sucy had been quiet. "She really does care a lot, Sucy. Especially when it's about—"

"Oooh, mango!"

Akko's voice was suddenly right behind her, and Sucy jolted up from her slouch as she turned around. Bright red eyes stared right into her own.

"Sucy, you gotta gimme some of that!" Akko said, lips splitting in an excited smile.

Sucy pushed her back with a roll of her eye, trying to ignore how hard her heart was suddenly beating. "Too close," she groused out.

"Sorry!" Akko said, Sucy's non-bandaged hand still on her face. Gently, she grabbed Sucy's hand and pulled it off, smile still in place. "But could you please give me some jam?"

Akko's hand was still on her own. Sucy fingers almost unconsciously gripped Akko's hand a little tighter. But then she remembered Lotte was right behind her.

She pulled her hand out of Akko's grip, and as dispassionately as she could, extended the mango jam. "Fine," she groused out, letting out a put-upon sigh.

"Thanks!" Akko dabbed her own knife into the jam, quickly spreading it onto her scone. With an eager chomp, half of the scone was gone, and she let a delighted moan. "Oh, that's so good!" she said, through a mouthful of half-eaten scones. She spread more jam on more scones, and went to work on eating them all.

Sucy rolled her eye. She was a little surprised though. Usually Akko didn't like mango that much. Maybe it was because it was a jam, and full of added sugar; even if it was balanced out by tartness, a flavor Akko wasn't a big fan of.

"Akko, you really shouldn't talk while eating," Lotte said, frowning in displeasure.

"Then I guess you shouldn't either." Akko gave Lotte a sly smile full of crumbs and jam. Lotte blinked, and then only now seemed to realize that she was also eating and talking. Akko then pointed at Lotte's face. "Also, there's some lingonberry on your cheek."

Lotte touched the spot of her cheek Akko pointed at with her finger, and it came back purple. She blushed a little, swallowing the rest of her food, and let out a sheepish chuckle. "A-ah, yeah. Guess I should take my own advice," she said. She looked at Akko's face. "And get a napkin for both of us."

"Eh? Why? Do I have something on my face too?" she asked, the sides of her mouth still very much stained with both strawberry and mango jam, a few more swatches decorating her cheek, and even her chin.

"A little bit," Lotte said, gaze flat. Sucy snorted. She loved it when Lotte got sarcastic; she liked to think that was because of the "influence" she had on her bookworm friend just through hanging out with her.

"Oh, okay!" Akko looked down at the basket, frowning in thought. "Do you guys see any—"

Sucy reached into the side of basket, and pulled out some napkins. Without a word, she handed one to Lotte, and then started dabbing another one onto Akko's jam-stained face.

"Wha—hey!" Akko said, scowling a little as Sucy cleaned her up. "I can do it myself!"

"I doubt that," Sucy said, pushing the napkin a little harder against her face and making Akko squirm a little. "You'd just make more of a mess and get some on me somehow." Once that napkin was done, she went for another one, quickly grabbing Akko's cheek to prevent her from ducking out of the way.

Akko let out a little whine. "You could at least be a little more gentle."

"I don't know what the word means," Sucy said, and she cackled slightly. Teasing Akko never got old. She couldn't believe she almost missed out this because she was a little—because she didn't want to talk about unnecessary things. But that was obviously not happening now. Not when they were all eating and having fun, something they really hadn't done that much lately.

And not when she was holding Akko's warm cheek as she carefully cleaned the stains off her face. She really was too messy for her own good.

"Hey, your hand's okay, right?"

Akko's sudden question made Sucy pause. "What?"

"Your hand." Akko glanced at the hand wiping her cheek. The one she had bandaged after she got cut on that, weird tree. "It's not hurting, right?"

Sucy raised an eyebrow. "No, it's fine," she said. Well, it had been stinging, but that seemed to have went away. It wasn't anything worth mentioning.

"Okay, good," Akko said, smiling a little in relief. "Wanted to make sure I did a good job bandaging you up."

"I wouldn't say 'good,' but you did a…decent job," Sucy admitted. Then quickly added, "For a guinea pig."

Akko chuckled, and Sucy joined in with her own little laugh. But then, when her laughter faded, Akko frowned a little. "But, uh…"

Akko trailed off. And she looked hesitant about something. Very hesitant.

Something heavy started to settle in Sucy's stomach, but she kept her mouth in a neutral line. "But…what?" she asked.

Akko glanced away for a moment, visibly contemplating her words. Then, she leaned a little closer, bright eyes all Sucy could see, and when she spoke, her voice was a whisper.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked. "After everything that happened?"

Sucy froze.

She thought about that tree again.

She thought of the lingering heat of flames from then.

And she thought about how she freaked out when she thought Akko called her that and then that scalding burn—

"Fine," Sucy said. She thought of all the mushrooms in the world, and ignored how her lungs felt a little smaller. "I'm fine, Akko."

She didn't so much as blink as she spoke. Her tone was completely neutral.

But Akko still frowned in worry. "Sucy…"

"I am."

"You know you can talk to—"

"I know. You said it about a dozen times," she said, sounding bored, and keeping any bit of rising irritation, or any emotion, out of her voice. "But I'm fine."

Akko kept frowning. She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it. She looked right into Sucy's eyes, her own unusually somber. Sucy didn't like that look. It didn't fit Akko.

And she didn't like how she could all but see the question on Akko's mind through her darkening eyes. One she might actually ask her soon.

Sucy's chest tightened. At the same time the stinging on her hand returned.

"Girls?"

Sucy and Akko stiffened at that voice, Sucy instantly letting go of Akko's cheeks. As one, they turned around.

Lotte was staring at them with a confused frown. "Have you seen Ilo?"

Akko blinked. "Ilo?"

"Yeah. They were just here, but I can't find them."

Akko frowned. "Huh, that's weird. I could've sworn they were—found them."

Sucy blinked, and Lotte did too. "What? Where?"

Akko pointed. Sucy followed the direction.

Ilo was sitting on the top of Lotte's headband. And staring right at them.

"They're on your head," Akko said.

"They are?" Lotte asked. Akko nodded, and Lotte's glanced at her head, frowning slightly. "Ilo, get down from there. You know I don't like it when you wander off without telling me."

Lotte palmed her hands together, and waited for Ilo to jump down.

They didn't.

"Ilo?"

There was no response.

"Ilo, come on. This isn't funny."

Ilo still acted like they didn't hear Lotte. They just kept staring at both her and—actually. They weren't really staring at Akko. They were honestly more staring at just Sucy. Again. In the same way, even, with their head tilted, eyes unblinking, and the flames on their head flickering back and forth.

It was a weirdly intense look for a spirit.

"Akko, could you…"

"Oh, sure thing!"

Akko gently grabbed Ilo, the flames of their body not burning her at all, and then placed them into Lotte's palms.

"Okay, you little rebel," Lotte said, adopting the tone that Akko had once described as 'scolding mother.' "Why were you ignoring me?"

Were implied Ilo had stopped. But they didn't.

They just stared at Sucy.

Sucy frowned.

Lotte frowned too. Then, she sucked in a little breath, and a bit of magic she could feel leaving the air and into Lotte. In a tone that was both English and a magic of pure sound, Lotte all but shouted, "Ilo Tuli Jannson!"

That got Ilo to react. They quickly jumped up in Lotte's palm, completely startled and almost tripping over their own two feet when they landed. They then looked around quickly, as if they forgot where they was. They turned around, and looked at Lotte, eyes wide with…an emotion she couldn't quite make out. She wasn't all that good at reading will-o-wisp's expressions, but to her, Ilo looked a little shocked and, with how little beads of flame in the shape of sweat fell down the side of their face, they almost looked like they were…scared.

Lotte's frown quickly went from scolding to concerned. "Ilo? What's wrong."

Ilo seemed to take a moment to gather their "breath," and then started making several squeak-like sounds.

"What?" Lotte's frown got even deeper. "I…no, I didn't hear anything."

"Didn't hear what?" Akko asked.

Lotte looked up from Ilo. "I…well, Ilo said they heard something. Did you two?"

"No," Akko replied. She looked to Sucy, but she shook her head. "Neither of us did."

"Okay, I figured as much." Lotte looked back to Ilo, an her expression became equal parts confused and a little nervous. "Are you sure you heard that?"

"Heard what?" Sucy asked.

"Well, Ilo said they…they heard laughter."

For some reason, the air felt a bit colder. Sucy didn't know why.

Just like she didn't know why she was suddenly hit by an image of that tree.

Akko looked uneasy. "Er…laughter?"

"Y-yeah," Lotte said, hesitantly looking around.

"Like…they heard someone laughing? In this room?"

Lotte looked at Ilo, and let out a soft, humming like noise. Ilo responded with more squeaks, and Lotte visibly stiffened. "Er, yeah, but um…not a, not a person."

She felt even colder now.

"Lotte." Akko's eyes were slowly widening. "Why did you put so much emphasis on 'person.'"

Lotte was looking a little pale, still looking around. "O-okay, so, sometimes, human languages don't always have an exact word for what a spirit is saying. Spirits talk more in 'meanings' then exact phrases, so I just translate the 'meaning' into appropriate words. And I've always been able to translate what Ilo says pretty well, but it's…it's just this time, they used a…'meaning' I've never heard them use before."

Akko swallowed. It was painfully easy to hear the sound in the sudden quiet of their room. "S-so…what did they say?"

"Um…it-it's a little hard to find the exact word, and, well, I could be wrong, but…" Lotte trailed off, frowning heavily.

Why could she hear something pounding in her ears?

"Lotte?" Akko asked, nervously leaning closer. "What was laughing?"

Slowly, and with a not small amount of hesitance, Lotte opened her mouth.

"It… it was something not human, but different from the faeries and spirits here…"

The poundnig sound got louder.

"Something…something Ilo just called wicked—"

There was a knock on their door.

Akko and Lotte jumped up from their bed, Lotte giving a little shriek and Akko letting out a choking kind of gasp, moving far back to the wall next to the bed.

Sucy whirled around.

The door to their room stood perfectly still. Unopened, not so much as creaking, and suddenly looming in its frame.

They were quiet. She didn't hear Akko or Lotte breathing

And then another knock came, breaking the quiet as she practically heard her friends heartbeats spike.

Sucy swallowed through a dry, too tight throat.

"Um…" Akko looked between the three of them, a bit of sweat dripping down her face. "Were any of you guys expecting someone to come by?"

"N-no," Lotte said, scooting a little closer to them all.

"Not me," Sucy said, not taking her eye off the door

The knock came again. At the same pace. At the same quiet, almost whispering volume, one that seemed to almost physically linger in the air.

No one moved. They were all perfectly still, waiting.

Another set of knocks echoed. And this time, there was some kind of muttering that followed.

Sucy's hand reached back.

Lotte whimpered a bit, holding Ilo to her chest.

Akko laughed; it was a horribly awkward, forced sound. "C-c'mon, girls," she said, voice very quiet. "It's…probably just one of the teachers. Checking in on us in the middle of the night. For…for no reason."

Akko looked less and less sure the more she spoke, and she swallowed loudly.

The knock didn't come, but the muttering got louder.

Sucy shifted a little in her seat, reaching for a potion with one hand, the fingers on her other hand tightening their hold.

"It…it could be because they found out we snuck out past curfew?" Lotte said, just as quiet as Akko was.

"Yeah!" Akko snapped a finger at Lotte, a shaky smile on her face. "They probably found out what we did and are here to give out our detention!" She never heard Akko sound so excited about possibly getting a detention. Shakily, she turned to the door, and started to get off the bed. At some point, she had drawn her wand out, and was gripping it in a shaky, white-knuckle grip. "S-so I, guess I should open it before they get mad or—"

When Akko fully stood up from the bed, she was pulled back slightly. She blinked, and looked down.

And that was when Sucy realized she was holding Akko's uninjured hand with her own non-bandaged one. Tightly.

Sucy went completely still.

Akko whipped her head up to stare at her, eyes wide. She could feel Lotte and even Ilo staring at her too.

Sucy let go of Akko's hand like it had burned her. "Don't grab me so hard," she growled out, like it was Akko who had been the one to grab her hand first. Because, obviously, at some point she had without Sucy realizing it. Akko always was way too touchy-feely whenever she got—

Another knock rang out, this time along with even louder muttering, and Sucy whirled back to the door. The air she sucked in felt stilted, not helped by the fact she could still feel Akko and Lotte looking at her.

She made sure her face never showed so much as an ounce of emotion, staring at the door as she thought of mushrooms.

And that was when she felt someone scoot a little closer to her. And when Akko crouched down in front of her with a determined frown.

"We got this, Sucy," she said, and then she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, squeezed it for just a second before taking it off. "It's okay."

She didn't know why Akko made her voice sound so soothing. It wasn't like she was the one that, that was actually scared of something.

Lotte was suddenly by her side, her own wand out, and Ilo on her shoulders. She looked at Sucy, then to Akko, and gave a firm nod alongside Ilo.

Akko gave a nod back, and with even more determination in her eyes, she stood up from her crouch, and looked to the door. "It's probably just a teacher," she said. She let out a breath, and marched to the door. "Or just one of the student hall monitors."

Yeah. Yeah, that was possible. If it was something wicked, she doubted it would bother knocking on their door. And since they were knocking, it was more likely a student than teacher, since they could've just opened their door with their keys. So it was a student hall monitor that was outside—

A thought suddenly hit, bringing her mind and the world to a grinding halt.

Wasn't today the same day Diana was scheduled to patrol?

Weren't those knocks just perfectly spaced out to give someone time to respond?

And wouldn't it be appropriate if, after finally spending some time with her, and Lotte, Cavendish would then come to try and suck up more of Akko's time, even when she was about to get a monopoly on it for the next two week?

Heat started to rise in the depths of the cold inside her.

Sucy stared at the door. Akko had arrived right in front of it, wand still out and looking ready to sling about a dozen different spells. Slowly, she reached for the door, and would either open it to some kind of monstrous creature that was probably the stuff of nightmares, or Diana.

Heat and cold warred inside her. And as she stared, one holding a somewhat toxic potion and the other clenching her skirt in a shaky fist, waiting for the answer, she never noticed that she didn't hear a familiar growl.

Or notice how Ilo had started staring at her again, flames rising and flickering, lost in a sound only they could hear. The sound of inhuman laughter that fell like a cold night over a graveyard.

And the laughs only got louder as the stinging in Sucy's hand grew worse.

AN: Hello there! Black Mage here, coming at you with another new chapter.

Sorry this chapter's shorter than usual, and a day later than it should be; I wanted to write more, but got sick, on top of being a bit busier than usual, so it's only half the length, and a bit late. So my bad, but hopefully, this chapter was still enjoyable to you all!

Onto the chapter itself, it's a bit of a cool down, what with Sucy just having some food with her friends. Hope that scene was okay, because I haven't been able to taste or smell anything for several months now (Covid), and have no idea how good those descriptors were. You also see hints about how others, specifically Ilo, are starting to notice something off happening around her. And believe me, spirits will play a big role in this story.

Again, I wanted to include more in this chapter, but I just didn't have the time, and didn't want to make you wait too long, especially when this chapter was already late. Don't worry though, I'm still going to do my best to maintain a biweekly schedule, and will still upload the next chapter on August 20th!

And with that, these notes come to a close. Don't hesitate to tell me what you liked and/or didn't like about this chapter in the reviews! And if you can, please support me on pa tre on! Any donations really help support both myself and my family, and makes it so that I don't have to take so many jobs and gives me more free time to write. This is Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!

 

[The Black Mage]

Art done by the wonderful Pili BlueBerry! Be sure to check out her awesome art when you can!

Also, friendly reminder, I have a Patreon! For just as little as around 3 bucks, you guys get to see snippets of chapters as I work on them, and at higher levels, joining a discord where you can talk about my stories and basically whatever you really feel like, and even check out some original stories I'm writing! So if you can, donate. Because despite lacking all sense of taste and smell, I still gotta eat, and food costs some dough.

 

[The Black Mage]

Another series of knocks rang, that creeping muttering quickly following it. Even when she knew it came from far away, it sounded like it was coming from right next to her ears.

Sucy Manbavaran's grip on the potion in her hand was tight as it could be, just like the grip on her skirt. She stared, unblinking, at the door to their room as Akko slowly raised her hand to the knob. None of them knew who, or what, was on the other-side. Either it was some kind of monster, or…Diana.

More heat rose in her stomach, but it was slowly snuffed out by the…the wariness, that seeped into her bones, and made everything colder than it should be. Because whatever opened that door, Sucy doubted it would lead to anything pleasant.

Akko's shaky hand was inches away from the door knob. She visibly swallowed, and turned back to her and Lotte. Sucy figured she was just looking for some reassurance that, should a monster be on the other side, they were ready to save her from getting eaten. Sucy nodded, and Lotte quickly did too.

The knocks came again, right on time, and that muttering grew, rattling like a demented chant off the walls of their room. Next to her, Sucy could feel Lotte tense up, muttering to herself something in, she assumed, Finnish. From the corner of her eye, she could just make out her leaning forward, grip tightening on her wand. She could practically feel Lotte's heartbeat spiking up, pounding in her ears. Sucy would've tried comforting her if her hands weren't occupied. Or if she could look away from the door.

Akko placed her hand on the door knob. She looked back at them one last time.

The knocking came again.

But this time, it was interrupted after the first knock as Akko whipped the door open. In the door frame, Sucy could just make out the shadowy shape of a tall, human-like figure standing there. Akko's wand came up in an instant, the tip of it already glowing green, her mouth opening widely to shout her spell. "Mu—"

But then Akko froze mid-word. Sucy frantically wondered why for all but a second, before the she realized the glow of the wand let her see the face of the figure in the doorway, and she went a little still.

It wasn't a monster. Or worse, Ms. Perfect. It was—

"Akko?" came the familiar, kind, if somewhat surprised voice of Akko's favorite teacher, "Ursula Calistis." She blinked once, looking down at the wand pointed at her with both her eyebrows raised. "Good…evening?"

Akko stared for a moment, stance still aggressive and wand still at Ursula's face, and then she smiled, big and relieved. "Professor Ursula!" she said, lowering her wand and opening her arms wide. "It's you!"

Yeah. It was her. Great.

Sucy's mouth pulled down before she even realized it. Akko suddenly rushed forward, and pulled Ursula into a big hug.

"Y-yes, it's me," Ursula said, letting out a startled laugh as she quickly hugged Akko back. She looked at her with a somewhat bewildered, if pleasantly surprised, expression. "It's, nice to see you too, Akko. But, um, why were you about to cast a murrowa on me?" She didn't sound offended, or concerned, just genuinely confused.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Professor!" Akko looked up from her hug, eyes big and regretful. "You just came right when Will-O'-Chan said they heard some really scary laughing and we all got scared—"

"Not all of us," Sucy denied, and next to her Lotte was sighing in relief at the fact it was their teacher at the door, and not some monster, and all but slumped into their bed.

"—and we thought there might be some kind of monster out here and so I was prepared to go all 'Savior-of-Magic' mode on it, but then I saw it was you, and I am so, so glad it was!" Akko tightened her hug on Ursula, and the corner of her eyes started to gain tears so big, they were downright comical. "I was seriously scared, professor!"

"O-oh, I'm so sorry!" Instantly, Ursula's face was overwhelmed with guilt, eyes wide and frantic, rubbing Akko's back in those big, soothing circles she loved. "I didn't meant to scare you, Akko!" She looked up at Sucy and Lotte. "Or any of you! I'm so, so sorry!"

"Then why were you knocking on our door in the middle of the night and muttering like a wannabe serial killer?" Sucy asked, eye flat.

Ursula winced harshly at that, looking even more guilty. "I, well, didn't want to be rude and just open your door—especially if you were asleep—so I decided to knock first. When you didn't open the door, I thought you were asleep, but, then I heard you muttering something, so I assumed you were awake but didn't hear me, so I tried to get your attention again with another knock and tried calling out for you, but not loud enough to wake up the other students nearby. But you didn't answer that, and I started wondering if I really did hear you, and if this couldn't wait until the morning, and I started talking with Alcor who kept telling me to keep trying, but I was nervous and kept muttering about if I was disturbing you and I was and again I'm so—

"Professor, remember to breathe," Akko said, looking a bit worried.

Ursula paused, panting a little. Then, she took in a big breath, and let it out. "Thank you, Akko." She coughed, then, in a sheepish voice, added, "M-my point was, I wasn't sure if you were awake, so I thought I'd try being polite and knock to see if you were. But…it seems like my nerves made that plan backfire."

Ursula let out an awkward, forced sounding laugh.

No one else laughed.

Ursula slumped, head hanging low. "I'm sorry."

"I-it's okay, Professor!" Akko said, and suddenly she was the one rubbing soothing circles on Ursula's back. "It was a mistake. We understand, right girls?"

Akko whipped around to Sucy and Lotte, face a little panicky, and Lotte was the one to respond.

"Y-yeah, of course we do!" she said, trying not to sound awkward and instead something more comforting. "We're all just glad it's you, Professor."

"It definitely could've been someone worse," Sucy said, and that was the best she could offer, given everything.

"See! It's not a big deal! We're just really glad you weren't a big, scary monster Professor!" Akko said, letting out a pleasant, relived laugh. "Like Finnelan."

Sucy snorted.

Lotte let out a tiny giggle.

Ursula very obviously tried not to laugh too as she sternly frowned at Akko, but her mouth wobbled. "A-Akko, you"—a snort escaped her mid-sentence—"you shouldn't"—more breath left, this time closer to a barely restrained laugh—"s-say things like that about a teacher." Ursula wasn't even trying to stop herself from smiling by the end. "It's not nice," she said.

"Sorry." That smile on Akko's face told them all how not sorry she was, but not even Ursula called her out on it. "But don't feel bad, Professor. You were just here to…to…"

Akko trailed off, blinking a few times. Sucy could practically see the visible question mark hanging above her head as her face scrunched up.

"Actually, why are you here?" Akko asked.

Ursula blinked. Then, she slowly frowned. "Right. About that," she said, carefully breaking out of the hug. Ursula's voice lost some of the gentleness it had throughout her talk without Akko.

Akko noticed, and frowned a little in worry. "Professor Ursula? Is something wrong?"

Ursula didn't respond right away. When she did speak, her, voice was neutral, just like her expression had become.

"Akko, do you know anything about the students who snuck into Arcturus?"

Akko visibly stiffened, eyes widening a little, and she let out a tiny "ack" sound. Lotte jerked up on the bed, looking away and fiddling with her glasses, a bit of sweat trailing down her face.

Sucy impassively stared at her friends and their absolutely horrible poker faces. It looked like they forgot that, as much as Ursula liked them, she was still a teacher. And could give out detentions just as easily as any other.

"Er…A-Arcturus?" Akko said, with a very noticeable pause.

"Yes," Ursula replied.

"As in, Arcturus Forest?" she asked, as if there was another huge forest named Arcturus nearby.

"Yes." Ursula nodded. "A group of students snuck in there." She frowned a little, and in a somewhat lower voice, said, "And I have a strong suspicion who."

Akko gave Ursula a smile; the straining, "trying-not-to-let-her-nerves show" kind she got when she knew she was at risk of getting in trouble. "Er, how do you know someone snuck in there?" she asked.

"Because of Alcor."

"Alcor?" Akko blinked.

"Yes. He's something of a warning system for people trespassing into Arcturus."

"Really? How does that work?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you know this, but Alcor"—Ursula gestured to her shoulder, for some reason—"was actually born in Arcturus."

"I didn't know that." Akko frowned, seemingly wracking her brain for something important. "It's not on any of his trading cards; even the really rare limited additions ones." Or Sucy could be completely wrong.

"Ah, it wouldn't be. Scrytella crows, that's Alcor's species of magical crow, is an endangered species. But regardless, outside of certain staff, not many are aware Arcturus was home to Alcror's family, and I wanted keep it that way. I didn't want to risk poachers trying to hunt them." Ursula suddenly smiled fondly. "I was rather shocked to find him in Arcturus when I did. He was one of strongest members of his flock, one that even took in newborn magical birds of various species who'd lost their family or flocks; he even was something of a mentor to some of the newborn and weaker birds, teaching them how to best fly, how to use their magic, and much more. And he didn't just teach birds a thing or two either. Even if he didn't exactly like the nosy student that couldn't help visiting whenever she could."

Ursula seemed to be throughly lost in her memories now, the stern look long gone as she smiled fondly. Akko, and even Lotte, were listening to her every word with rapt attention.

Sucy just kinda wondered how they gone from Akko being interrogated to Ursula dumping bird lore on them.

"But one day, he got injured in a rather bad fight with a elder treant, and then I saved him, and helped him heal up while I taught his flock and protected them in his stead as best I could. And during that time, we bonded, found out we actually had quite a lot in common when it came to wanting to make others smile, took down that same treant, and after all that, he ended up wanting to become my familiar."

"Whoa." Akko was smiling too, stars starting to shine. "That sounds so cool, Professor! Do you and Alcor go to see the flock in Arcturus? Can I come see?!"

"Oh, they moved to a different forest in New Orleans, but they sometimes come back to visit, or Alcor and I visit them." She laughed softly. "And if you wanted too, I don't see why we couldn't! Alcor's even the uncle to the cutest little chicks I have ever seen, and I'm sure they'd love to—"

Ursula abruptly stopped talking, seeming to remember she was supposed to be interrogating her student. She quickly cleared her throat.

"We're getting off topic," she said, and her frown was back. "The point I was trying to make, was that because of Alcor's species, he's fairly attuned to sensing magic and magical disturbances in an area or person. And that especially applies to his home." Ursula's eyes narrowed. "To the point that, say, if someone were to ride the leyline and enter Arcturus, he'd be able to sense their magic 'intertwining' with the ambient magic of the forest."

Hmm. That wasn't good.

Lotte seemed to come to the same realization as Sucy as she started to shift in her seat nervously.

Akko wasn't much better, a bead of cold sweat trailing down her face.. "A-ah," she said, forcing herself to laugh. "You, uh, don't say! I guess that was how you knew me and Sucy and Lotte accidentally fell into Arcturus on the first day, huh?"

"Yes. It was." Ursula kept staring at Akko with unblinking eyes. "In fact, if Alcor spends enough time with someone, he can get a good sense of their magical signature."

"Their what?"

"Because every witch's soul is different, so is the way magic flows through them, thereby giving there magic qualities and elements unique to them, and only them."

Akko seemed to get the meaning behind Ursula words quickly, and she started to pale. A second later, so did Lotte.

Sucy just sighed. She could tell what was coming.

"In fact," Ursula continued. "Of the three students who entered Arcturus, Alcor assured me that one of them had a magical signature that felt a lot like your own."

Ursula very pointedly said nothing after that, but Sucy could see how heavily the silence, and the blaring implication within it, weighed on Akko. She was very obviously trying to look innocent, but with how her mouth wobbled, how she struggled to make eye contact with Ursula, she seemed to be doing her best to look as guilty as possible.

"Of course, Alcor's sense isn't perfect, especially if it's done from a distance, so he can be mistaken." Ursula pushed her glasses up, and whether intentional or not, the way the moonlight coming into their room reflected off the frames hid her eyes behind a foreboding white glare. "So, Akko…did you three sneak into Arcturus?"

Akko gave Ursula the shakiest smile Sucy had seen yet. "I—" She swallowed thickly. "Well, er..."

Ursula kept staring.

Akko kept smiling that incredibly forced smile. "You see, we, er, I mean, I was, we, er—"

Ursula's frown deepened.

Akko's smile started to twitch even more. "I…I…"

Ursula crossed her arms.

Akko's smile was practically having a seizure on her face.

"Akko," Ursula said, firm, but not unkindly. The glare on her glasses was gone, and her red eyes stared right at Akko. "Please don't lie to me."

And just like that, Akko gave up.

The pathetic smile on Akko's face died, and her shoulder slumped like all the energy had left her. Then, she let out a big, defeated sigh.

"Yes," Akko said, voice quieter than a mouse, and full of guilt. "We snuck in."

Sucy let out a groan. She saw this coming, but that didn't mean she liked it.

"I thought as much," Ursula said, not sounding surprised at all. She lowered her head, and the sigh that left her was just a little sad. "Despite hoping otherwise."

When she looked up, her eyes were set in a scolding glare. "Akko, what were you thinking?" she said, and her voice wasn't in her usual, slightly-reproachful-if-still-fond tone whenever Akko did something dumb. She sounded more stern than she ever heard her when she was scolding Akko. "Of all the reckless things you three have done, willingly sneaking into Arcturus was something even I thought you would never do!"

Akko winced, Ursula's more harsh tone something even she didn't seem to expect, or know how to handle. "Bu-but Professor, we handled it! Nothing went wrong!"

"That's not the point, Akko!" Ursula barely raised her voice, but Akko's wide-eyed look as she stepped back made it seem like she shouted right next to her ear. She then turned her stern look to Lotte and Sucy, and Lotte hunched in herself as Ilo whimpered on her shoulder. "You three have all been there twice before, so you all know how dangerous it can be, but you still chose to put yourself at risk?"

She waited for someone to answer. Probably Akko, but Sucy took that as her cue.

"Eh," she said, making the same kind of wishy-washy gesture Akko was so fond of with her hand. "Honestly, it wasn't any more dangerous than some of the trouble we cause in class."

"Sucy, this isn't something to joke about! You three could've been hurt badly!"

"Doubt it'd be any worse than when Akko tries to cast a new spell in Magical Culinary, and it literally explodes in our faces."

"Hey, it's been like three months since one's happened!" Akko defended, turning around to face her with an angry scowl.

"Technically it's been shorter," Lotte hesitantly pointed out.

"Girls," Ursula said, but was rightfully ignored.

"Oh come on!" Akko whined. "That totally wasn't my fault! Amanda messed me up when she snuck behind me with that stupid pelican!"

"Seagull," Sucy said.

"Pelican! Right, Lotte?"

"I…don't remember." Lotte said, and her brows furrowed together in thought.

"Didn't Constanze send you a picture of it when it was attacking Finnelan?" Sucy asked.

"Oh right, she did. I can look it up on my crystal ball—" Lotte stiffened, and slowly glanced at Ursula, who still had on her stern glare. If anything, it looked like it was getting sterner. Lotte swallowed thickly. "Um, but, girls? Maybe we should talk about this later—"

"Nah, I'd rather hear Akko try to justify how she blew up Amanda," Sucy replied.

"Don't say it like that!" Akko stomped towards her, cheeks puffed up with angry air. "It wasn't even that big of an explosion anyway!"

"Maybe by your high standards, but Amanda's eyebrows would've said otherwise. You know, if they weren't completely singed off."

"They weren't completely singed!" Akko kept glaring at Sucy. Then she looked away, rubbing her arm in that shifty, guilty kinda way she always did. "They were just, mostly singed off. Besides, they grew back."

"Girls," Lotte whispered harshly, and from the corner of Sucy's eye, she could make out Lotte frantically gesturing with her head to an increasingly less patient professor.

"Akko, Sucy," Ursula began, a bit of annoyance leaking into her tone. But Akko was to busy defending herself to notice Ursula speaking, and just kept talking.

"And it still wasn't my fault that Amanda surprised me just when I was about to cast that spell!" she said, and behind her, Ursula opened her mouth to speak, but Akko immediately followed up with, "It's her fault the pie got that explody!"

"It wouldn't have exploded in the first place if you didn't throw it in her face." Sucy grinned wickedly. And that grin widened when she saw Ursula's start to lose some of her sternness and become a bit discouraged, shoulders slumping as Akko ignored her and focused just on Sucy. Nice to see Ursula still had some confidence issues even after getting a new hairdo.

"I panicked!" Akko was almost shouting at this point. "And I wasn't aiming for her, I was aiming for the window!"

"Wow, you have great aim, Guinea Pig."

"Sucy, quit making fun of me!" Akko was scowling at her, in a way she probably thought was threatening, but just made her look adorable. In the most mocking, belittling way, of course. It wasn't like she actually thought— "That pelican bumped into me! It threw me off!"

"Seagull," she corrected automatically. Lotte was gesturing even more frantically then before, and with a glance she saw Ursula's head bowed, eyes covered in the shadows of her hat and her shoulders shaking a little with emotion Sucy couldn't make out, but she didn't care, and quickly looked back to Akko as she stepped closer.

"Same thing!" Akko threw her hands up. "It's not my fault the big dummy flew into me to get a bite of Constanze's pretzel just when it started to gain sentience and—"

"GIRLS!"

All of them startled. Akko all but jumped into the air, Lotte let out a yelp, almost dropping Ilo as she flailed around to catch them, and even Sucy jolted in her bed a little. She had never heard Ursula shout at them before. Not with what sounded like legitimate anger.

All three of them looked at Ursula, who was gave them a glare that was more intimidating than any other look she'd seen from her before. And most of that glare was focused on Sucy, and Akko.

Akko, who was quickly wilting under Ursula's stare like she did some inexcusable crime.

Sucy frowned.

When Ursula took in Akko's visibly miserable expression, her eyes widened a little, going still with conflicting emotions Sucy couldn't tell. Then, she sucked in a long breath. When she let it out, her glare had become a disappointed frown.

That made Akko wilt even more.

Sucy's eye started to narrow

"Girls, Arcturus is arguably the most dangerous magical place in all of Britain," Ursula said, voice carrying throughout the room without needing to be loud. "And that especially applies now that Yggdrasil's been revived, and brought magic back stronger than ever. The teachers here are still documenting numerous changes to the ecosystem of Arcutrus, and while half of them are benign, the other half are ones that, while a great sign of magic's recovery, has made the forest even more deadly. And we still haven't full realized all the changes made to the forest, and why we've made it abundantly clear that students should avoid the old and new leylines that can take you right to it."

Ursula eyes sharpened as she looked at them all. This didn't feel like her just being mildly disapproving because they broke the rules or Akko did something dumb. It was more like Ursula was genuinely upset.

And Akko realized that as well, and looked more guilty and hurt than Sucy had seen in a while.

Something like acid started to churn in her stomach.

Ursula took in a breath, and admittedly, her expression might've become a bit softer; more confused and worried than anything else.

But Sucy didn't really care. Not when her guinea pig had become a kicked puppy.

"Akko, I know you're smarter than this, so please, tell me why you would sneak into Arcturus in the dead of night when you could've—"

"Hey."

Ursula stopped talking. She fully turned to face Sucy. Akko and Lotte did the same.

"Remind me again," Sucy said, a hint of a scowl on her face. "Who saved who the second time we went into Arcturus?"

Ursula's lips thinned; the only visible response to Sucy's slightly acerbic words. "All of you did," she admitted easily.

"Yeah. We saved you. From probably the worst monster the magical world's seen in centuries." She pointed to Lotte, then herself, and then Akko. All without ever breaking eye contact with Ursula. "We handled it. And then, we went on to save the country from a giant nuke. And if we can do that, we can handle anything else in that forest. Like we just did tonight." Her apathetic voice became a bit more pointed by the end.

Ursula frowned. "Sucy, I'm not denying you three are skilled, or that you haven't saved me or accomplished amazing things you should be proud of. But there's a difference between confidence in yourself and needlessly risking your lives by going into such a dangerous place—"

"Oh please," Sucy interrupted, dismissively rolled her hand. "The teachers would probably get into more trouble there than we would."

From the corner of her eye she could make out Lotte staring at her with somewhat wide eyes. Sucy was rarely this caustic with a teacher, least of all Ursula, someone she barely talked to, so for Lotte, it was a surprise.

Akko, on the other hand, just stared at her with a worried frown. "Er, Sucy—"

Sucy talked over Akko before she could start. "For the 'most dangerous place in Britain,' Arcturus has never lived up to the hype. We've gotten into more danger in this school than Arcturus. Do I need to mention the Ghost Witch?" She lifted a pointed eyebrow. "Or Croix?"

Lotte and Akko stiffened, both of them nervously glancing at Ursula.

Ursula's frown was now a painful grimace. She was silent for a second, and then sighed. "Sucy, I won't lie and say Luna Nova hasn't been more dangerous to you three than it ever should have been." Sucy did not miss how Ursula's eyes glanced at Akko for a moment, or the guilt that rose int them. "Or how certain...teachers"—well, that was a nice way of saying "megalomaniac witch who almost nuked a country off the face of the earth"—"put you in direct harm. But that still doesn't negate how sneaking into Arcturus could've ended in disaster."

Sucy dismissively waved her hand. "We were fine. Like always. I'm pretty sure I've been in more danger standing next to Akko when she tries out a new spell—"

"What happened to your hand?" Ursula asked.

Sucy went a little still. She suddenly realized the hand she was waving was the same one covered in bandages.

"Did you get hurt!?" Ursula's eyes were wide, immediately stepping towards her. Ursula crouched down by her bed, and reached out to Sucy's hand with her own, seemingly without thought.

Sucy quickly it away before her fingers even got close to grazing her skin, frowning. "It's nothing."

"This doesn't look like 'nothing', Sucy." Ursula's frown matched the firm look in her red eyes.

"It is," Sucy insisted. She wasn't about to let her use something so minor as a point to prove her argument. "I got my hand cut on some tree bark. That's all that hurt me after going into one of the deadliest forests in the world."

She sent a challenging glare to Ursula, who just kept looking at her hand as her frown shifted.

"Are you in any pain?" she asked.

"No," Sucy replied.

"Did you check to see if the tree was cursed?"

"Yes," Sucy said, a bit clipped.

"Did you make sure it wasn't poisonous?"

This time, she gave Ursula her flattest, most deadpan stare. "Ursula. I'm an alchemist. I have every poison known to man and witch in this room, and I've sampled every one of them. I'm probably the most venomous thing on the continent. The tree is what you should be worried about getting poisoned."

Ursula kept frowning.

"S-she's not serious about the poison thing!" Lotte quickly said, smiling nervously. "A-and the venom thing! Ehehehe." Her eyes went shifty, and then, in a low voice, added, "Probably."

Akko, for once, wasn't talking. She was just looking at Sucy with an increasingly nervous frown as Sucy kept glaring at Ursula, who was still silent. Akko slowly stepped towards them.

"Professor Ursula," Akko said, voice quieter than it had been the whole time. "I know we broke the rules, and we're sorry, but this was—"

"Akko, I don't care that you three broke the rules," Ursula interrupted, standing up and backing away from Sucy. She stared at Akko with a worried frown, then glanced at the Akko's hand that, the one the imp had bit and still had that fading bruise on it. "I care that you were hurt."

Akko looked like she'd been sucker punched by a big, guilt-ridden fist. She looked down, frown so heavy it almost collapsed the rest of her face.

Sucy opened her mouth, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder, one that quickly let it go. She turned, and saw Lotte empathetically shaking her head, looking between Akko and Ursula. Sucy frowned, but, for Lotte, kept quiet.

Ursula sighed, standing up and backing away from Sucy. "Akko, I just...help me understand why you would do this." Ursula's eyes became gentle, full of the same care Sucy had only seen her look at Akko with before, again and again. "You've matured so much since you first came here, but then you decide to do something like sneaking into Arcturus? Yes, it worked out this time, but it could've ended horribly. And what really makes this so upsetting to me, is the fact you could've just asked me to take you all, and I would've."

…Wait.

That was an option?

"That was an option?" Lotte asked, sounding just as surprised as Sucy felt.

Ursula blinked. She looked away from Akko to stare at Lotte, both eyebrows raised as she said, "I, yes, that was an option. Akko's mentioned wanting to explore Arcturus before when we practice magic. I've told her if she ever wanted to explore it, she just had to ask me, and I'll supervise her and anyone she wanted to bring."

Sucy frowned. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Did…Akko not tell you that?"

Sucy looked to Lotte, who's expression was carefully neutral. Sucy looked back to Ursula. "No."

As one, they all turned to stare at Akko, who was suddenly very still, mouth hanging open. Sucy sighed.

Ursula did too, frown becoming something more resigned. "Akko…don't tell me…"

"Wait," Akko said, eyes quickly widening.

"You forgot," Sucy stated, eye flat.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Akko's eyes were even wider now, frantically waving her hands. But whatever she was about to say next, Lotte cut her off with an ice-cold voice.

"Akko," Lotte said, eyes narrowing behind her glasses. Akko paled at the look. "Are you saying we didn't have to burrow underground as gofers past the teachers to get to the leyline, accidentally dig into a colony of underground spiders, or go in the middle of the very dark night at all to get to Arcturus?"

"W-wait, wait, wait, wait!" Akko held her palms up placatingly, like she was trying to shield herself from their judging gazes. "I—okay, yeah, I, kinda-sorta-forgot-to-tell-you-that-we, er, didn't have to sneak in—"

"Of course," Sucy muttered.

"—but I didn't forget that was an option! I just didn't ask Professor Ursula because…" Akko trailed off, lowering her gaze to the floor. "Because then it'd be too late."

Sucy blinked. So did Lotte, and Ursula did too. "Too late?" Ursula asked. "Too late for what?"

Akko didn't reply. She just kept her head down, rubbing her arm, mouth still set in that guilty frown. Then, after a moment, she said, "Professor, we're leaving in two days."

Sucy stiffened without thought.

"Leaving? What do—"Ursula's eyes lit up with realization. "Ah! You mean the trip for Ireland with Croix and—"

Akko's head suddenly whipped up, making a bunch of chopping motions with her hand at her throat, not so subtly glancing at Sucy, and Ursula froze mid-word.

"—A-and I'm not really sure why our trip would make you want sneak into Arcturus." To her credit, Ursula quickly continued, and didn't even so much as glance at Sucy. Lotte, on the other hand, did, looking very nervous. Sucy pretended she didn't notice. "Or why you wouldn't just ask me to take you all."

"Because you said you'd have to get permission from Headmistress Holbrooke, and that would've taken at least a week because of how busy things have been since magic came back." Akko pushed her fingers together, shyly looking away. "And by then we'd have to leave before we got the chance to go."

"You could've still gone with them after our trip," Ursula said, mouth in a empathetic frown. "Why did you feel like you had to go now?"

Akko looked back to Ursula, and then her red eyes lingered on Sucy. "Because…because this meant a lot to Sucy, and, and me and Lotte wanted to make her happy."

Sucy's eye went a little wide.

"Sucy?" Ursula looked back at her, but Sucy's red eye was locked onto Akko, and only Akko. Akko, who just said she wanted to make her happy.

Her chest was doing that lurching thing again. For some reason.

"Yeah," Akko said with a nod. "She came to me and Lotte today about finding a bunch of ingredients for a potion she's been wanting to make for a really long time now. And I didn't want her to wait any longer, especially when"—Akko's shoulders sagged a little, frown deepening—"when it's been a while since we've all gone on an adventure like this."

Sucy frowned. She doubted she was the only one to notice how Akko very obviously avoided mentioning who was responsible for that.

"So that's why I didn't want to wait until after the trip to go." Akko said. She frowned, looking Ursula right in the eye. "I know it was dangerous, I know we could've gotten hurt, but I didn't want to disappoint Sucy. Not after—everything."

Ursula's stare was unreadable.

Akko slammed a fist into her chest. "This was important to Sucy. And if it's important to her, it's important to me!"

Akko said that with absolutely no hesitation, red eyes alight with pure determination. Like nothing Ursula could say could convince her otherwise. That could get her to stop caring about Sucy.

…Ugh. How could she act so sappy without blinking. Sucy was getting second hand embarrassment just from sheer proximity. So much so her chest started to heat up. And that same warmth started to rise up.

Sucy kept gazing at Akko's almost protective stare—a protective stare meant for her—before she had to look away. Her face felt weird. Almost like she was—

There was some kind of giggle that came from right next to her. Sucy whipped around, but all she saw was Lotte staring at Akko with a small, slowly widening smile, Ilo swaying on her shoulders like they just moved quickly. Sucy frowned, but looked away. Maybe she was just hearing things. Wouldn't surprise her, with everything that had happened today.

"And Lotte!" Akko added, like she just remembered her other friend. "Both of us wanted to make our Sucy happy! And if that meant going into a super dangerous magical forest to hunt for potion ingredients, than we'd do it again and again!"

Akko pumped her fist into the air, but the determination in her face never wavered. Ursula stared at her.

Then, she smiled, and let out a fond little sigh. "I suppose there are worse reasons to sneak into Arcturus."

Akko blinked. "Wait, you're not mad?" Almost shyly, she muttered, "Or…disappointed?"

"No, I'm not," Ursula said, and Akko smiled in relief. "I was worried you did this because you were overconfident, and didn't seem to realize the consequences of your actions. But, doing this to help your friends and make them smile…" She shook her head fondly. "That's not something I can really be that upset about. Not when it's just so you."

Akko's smiled widened. "So we're not in trouble?"

Ursula's hand suddenly fell onto Akko's shoulder. Akko looked up.

"Oh no young lady, you're still very much in trouble," Ursula said, eyes closed shut and still smiling.

Akko froze. "E-eh?" Her eyes went wide. "Eh!? Why!?"

"Because all three of you still acted recklessly and put yourselves in danger." Ursula opened her eyes, mouth in a reproachful frown. "I was honestly terrified when Alcor told me you three might've snuck into Arcturus in the middle of the night. And it's only because he said you all made it back that I didn't rush into Arcturus myself prepared to fight anything and everything inside it."

Akko looked like Ursula's words stabbed her right in the heart. Her head lowered with so much guilt, it was like the air around it had turned to pure lead. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to make you so worried. Or almost put you in danger."

"I know you are," Ursula said, expression and tone softening in an instant. "And I know you never meant to." She turned back to their bed, where Lotte was also hunching in on herself in guilt, and Sucy blankly stared back at her. "I am aware you three have been through a…rough patch with your friendship"—Sucy didn't miss how Lotte flinched, shooting a glance from her to Akko, or missed how Akko's frown became a little deeper—"but the fact you three are getting up to stunts like this again is a good sign that things are getting better. Still though, this was far more dangerous than usual for you all, and as your teacher, I can't allow something like this to go unpunished."

She absolutely could. It wasn't like she let other people get away with a lot worse than anything they ever did.

"What…what's our punishment?" Akko asked, lifting her eyes from the floor. And the fact she didn't even try and convince Ursula otherwise told her that she must've still been feeling pretty guilty.

Sucy frowned again, and Ursula looked at Akko. "For starters," Ursula began slowly. "All three of you will be having detention with me for about two weeks. We'll be reviewing your defensive magic spells, and also the guintana subtype of wind spells. Specifically, the ones that can weaken your enemies, and can help you avoid their attacks to make it easier to run away. We'll also be studying a plethora of texts about the dangers of Arcturus, including the astrological phenomenon that can have a wide range of affects on it and its inhabitants."

Ugh. Great. Spending more time with Ursula. That was just—

Wait.

"Wait, Professor!" Akko lifted her head up, eyes wide with panic. "Break starts in two days, and then we're going to Ireland. If you give us detention, me and you can't go!"

Yeah. Akko wouldn't be able to leave. She'd have to stay at Luna Nova with her and Lotte. She wouldn't leave her to go wandering around Ireland with Ursula or Ms. Perfect. Akko would have to stay with her.

Ursula looked at Akko with unreadable look in her eyes. Sucy's own eye started to widen slightly, the implications to Ursula's words clear, and she started to fantasize about her original plans for break now that she had her guinea pig back and—

"Ah, you're right," Ursula said, in a clearly faux-surprised voice. She tapped a finger to her chin. "And even when we return, I'll be busy grading papers that have to be done before the break ends. So…" She gave Akko a tiny smirk. "I suppose I'll have to wait until after your break is over to give you all your detentions."

Oh. Never mind.

Sucy had to fight the tiny scowl that her mouth threatened to form. Shock crossed Akko's face, but it suddenly gave way to a beaming smile. "Wait, really?!"

"You didn't think I'd be cruel enough to give you detention over break, did you?" Ursula asked coyly.

"But, is that okay?" Akko asked. "I mean, when Professor Finnelan finds out—"

"Who said she has to find out?" Ursula asked. "Or any other teacher, for that matter?"

Akko stared. Then, her smiled turned mischievous, and she giggled. "Professor, when did you got so sneaky?"

"Oh, around the same time I started tutoring this wonderful girl who'd go on to save all of magic," she answered, and Akko's giggling suddenly became a little bashful. Ursula's expression grew serious. "To be clear, you shouldn't take this as permission to get into any more trouble before we leave on our trip. But…while I'm not exactly happy you snuck into a dangerous place like Arcturus, I understand why you did." She smiled softly. "So, as long as you're willing to accept your punishments after break, I don't see a reason why anyone else has to learn what happened tonight."

Akko instantly launched herself at Ursula, and wrapped her arms around her in a big, tight hug. "Sensei, you're the best!"

Ah. Akko was busting out her Japanese. She must've really been happy. Good for her.

Ursula laughed, hugging Akko back. She sheepishly muttered something about "not being that great" but Akko instantly denied that and somehow hugged her even harder. Lotte just smiled at the "wholesome"—as she would put—interaction between Akko and her favorite teacher.

Sucy just frowned. It surprised just how…annoyed, she felt. The chances that Ursula would actually prevent Akko from going on a trip they not only planned together, but one where the whole point was to help her fly again, were slim to none. She shouldn't have expected anything different.

But she still did.

Idiot.

Sucy let out a little grunt. Lotte turned to her, a questioning frown on her face, but Sucy waved her off with her bandaged hand.

"By the way," Ursula said, just as she and Akko ended their hug. "You mentioned before you went to Arcturus for potion ingredients, right?"

"Yeah." Akko nodded. "For Sucy's potion."

"What potion is that, exactly?"

Akko opened her mouth, raising a finger. She quickly closed it, and blinked. Several times.

The muscles on Sucy's face locked up.

"Huh. Actually…"Akko turned, and looked at Sucy with a raised eyebrow. "You never said what kind of potion you were brewing, Sucy."

Sucy stared back at Akko with a perfectly emotionless eye. "It's a growth potion that uses forest imp spit, forsakenwing blood, and the skin and fur and feet of a bunch of rare magical creatures. It'll let my mushrooms grow quickly. And taller. And also make poisonous spores."

She made her lip turn up in a wicked little smirk, cackling slightly.

Akko shivered and look as wonderfully disturbed as always, and she saw Lotte scooting away from her slightly.

But Ursula frowned. "I've…never heard of a growth potion that uses forsakenwing blood."

Ugh. Of course she'd notice something like that.

"It's my own special blend," Sucy said, still keeping her smirk up. "I figured out how to use forsakenwing blood as an amplifier for a regular growth potion if you mix in the right ingredients, and the end result is a potion that dramatically enhances the growth in fungi."

The words came easily. Her voice didn't waver, and she didn't so much as twitch as she stared at Ursula. Ursula's red eyes stared back, not so much as blinking. But then, Ursula did something Sucy hadn't expected.

Smile kindly at her.

"Well, that sounds like a fascinating potion, Sucy," Ursula said.

Sucy blinked. She couldn't recall a single time Ursula said anything nice about her potions—outside the obviously nervous and forced, "very creative" or "how wonderfully…unique" comments she usually gave them during the rare times Sucy used them in Astrology class. And this time, she sounded different. More like she was genuinely invested in what Sucy was doing.

Sucy's eye narrowed. What was Ursula up too?

"Thanks," Sucy said, a little flatter than normal.

"Just be careful with your experiments, alright?" She asked, still wearing that gentle smile. Aimed at her. It was weird seeing her look at anyone other than Akko like that. "And you two will be there to help her out, correct?"

She looked to Akko and Lotte, and something about her expression…shifted, a little. Her smile was still there, but there was a faint hint of worry that pulled at the edges. She didn't know what, but it felt like Ursula was asking a different question than what her words were asking.

And Lotte and Akko seemed to get that question, because something in their eyes lit up, and as one, they nodded.

"Of course we will," Lotte said, a bit more firmly than Sucy expected.

"Don't worry professor!" Akko piped up, quickly walking to stand right next to Sucy. "Me and Lotte will make sure Sucy doesn't make anything too scary with her potions!"

Ursula's smile lost the worry, and she gave Akko and Lotte a nod. "That's always good to hear, girls."

Sucy was missing something. What, did Ursula think she might use her "growth" potion to make some kind of abomination, and wanted to make sure Lotte and Akko reigned her in from doing something so "unethical?"

Or was she just worried that Sucy would end up hurting her favorite student, and wanted to make sure nothing would happen?

She suddenly saw cold, judging blue eyes aimed right at her, followed by the phantom sensation of iron-like fingers on her wrist.

She shoved that thought away. But she couldn't stop her bandaged hand from clenching a little on the bed sheets; or stop that itchy sensation that rose in it.

"I suppose I should be off now," Ursula said. She gave them all one last kind look. "I'm glad all of you are safe. But please, don't get into any more trouble."

"No promises!" Akko said, grinning slightly.

Ursula's expression went flat, and the warning was clear in her unamused stare.

Akko's grin faltered, and she nervously chuckled. "K-kidding!" She waved her hand in front of her face, like she was banishing the very idea of them getting into more trouble. "We won't break any more rules, Professor! Not unless it's super duper important!"

Ursula dropped the almost-glare on her face, and smiled. "Well, I don't really disagree with that last part, so that's good enough for me." She started to turn around. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Alcor and I still have some papers to grade, and luggage to get ready, so—"

"Ah, wait, Professor!"

Ursula stopped, and turned back. "Yes?"

"I have some really quick question!"

"Oh." Ursula blinked. "What are they?"

"Remember how I said Will-O'-Chan head something laughing?"

Sucy froze a little. She didn't know why.

"I do." Ursula frowned. "Actually, could you go into more detail about what exactly happened?"

"Sure," Akko said with a nod. She then pointed at Lotte and Ilo. "Will-O'-Chan was acting kinda weird before, like staring off into the distance and not responding to Lotte, and Lotte had to shout at them to get 'em to snap out of it. Then they said the heard something uh…evil?" She asked Lotte.

"Wicked," Lotte corrected, glancing at Ilo. "That's the best word to describe what Ilo heard."

She saw that witch, trapped in the bark of the tree. She pushed that thought away as quickly as it came.

"So, did you hear anything like that?" Akko asked, turning back to Ursula.

Ursula paused, expression scrunching up. "Well…I didn't hear any laughter coming from your room, but I did see some spirits in the hallways acting a little strange."

"Strange?" Lotte asked.

"Yes. The spirits staff workers I encountered on the way here had stopped for seemingly no reason, and seemed to be looking for something. Although, I also saw a few wandering spirits that didn't belong to the staff or any students familiars phasing through the walls."

Wandering spirits were something a lot more common now that magic was back. Most of them were benign, just wanting to stretch their metaphysical muscles now that they had more energy than ever to do so, and even the worst ones were more just "mischievous" than anything outright malicious. Still, the staff had announced that the students should either notify a teacher about any spirits they saw, try to banish the spirits off campus themselves, or, if the students had the skills and were allowed to do so, make them their familiars.

"And, while I wouldn't describe any of the ones I saw as 'wicked,' those other spirits were laughing a little," Ursula continued, a finger lightly tapping her chin. "Or, I think that was the sound they made. So it's possible one was a bit more 'wicked' than at first glance and I missed it. And perhaps that spirit wandered into your room, laughed, and left before any of you realized it?"

Akko looked to Lotte, and Sucy did too. Lotte frowned, and whispered a few words to Ilo, their button-like eyes scrunching up in thought. They made a few squeaking sounds, and Lotte looked back at them all.

"Ilo said it might be some wandering spirit, but they aren't sure," Lotte said. Her frown grew a bit worried. "Whatever they heard, it really didn't sound like anything they heard before, from witches or spirits. But…maybe it was a new type of spirit we haven't met before?" Lotte sounded unsure even as she suggested it.

For her part, Ursula took in her words, and slowly nodded. "I see. Well, since we're not sure what exactly it was, I'll advise you to be careful. And I can set up some protective glyphs to fend off any spirits from intruding into your dorms if you'd like?"

"Ah, I can handle that," Lotte said.

"Alright, if you're sure. I'll also be sure to put in a word for the other teachers to be on the look out for any possible malevolent spirits." She looked at the there of them, somewhat sternly. "If you find out anything else, don't hesitate to tell me, okay?"

"We won't," Akko said, nodding quickly.

"Good. Don't forget, I'm here to help you girls, no matter what." More like she was here to help one specific girl. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask, Akko?"

"Oh, yeah, one more thing!" Akko's squinted, and her eyes started to look over Ursula. "Before, you said Alcor was how you knew we snuck into Arcturus, right?"

"Yes, he was the one that told me."

"And you said you and him were talking when you were outside our door knocking, right?"

"We did, yes."

"So, you brought Alcor with you, is what you're saying, right?"

"Yes?" Ursula looked confused. "He's right—" She gestured to her shoulder again, turning.

And Ursula saw nothing there. Because neither Sucy or Akko or Lotte had seen a pudgy bird sitting on her shoulder since she entered the room. Definitely not when she gestured at her shoulder earlier when talking about Alcor and her own past. Lotte and Sucy had even shared a look that all but said, "she know's there's nothing there, right?"

Ursula stared at the empty air, mouth a little open.

"My last question is, can Alcor turn invisible?" Akko asked, completely sincerely. "Because if he can, that's so cool!"

"Wha—Alcor?!" Ursula frantically turned her head in every direction. Akko, meanwhile, muttered an, "Aw, guess he can't" as her shoulder fell a little in disappointment. "Alcor, where are you!?" Ursula all but shouted.

"Um, Professor," Lotte said, somewhat hesitantly. "I don't think he's here. Sucy and I didn't see him come in with you when you walked in. Akko, did you…"

Akko shook her head. "No, I didn't."

"Oh no!" Ursula was looking more and more panicked by the second, eyes wide. "Where did he go!?"

"Professor, don't worry!" Akko said, putting a comforting hand on Ursula's shoulder. She had to stand on her tiptoes to manage that. "Alcor's an awesome bird! I'm sure he's fine!"

"I—Alcor's a great familiar, but he's getting older! And he's never wandered off on his like this without telling me beforehand!" Ursula bit her lip. "Oh, I hope he's okay."

Akko's lips pressed together in a firm line, making the determination in her eyes all the more obvious. Even without saying anything, Sucy knew what she was about to say, and a glance at Lotte as she started to move out of her bed told her too.

Welp. Looks like they were going bird hunting.

Akko opened her mouth, the words she'd say already clear in Sucy's mind. But then, she glanced down at the floor, and her eyes went wide.

"Wait, look!" Akko said, suddenly dropping to the ground. Sucy blinked, looking down at Akko as she grabbed something from the floor and held it up. In Akko's hand was a long, somewhat frayed white feather that was blue at the ends. "This is Alcor's feather!"

Ursula whipped around, eyes widening when they landed on the feather. "Y-yes, that's his!"

"And there's more here!" Akko nudged her head to the floor, and Sucy saw a few feathers there, most of them pretty small. "And they lead inside our room! He's gotta be around here somewhere!"

Akko scampered across the floor like an overly eager lizard, shouting, "Alcor! Are you here!?" as she looked under her bed. She repeated her words as she lifted her mattress, and Ursula moved behind her as she frantically whispered at Akko to not be so loud to not disturb the other students.

Sucy rolled her eye, and took a glance around there room. There was enough moonlight entering their room to let Sucy see that Alcor wasn't anywhere at the entrance. Lotte was talking to Ilo about if they had seen Alcor, but Ilo shook their head. Both of them then glanced under their bed, with Ilo strengthening their flames so they could see better.

But when Ilo strengthened their flames, it also revealed a few more feathers on the ground. And they not only lead right to their bed, but Sucy even saw a feather that was right on top of their mattress by Lotte's side. Sucy glanced around, but she didn't see any old, pudgy birds.

That is, until she heard a very soft flapping sound, and turned back.

Sucy stared. "Lotte," she said.

Lotte stopped her own searching, and blinked at Sucy. "Yes?"

"Don't move."

"Wait, why?"

"He's on your head."

"What's on my—"

Lotte didn't finish as a soft "caw" interrupted her, and she froze. Slowly, she looked up.

Alcor was perched right on her head, so delicately it was like his tiny little crow feet weren't even touched her hair. Lotte let out a startled little "eep!" when she saw the bird, but kept herself from reacting more violently to not disturb Alcor.

And Alcor was gazing right at Sucy. His head was tilted, avian face scrunched up like a person's trying to solve a difficult problem. Or like he was about to poop. Either or was possible, and she didn't want to cause the latter by startling him.

Sucy turned to Akko and Ursula, the former looking inside Ursula's hat and the other checking underneath a pile of Akko's jackets. Sucy got their attention by saying, "Hey. We found your bird."

Akko and Ursula looked up, and Ursula noticed Alcor first as she smiled. "Alcor! There you are."

"Yeah, there he is." Sucy rolled her eye. "Now come get him before he poops on Lotte's—"

There was another caw sound, and Sucy turned.

Alcor was leaning even closer to her. Sucy could make out his eyes squinting to the point they were almost closed. Like he was having trouble seeing Sucy. Just how bad was this bird's eyesight?

Alcor hopped a little further on Lotte's head, making Lotte lean froward to make sure he didn't fall off. His beak was almost touching her cheek.

Sucy frowned. "Back off," she said. She flicked the oversized, flying rat right between the eyes.

And then, Alcor screeched.

Sucy didn't even have time to blink before Alcor suddenly flew off Lotte's head and slammed into her face with a high-pitched squawk. Sucy fell back onto her bed with a barely muffled gasp, and the bird started pecking at her eye.

"Wha—ALCOR!?"

"Sucy!"

"A-ah, hold on!"

Immediately there was a rushing sound of feet and the mattress creaking, but it was dwarfed by just how loud Alcor was screeching as he kept pecking her. In her face, her head, her eye. She tried to swat him away, but her hard smacks didn't even make him flinch as he just kept pecking.

"Alcor, stop! Stop!"

"Bad Alcor! Stop hurting my friend!"

"Ah, u-uh, um—oh! Ilo—"

Between the pecks, she could vaguely make out Ursula and Akko trying to physically pull Alcor off her, but he fought them back, flapping with all his might and screeching so loud in her face, and never stopping his pecking, and he just kept going back to her eye and it hurt—

There was a squeak of air, and then flames.

Alcor let out another screech and backed away, and Sucy did the same, protecting her face as best she could, clenching her eye shut. But she realized she didn't feel any agonizing heat. When she carefully opened her eye, she saw green flames dancing on her skin and clothes, but they didn't burn. It took her a moment, through her panting breaths and the throbbing pain in her face, to recognize them. She looked up.

Bright green flames were rocketing right in the space Sucy and Alcor had been in from the tip of Ilo's head, which had expanded a little and now looked like a dozen different fireworks were going off at once inside them. Held in Lotte's palm, their face still screwed up with effort, Ilo kept the flames pumping for a few more seconds, until Lotte spoke.

"Ilo, that's enough!" she said, and then the flames came to an end, Ilo's head returned to its normal, wispy form. Lotte then put them on her shoulder and quickly crawled across the bed, eyes wide with concern.

"Sucy, are you okay?" Lotte asked, quickly getting to her side, but not actually touching her.

Sucy didn't respond right away, hissing in pain as her hand massaged one of the many bruises she felt forming on her face. But when she heard the "caw" of the bird responsible for this, she turned around with a vengeful eye and scowl.

Alcor was held in both Ursula and Akko's hands, bits of green flame still harmlessly licking at its head. Akko was looking at Sucy with even more concern than Lotte, but Ursula's eyes were firmly glaring at Alcor as he shook his head, shaking off the last remnants of the flames.

"Alcor, why on earth did you just attack Sucy like that!?" Ursula practically shouted. Alcor jolted up, and looked up at Ursula. She looked genuinely mad as she glared. "You do not respond to a flick by bruising someone!"

Alcor looked from Ursula back to Sucy, who glared at it with pure venom. She reached for her pocket for a potion, but something grabbed her hand. She whipped around, and it was only because it was Lotte, only because she let go just as soon as Sucy glared at her and looked at her with big, pleading eyes that begged Sucy not to try and melt that dumb bird on the spot, that Sucy didn't try to turn that flying rat into a puddle.

"Yeah!" Akko said, stomping her foot at Alcor, and looking more mad than Sucy had seen from her in a while. "Sucy was kinda mean, but you didn't have to try and peck her eye out!"

Alcor shrunk in on himself a little. He looked back at Sucy, for some reason looking confused to see her there, and then back to the two glaring women in front of him. He started to caw, waving his wings around to emphasize some point.

Ursula frowned. "What do you mean she 'startled you?'?'" she asked, eyes narrowing. "I've seen you be ambushed by giant cats without flinching? What about Sucy could possibly startle you?"

Alcor opened his beak, but then froze. He looked…confused, almost. It's face scrunched up, like it was having trouble remembering what exactly made peck her in the face as hard as he did. Slowly, it let out a few hesitant caws.

With steadily rising anger, Akko glared Alcor. Right, she had been making a lot of progress on learning other animal languages, and her Bird was just as good as her Fish. "What do you mean she looked 'wrong?!'"

"What is wrong with you?"

Those words came without warning, rocking through her from head to toe. Cold eyes were glaring right through her.

Sucy had gone completely still at some point. It took her a moment to kill those words.

In, and out.

When she let out a long, quiet breath, and the tightness in her chest faded, she realized that Alcor was still cawing, and Akko and Ursula were still frowning at the dumb bird.

"Alcor, I'm not really understanding what you're trying to say," Ursula said, and Akko nodded in agreement. Ursula then glanced to Sucy, and when she looked back at Alcor, her frown got even deeper. With deliberate slowness, she placed Alcor back on her shoulder, the glare never leaving her face. "Will talk about this more later, but right now, let me just say, no matter how 'startled' you are, you do not, ever, get to hurt a student." She shook her head, disappointed. "And that's something I never thought I'd have to say to you."

Alcor looked like Ursula slapped him. He looked back at Sucy, and then he let out a soft "caw" as he hung his head. And, since he wasn't looking, now would be the perfect time to throw her potion at him and melt his feathers off—

"Sucy are you okay?"

Sucy just barely resisted jolting up, and slowly turned. Somehow, Akko had moved away from Ursula and was standing to her right, eyes shining with worry.

"I'm fine," Sucy said. Unfortunately, there was a sudden, throbbing pain in her face, and her lips twitched to a small grimace. She just barely held back from hissing.

"No you're not!" Akko said, the worry getting worse. It made Sucy's frown deepen, just as Akko went for her wand. "Lotte, what's the best healing spell for face stuff?"

"Akko, you're not even good at healing magic. And you don't have to—"

"Wait, Akko, you should make sure you can see Sucy's face clearly so you can heal her better," Lotte said, brining up Ilo to light up her face better.

"Lotte, don't encourage—"

A green glow suddenly illuminated her face. But it didn't come from Ilo, or Akko's wand.

It came from Ursula, who was standing barely a foot away from her.

Sucy went still.

"Sucy, you shouldn't put off healing these bruises," Ursula said, and leaned even closer.

Her hands clenched her skirt.

"Goodness, they look bad. Akko, I think I should be the one to heal them."

Ursula's hand reached for her face. She could just feel the tips of her fingers begining to brush against one of the unblemished spots on her face.

Near the left side, specifically.

"Ah, wait, Professor—"

Whatever Akko was going to say, Sucy didn't know or care. The only thing she knew was that it felt like needles were sewing the muscles under her face tight-tight-tight, that a scalding heat rose like waves and spread throughout every inch of her skin, and it mixed with the throbbing hurt from her bruises and made the pain a burn that just wouldn't stop getting worse and worse and worse because she wouldn't let go—

She smacked Ursula's hand away as hard as she could. Ursula stumbled back, and she knew it was less from the force, and more from the shock, her red eyes wide.

Sucy's own eye was narrowed in a tight, venomous glare.

"Don't. Touch. Me," she said, and her voice was almost a growl.

She could feel the moment Akko and Lotte looked at her. The way the air had suddenly gone ice cold the moment those words left her mouth.

But even that cold didn't completely help with the burn on her face.

"I—I'm sorry, Sucy!" Ursula said, hands moving like she didn't know what to do with them. "I—that was a mistake on my part, and I—"

"Does it look like I care?" Sucy bit out, just barely keeping herself from scowling. She tried to keep calm, to ignore that burn, but she could still feel that awful tightness on her face, the phantom sensation of fingers touching her face, and it was bringing back moments from then.

"Sucy, she was just trying to check up on your bruises," Lotte said, a little desperately; or maybe even scared. Sucy didn't turn around to face her.

She just kept glaring at Ursula, and the teacher was visibly wilting under her gaze.

Good.

"Sucy, c'mon," Akko said, and the gentle, pleading tone her voice had taken on was enough to make Sucy slowly turn around. Akko was glancing from her to Ursula in worry. "She didn't mean anything bad about it, she just wanted to help you."

"And I didn't ask for her help, or want it," she said, her voice only a pitch behind threatening.

Akko didn't so much as blink, gazing into her eye with a gentle, almost tender look. "Sucy, it was a mistake. Please don't be mad."

Any other time, seeing a look like that on Akko's would've made her pause; maybe even calm down. But not now. Not when her face was hurting, not when her skin felt so tight, and not when she could still feel that heat coming from it. All because Ursula touched her. Because she reminded her of then, and she was still here, still way to close, and Sucy's chest was getting tighter and tighter it was starting to get painful.

"Sucy, really, I'm so sorry," Ursula said, and she looked as guilty as she sounded. Her shoulders fell like some heavy weight was crushing her, face visibly crumpling. "That was completely my fault, and I swear, I didn't mean to upset—"

"Would you leave already!"

Sucy wasn't quite shouting, but the venom lodged in her every syllable was more than threatening enough to make up for that. She could feel the shock being directed at her from Akko and Lotte without turning around. But she could barely focus on that when something toxic in ways not even she could love rose in her throat, and made it harder to get air through her shrinking lungs.

And it was all because of her.

Sucy glared at Ursula with barely controlled anger, bandaged hand clenched into an itchy fist. "Just take your stupid bird"—she pointed at the door—"and get. Out."

No one said anything after that. Sucy let out tiny, hissing breaths through her nose. She focused on the guilt-filled look on Ursula's face. Seeing her hurt helped soothe some of her anger, and made it easier to send the rest of her troublesome emotions and thoughts to the metaphorical guillotine. It took a few seconds, but she was starting to breathe normally again, the heat slowly fading, and her face settled into a cold, emotionless glare.

"Professor," Akko said, breaking the silence. "She didn't—"

Ursula raised a hand, and Akko stopped. "Akko, it's fine," she said. She looked to Sucy, and her frown got heavier. "Sucy has a right to be upset." She wasn't upset, she just wanted her gone already. "I've overstepped some boundaries, and it would be best if I left." She bowed her head. "Sucy, again, I'm so sorry. Both for Alcor's actions, and my own."

Ursula gave Alcor—who she'd forgotten was still on her shoulder until just now, and who looked like he was glaring at her slightly—a little push on the head. Alcor got the hint and bowed his own head.

Sucy's face didn't so much as twitch. "It's hard to think you are, when you're still here."

"Sucy!" Akko hissed at her.

But Ursula just nodded. "Right. I'll…I'll be off then." She spared a glance at Akko and Lotte; at least, Sucy assumed she did. Her unblinking red eye never stopped glaring at her. "I apologize for making things…tense." Ursula's mouth formed a small, somewhat nervous smile.

There was a little pause behind her, like Akko and Lotte didn't know how to respond.

"I hope you girls all have a good night," Ursula said, her smile widening. The look on her face was different too, but Sucy couldn't read it.

It felt like Akko and Lotte could though. Not a second later, Lotte's hesitant voice spoke up.

"I…good night, professor," she said. Sucy could hear her fiddling with her glasses.

Akko took a bit more time to respond. And when she did, for a moment, it felt like she was staring at her. And in a way that made her chest feel heavy, and not at all in a good way like before.

But then that feeling of being stared at was gone, and Akko said, "Good night, professor. And…sorry. About, everything."

Sucy twitched at that; just a little bit, in her shoulders.

"It's okay, Akko. There's no need to apologize again for sneaking out." Ursula kept smiling, and then fully turned, and walked to their door. "Or anything else. I understand"

Sucy kept glaring. She didn't stop even when Ursula got to their door and carefully opened it. Phantom sensation of fingers touching her left side still pricked her skin. It took everything she had to push down the heat that threatened to rise there, to think of mushrooms and their wonders and just focus on them.

But, as Ursula left their room, closing the door behind her, she gave Sucy one last glance through the shrinking gap. The smile was gone from her face, and the expression she had on was unreadable as she met Sucy's glare.

And then the door closed with a quiet click.

It took a few seconds, but that tightness slowly faded, and the phantom fingers and burning eventually faded to nothing. Sucy kept thinking of mushrooms, unclenched her hand, and eventually, her mind was quiet again, with no unwanted thoughts or feelings running about inside her.

Save for that prickly feeling that came from having two pairs of eyes gazing at her back. Very slowly, Sucy turned.

Lotte was meekly staring at her, fiddling with her hands as shrunk a little when she caught Sucy's eye.

And Akko was frowning at her.

Sucy's chest started to tighten again.

Akko opened her mouth, but then paused for a second. Sucy remained still. Akko stared at her face, and then she closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and let it out. When she looked at her again, her frown was more sympathetic this time.

"Sucy, you know Ursula didn't mean to upset you," she said, voice as soft as her face. "She just wanted to help."

"Funny, I didn't feel very 'helped' when her dumb bird attacked me," Sucy said, the words leaving her almost automatically. And maybe more harshly than they should've been. At least to Akko.

"That wasn't her fault," Akko insisted, not so much as blinking at Sucy's clipped tone. "Don't take that out on Professor Ursula. She doesn't deserve it."

Sucy rolled her eye. "Sure she doesn't," she droned out.

Akko's eyes narrowed. "Sucy," she said, and Sucy recognized that reproachful voice. It was one Akko had gained recently because of similar talks they had before about her favorite teacher. One that was the first warning about a conversation that could get a lot worse.

But despite that, Sucy's mouth moved before she could help it.

"I'm just saying," she said, looking Akko dead in the eye, frowning before she even realized it. "She's not exactly a 'perfect' teacher."

Akko's frown went a little sharp. "Sucy, seriously—"

"You can't blame me for getting kinda annoyed at her, and not just about her bird," she said, speaking in a more agitated voice now she barely even bothered to control. Or could control.

She could see Lotte staring at her with obvious confusion about what she was talking about. But Akko got it, and something flickered behind her eyes, but it was gone as Akko sucked in a breath.

"Sucy," she said, in a slow, measured tone. The kind that sounded so wrong coming from Akko. "We've had this talk before, and—"

"Yeah, well, I guess we're having it again," Sucy said, because despite Akko's voice and face making it obvious Sucy should stop poking this issue, should stop insulting someone Akko cared about so much and just shut up, she didn't. Words she knew she shouldn't say kept leaving her in a low, angry hiss. "Because I'm getting kind of sick and tired of Professor Chariot always making things worse—"

Akko suddenly leaned forward, face inches away. But all Sucy could focus on was the anger in her eyes.

Sucy leaned back, eye widening.

"Don't call her that!" Akko said, and her red eyes were now in a very sharp glare. "You know she's not comfortable being called Chariot again!" Her voice was getting louder with each word.

Sucy hated this. She hated that Akko was almost shouting at her. Hated that she glaring at her so fiercely. Like back then, after Blytonbury.

But with her face still throbbing with pain, with memories starting to rise in her head she tried to force down while anger at everything and nothing ran hot in her chest, she still kept saying exactly what she shouldn't have.

"It's not my fault she's being weird about her own name," Sucy bit out, mouth suddenly in a scowl. "She dyes her hair back to red, doesn't even try hiding who she 'was' anymore, but for some reason, she isn't okay with being called her real name? You can't be stupid enough to miss how hypocritical that is, right?"

"Sucy, you were there when I called her 'Professor Chariot' that one time," Akko said, matching Sucy's scowl with her own. "You saw just how uncomfortable she was! And when I got her to tell us what was wrong, she said she didn't like being called 'Chariot', and that she'd prefer if we kept calling her 'Ursula.'" Akko crossed har arms firmly. "And if that's what she wants, that's what we'll do!"

"Doesn't Croix call her Chariot all the time, but she's never said anything to her?" At least, Sucy vaguely recalled her calling Ursula that back in Arcturus with the Noir Rod.

"You don't know what she has or hasn't told Croix."

"And you do?"

"Yeah. I do, Sucy. Way more."

Akko's eyes were hard, no trace of her usual warmth anywhere. It was starting to look more and more like that look, when she came into their room after that fight with Diana. And then it had lead to her…to her…

Sucy glared, trying to look more angry than, than anything else she felt. Even when she knew she shouldn't, when acting on her emotions was only making things worse for her, but she just couldn't kill them before they came out in spiteful little comments, and it was so hard to focus on mushrooms when everything felt so cramped and that glare on Akko's face just seemed to get colder and colder just like when she told Sucy—

Akko's mouth opened to keep speaking, and Sucy gripped her skirt, her heart thundering painfully in her ears.

But then, a crystal ball was suddenly thrust between her and Akko, startling them both. A green sheen suddenly swept across its face, and than in an instant, there was an image of Finnelan angrily swatting at a bird. It was so unexpected that it all but silenced the noise in her head, and replaced it with confusion that made her face scrunch up.

And that was when Lotte suddenly stepped between them, holding the crystal ball with a smile so forced it looked painful.

"S-So!" she said. "Turns out it, it was a pelican!" She laughed as awkwardly as a human being could. "I-isn't that something? Right, girls? Right?"

Lotte's eyes darted from Sucy to Akko. It was only now that Sucy saw just how hard her fingers were clenching on her crystal ball. How her shoulders trembled, and how genuinely uncomfortable she looked right now. Scared, even.

Because Sucy was arguing with Akko again. With all the signs that things were about to escalate if nothing was done. So, here she was, trying to distract them with a very obvious topic change.

Sucy looked up from Lotte to glance at Akko, and saw the regretful frown on her face as she stared at Lotte's horrible smile. It was obvious Akko had realized that Lotte felt so worried about them arguing she put herself in-between the two of them. Akko slowly looked up at Sucy, not saying anything as she gazed into her eye.

But then, she tried to smile. It was a forced thing, but it did look a lot more natural than Lotte's.

"Heh. Guess…I was right, Sucy," she said, after an awkward pause. Akko glanced from Sucy to Lotte, the message in her eyes clear: "Lotte's upset; let's stop."

Sucy took one last glance at Lotte. And unbidden, staring at that fear and worry in that smile brought up another image. One of Lotte, staring at Sucy with unmasked worry as she whipped out insults. Not at Lotte, but at a certain blond-haired witch who fired back with her own cold words and jabs.

She had seen that look on Lotte more often than she should have. All because she kept arguing with the people she liked. Because she didn't know when to just drop something before she ended making herself look even worse.

"Sucy?"

Akko was staring at her, eyebrows furrowed in what she assumed was confusion. But she didn't bother looking all that long.

Sucy just walked around Lotte, then Akko, and headed to her desk. "Yeah," she said, making her voice as monotone as she could. "You were right." Everything would've been so much better if she had just admitted that from the beginning, hadn't bothered arguing, and shut up. As usual.

She could feel Lotte's eyes on her back as she walked away. And Akko's frown.

Sucy ignored that heavy weight in her chest and sat down on the long desk. Her face started throbbing again, and she frowned as she rubbed her bruised cheek.

"Um, Sucy," Akko said, and Sucy glanced back enough to see Akko pointing at her own face. "Don't you want us to fix your bruises—"

"I can take care of that myself," she said, a little clipped. "Don't bother." She dismissively waved her hand, and turned around in her chair She reached for her pouch, hanging just off her bedpost, grabbed it, and laid it on the table. She started to rummage through it, looking for a couple toad's feet. Problem with bags that were bigger on the inside with magic was that it was a pain to find just one thing out of near bottomless storage.

And as she reached into the mini pocket worlds in her bag, Sucy could still feel Akko and Lotte staring at her. The only sounds in their room came from the rustling of her pouch, the air feeling more stilted than it had been all night. And it was easy to know who was to blame for that.

Sucy frowned, and kept looking in her pouch.

"A-Akko," Lotte said, breaking the silence that surrounded them. Sucy didn't turn around, but it was easy to imagine her nervous expression from her voice alone.

"Yeah?" Akko asked.

"I…think I should go put those glyphs up now," Lotte said. "And I should probably do them outside, just to have more space to draw them out."

"Oh. Do you need help?"

"No, I'm fine. But it's…okay if do that now, right? A-and leave you to…you know."

Sucy could all but hear Lotte's almost scared fidgeting. It was easy to see what Lotte was asking: if Lotte left, would she and Akko start fighting again?

What did it say that Sucy could agree there was a real chance of that happening?

Sucy slowly pulled out the toads feet, and then reached for a few vials, focusing on her ingredients and nothing else. It was quiet again, and she knew Akko was staring at her.

"Yeah," Akko said, voice barely above a whisper. "You can go, Lotte. I got this."

Got what? Was Akko also expecting Sucy to fight her again?

Sucy finished grabbing the last vial she needed, and her hands went to her mortar and pestle. It felt far heavier than usual as she placed them in front of her.

"Okay." She felt like Lotte was nodding. "I'll be back in a bit. And right outside." Again, it felt like Lotte was glancing at her for a moment, but the feeling quickly went away. "C'mon, Ilo."

Soft footsteps tapped on the floor, petering out and replaced by the click of their door opening. Then there were more footsteps, another click as the door was closed shut, and she felt Lotte's presence leaving the room.

And now it was just her and Akko. Alone in their room.

The last time that had happened had been after Blytonbury.

Sucy's chest went tight again. She listed off mushrooms from least toxic to most, even as the air that went to her lungs felt stilted. Her hands moved to toads feet and placed them in the pestle, keenly aware of Akko's eyes on her back. Just staring at her.

What was she thinking?

Sucy frowned as she mashed the toads feet with her pestle, using more effort than usual to do so. The scraping of her pestle against the mortar were the only sounds in their far too quiet room. Then, she heard Akko moving, footsteps gently echoing. And from the sound, she was moving towards Sucy.

Sucy kept her eye on the mortar and pestle as she kept smashing at the toads feet. She didn't look up when she heard the chair near her scrapping against the floor. Or look up when more scrapping sounds reached her ears, sounding closer now.

But then, Akko spoke up, her voice coming from so close, and Sucy froze

"So…Whatcha doin'?"

Akko didn't sound angry, or even judgey. Just curious. Slowly, Sucy looked up from her pestle.

Warm, bright red eyes stared at her. Akko was sitting down on a chair a respectable distance away from Sucy, head tilted in a way that made those uneven bangs hanging in front of the left side of her head sway a little. Akko didn't look like she was thinking one bit about their argument, and just…wanted to talk to her.

Sucy didn't know what to make of that, but, with her mouth regaining feeling, she did find herself answering

"I'm just whipping up a quick potion," Sucy said. She pointed at her face. "For the bruises."

Akko looked at the pestle, then to the vials. "You gonna use your cauldron?"

"No, there's no need. I got everything I need here."

"Oh, okay."

That was it. Sucy's eye lingered on Akko's face, wondering why she stopped talking. Was she waiting for Sucy to say something first? She had an idea about what Akko could want to hear, what she should say, but that…wasn't happening.

So Sucy looked back to her pestle and kept smashing away at the toads feet, even when they were at the right paste-like substance to use for her potion. She didn't say a single word, or even blink. Next to her, she was pretty sure Akko shifted in her seat.

"Is there a reason you're not just casting a healing spell on yourself?" Akko asked.

Because she wasn't exactly in a "calm and serene state of being" to do one, and she didn't want to take a risk with any side effects. So, that left potions.

"Don't feel like it," was all Sucy ended up saying. She hadn't even looked up to answer Akko.

"Oh."

She half-expected Akko to offer to heal her again, but Akko didn't. Sucy didn't know what to make of that. She went back to her pestle, before deciding she really shouldn't mash the toads feet any more than she had, and reached for the vials. All while keenly aware about just how stilted the air between her and Akko was becoming.

Sucy forced her lips to stay in a neutral line, and not an outright grimace. She had no one to blame but herself for this mess. She knew better than to fight with Akko's favorite teacher. If Akko didn't like to hear her complain about Ursula—even if some of Sucy's complaints were ones Akko should really care about more—than shouting at Ursula like she had and then saying she deserved it definitely wasn't' a good idea.

But this day had been so long, and her tolerance for things that she normally could've ignored was at an all time low. She didn't have the patience or want to not snap at something that annoyed her right now. Even though she knew she should've tried more to not feel like that.

Akko already had enough reasons to avoid spending time with her. She didn't need to add more by fighting with, or about, the woman Akko practically viewed like a mother.

So it was obvious what she should do now. Painfully obvious.

But she didn't look up from pouring the various liquids from her vials into a nearby, bulbous glass beaker. She just swished them around a little with a spoon, and as they whirled, she moved back to the pestle with the smooshed toads feet, and then put it into her concoction. The liquid in the beaker suddenly turned a deep purple color, and Sucy gave it three spins counter clockwise, plucked a few locks of her hair out and put them in, and watched as the liquid started to stir itself without any more help. And the moment it did, she heard Akko let out a curious "hmm" sound.

"So, that's the potion that'll heal you up?" Akko asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sucy said, and despite her efforts, her voice came out with a sharp bite to it. "What else would I be brewing?"

Akko laughed; it sounded horribly awkward. "Y-yeah. I, uh, should've realized that."

"Yeah. You should have, idiot."

Sucy didn't say that with any of her usual playful sarcasm. Just a venomous edge.

Akko was silent. Sucy didn't know what face she was making. She couldn't lift her head up from the desk to look at Akko. She bit her tongue slightly.

Stop it. You don't have any reason to act like this to her.

Sucy tried to breathe in and out, tried to think of mushrooms, but those stupid feelings in simmering in her gut made it so hard not to snap at Akko, even when it was her own stupid head that was responsible for feeling like this in the first place.

Sucy focused on her potion with an unwavering stare. Once it started to bubble, she stirred it clockwise, and then kept doing so until it turned a light green. She waited for the potion to stop swirling, lifted the beaker up with one hand, and downed the liquid in a few, quiet gulps. It tasted like chicken. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, there was a sizzling sound. She could just make out a few of bruises on her face start to dry out, like leaves that were crumbling under heat. Sucy didn't even blink as the sizzling grew louder, cracking sounds soon following, like strips off bark peeling off a decaying tree. An unseen force then launched all bruises off her face, and they landed on the desk as dried out, almost paper-like scabs.

And then they burst into pale-green flames.

Sucy stared at the tiny fires that consumed what was left of her bruises. They didn't burn the desk at all, as the potion was made to just "burn her body free of injuries." Thankfully, she didn't actually feel any heat.

"Uh…" Sucy turned, and saw Akko looking at the burnt ashes of her bruises, and then to her face. "Did that…hurt?" she asked

A little bit.

"Does it look like it hurt?" Sucy's tone was flat and curt.

Akko grinned sheepishly. "Er…a little bit?"

Before she could stop herself, she scowled a little at Akko. "Then stop asking dumb questions already."

Akko visibly wilted in her chair. "Sorry," she muttered.

Something twisted painfully inside her, emotion almost leaking onto her indifferent expression. She pushed them down, hard. She knew Akko didn't deserve her attitude but…but when she tried to get the words she knew she should say out, she couldn't. They were stuck in her mouth, and crumbled right underneath the weight of her tongue.

So, she didn't say anything, and looked away. Despite knowing what she should do, Sucy just stewed in thoughts that were heavy like lead, and made her sink deeper into her seat. Which wouldn't be happening in the first place if the things in her head would stop looping the same stupid thoughts over and over again like films on repeat, or if Akko would just, just listen for once about Ms. Perfect or Chariot and would just stop choosing everyone but—

"I really hate this."

Sucy's head shot up. With stiff, mechanical movements, she turned around.

Akko's head was hanging low, eyes covered in shadows by her bangs.

"I…what?" Sucy could barely get her mouth working.

"I hate when things are like this," she continued. "You're upset a lot more, I'm more sad, and we haven't been spending as much time together as we used too, or even talking to each other, and it's all because of the… messy problems between us. And sometimes, there's this feeling that, if I say the wrong thing, I'm gonna make them even worse." Akko sighed. "I hate feeling like we're just one bad argument away from…what happened at Blytonbury. And everything after that."

The cold eyes that flashed in her head were quickly replaced with a furious red.

Akko's own eyes were still impossible to see. Sucy couldn't move as she went on. "And that stinks. Friendships shouldn't come with this big, gloomy feeling that everything's gonna go wrong at any second."

"What is wrong with you?"

Diana's voice was louder than ever. Sucy could barely get air into her shrinking lungs.

Was this…was Akko gonna…was she about to do what Diana said, what she all but promised would happen…all because Sucy was…

Her hands were shaking as she clenched her skirt in a death grip.

Akko slowly started to lift her head. "So…Sucy…"

Sucy's chest was full of ice so sharp it stabbed her, right through her heart.

No. Not again. She, she couldn't handle it if Akko, if Akko—if she was abandoned again—

"I just wanna say, it's gonna be okay."

That wasn't what she expected Akko to say. At all.

Sucy stared, completely lost. "What?"

Akko took a deep breath. "I know you're mad at Diana. I know that you have some problems with Ursula and touching you and making you uncomfortable didn't help them. I know that tonight has kinda been awful with everything that's happened, and we're not really any closer to fixing any of that stuff. I'm not ignoring that. But it'll get better. I know it will."

Akko lifted her head up fully, and Sucy could see her eyes again. And the familiar, determined glow that made the red in them shine all the more.

Sucy couldn't look away.

"Because I'm not giving up until I find a way to fix everything!" Her eyes were practically burning from how bright they were. "Right now, everything kinda, well, sucks. There's no denying that. But we've been through so much stuff together, there's no way we can't get through this gloomy phase we're stuck in, and fix all our friendships as soon as I figure out how! I know it might look impossible to you, but I believe, with all my heart, you'll be happy and smiling again in no time! A real, big smile where you don't have to worry about things going wrong, or saying the wrong thing, and can have fun with not just Diana, not just Ursula, but everyone!"

Akko pumped her fist above her head. She meant every word. As if they was every any doubt from her tone and voice. Or from the light shining in her eyes, like stars in the sky. It was the same light she always saw entering Akko's eyes whenever Akko was about to make the impossible possible. Her endless belief, sparkling so bright nothing could put it out.

It was that same light that made her eyes so warm, and what had captivated her to Akko.

In the sense that she thought a girl with nice eyes like that would make an adorable—in the mocking way—guinea pig to experiment on. Endless optimism vs endless sadism; it seemed like a fun idea, and it was. That was all.

Sucy kept staring at Akko. The tightness in her chest was gone, replaced with warmth that melted every bit of the ice inside her. Her head was quiet.

"And…"Akko suddenly lost some of her determination, eyes dimming. "I'm sorry I don't have the perfect solution yet." She looked down, gloomy. That was wrong. "I'm trying, but I—"

"Akko."

Akko looked up, still gloomy. And now, the only thought in Sucy's head was that she had to get rid of that look on Akko's face.

"I keep telling you, this isn't your fault," She said, trying to make her voice less raspy, and into something…soft, she guessed. "Don't make it sound like me and Diana fighting is something you caused, because it wasn't. I don't like Diana, but that doesn't mean…"

She trailed off. Hazy ideas of what to say next appeared, but she couldn't find the words.

"Doesn't mean…what?" Akko asked. Her eyes were a bit less gloomy, intently staring at her.

Sucy took in a tiny breath, and let it out. She took a moment to think of what to say, and Akko patiently waited. Eventually, she found something.

"I know we've been…arguing a lot." That was putting it lightly. "And I…kinda wished you would stop trying to convince me and Cavendish to be friends and let things be"—less risk that way of her deciding on the obvious thing to do—"but if you did that…you wouldn't be Akko. A…a stupidly kind moron who…who made this school fun, just by being around her."

More staring. Akko leaned a little closer, her expression unreadable, even to her. What was she thinking?

Sucy took another breath, trying to keep her mouth in a neutral, emotionless frown. "The point is, you being so stubborn about trying to make everyone happy is something I learned on the first day I met you. I might get a bit mad, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why you're doing this. Or that I…" She made a big, circle kinda gesture, like trying to point at everything around Akko. "That I hate you for just, being you."

Akko was gazing right into her eye, and Sucy found herself staring right back. They were so red, different from the shade of her own; more brighter. More…

Sucy looked away. "None of this is your fault," she said, voice quiet. "So stop looking so sad."

Please.

She didn't say anything after that. Didn't even look at Akko to see her reaction. Was…she said the right things this time, right? She had too.

"I'm gonna fix this."

Sucy blinked at those words. When she looked at Akko, her eyes had regained their warmth, alongside her determination that made them all the brighter.

"You and Diana, all the problems with everyone else. One way or another, I'll fix fit." She put a hand over her heart. "I promise."

She meant every word. Akko really would do everything in her power to try and fix her problems with her friendships.

But how long would it be before Akko tried "fixing" them by just taking the easiest, obvious solution and just…and just throw her…

Sucy thought of mushrooms, and killed those thoughts. She looked at Akko again, and her tongue moved before she could help it.

"You make it sound like everyone else has just as many problems with me as Diana does," she said.

Akko blinked. "Wait, no, I didn't—" Akko frantically waved her arms around. "I—I didn't mean to make it sound like everyone was as mad at you like Diana is! Just, you know…" She rubbed the back of her head, glancing away. "That I know things have been kinda awkward and tense with some of the others"— That was definitely one way of putting it—" and I wanna help you all be get over that and be happy together again. Like with the green team. Or…Hannah and Barbara." She paused for a moment. "And Ursula"

"They're…not that bad," she muttered, and that was true. Compared to Diana, her problems with everyone else were practically non existent . "Especially with Ursula."

Akko raised a brow. "Sucy, you think Ursula…could've done better with all that stuff with Croix when she was a teacher here."

They both knew that was not what she said, or everything she said about Ursula, especially about what she chose to say and not say to Akko, but Sucy didn't call her out on that.

"And I can still say I like Ursula a thousand times more than I do Diana," Sucy said, voice flat.

Akko winced, and Sucy frowned. She should've said something else.

"And, anyway, if you're really set on fixing all of this—"

"I am."

"—then you should probably just focus on Diana." That way she wouldn't constantly see how much trouble she was causing everyone else. "She's the one you're gonna have the most trouble with." She rolled her eye as dismissively as she could. "She won't even look at me without glaring."

Akko frowned. "Yeah. Diana's…not gonna be easy." She sighed, and Sucy took immense satisfaction in how tired Akko sounded just from talking about Cavendish. "And I really thought she wouldn't be this bad after she said she'd…" Akko trailed off, and let out a groan, rubbing the side of her head. "Guess it doesn't matter."

Sucy disagreed. Strongly.

She was staring at Akko with a carefully indifferent expression, her eye unblinking. What was she about to say? It sounded like, like she'd been talking to Diana about her. But as far as she knew, Akko hadn't really talked to Diana much, if at all, since the day Diana and her had their fight. So when did she talk to her? What did they talk about?

Should…she ask? Did she even want to know?

Before she could sort out the mess of thoughts in head and come to a decision, Akko let out an explosive sigh. "Ugh. It feels like we keep talking in circles about the same stuff without getting anywhere." She saw Sucy looking at her, and then for some reason, quickly added, "Not that I think that's your fault! This is complicated stuff, so, you know, sometimes we have to talk about the same problems again and again. And even if it doesn't feel like we're making progress, the fact we're talking about them, and so calmly, is a good sign that we can eventually get over them."

It felt like Akko was quoting someone with that last sentence.

"Just…."Akko's shoulders slumped a little. "I feel kinda bad tonight wasn't the fun adventure you probably wanted, Sucy."

No. It wasn't. But Akko didn't deserve to feel bad about that.

"Tonight wasn't that bad," she murmured. She gestured at her pouch on the desk. "I got plenty of ingredients to make my potion. And, sure, I wasn't exactly happy to hear I'd lose my one and only guinea pig for two weeks"—Akko flinched, and Sucy raced to finish—"but it was still a fun night. Breaking the rules, wandering into dangerous places, and just seeing you trip and fall on your face was…nice. It's been a while since we've done anything like this."

"Yeah," Akko agreed, still looking guilty.

Sucy tried to think of what to say next, to make her feel better. Why was she so bad at this? "Look, Akko," she said, hoping she sounded at least somewhat soothing, and not that monotone. "Tonight could've been better, but it wasn't a disaster. Honestly, the worst part was when you saw me freak—"

Sucy stopped talking, like her tongue suddenly dissolved in acid.

"Sucy?"

She said nothing.

"Were you…talking about what happened after you thought I called you—"

That word echoed in her head. Her blood became so cold.

"Sucy?" Akko sounded concern. Sucy didn't look to see her face. "What's wrong?"

Sucy did her best to think of mushrooms and nothing else. To not think of what happened then. She was just barely managing, even as her heart started to beat faster.

"Nothing," she got out, through a mouth that felt like it was filled with cement. She kept taking in tiny, quiet breaths, killing any thoughts but the ones about mushrooms and getting her dumb heart to slow down. And she was succeeding; she just had to keep focusing on her breaths.

In and out. In, and out. In—

An image of a little girl, surrounded by flames, hit her with no warning. For just a moment, she felt a burn.

"Sucy, I told you: you can talk to me about—"

"Akko, I don't want to talk about it!"

Akko looked at her with wide eyes, leaning back in her chair. It took Sucy a moment to realize shew as scowling fiercely. That she was glaring with anger so hot she could feel it burning in her eye. All of it, aimed at Akko.

Something colder than ice stabbed into her, and the scowl plummeted off her face.

"A-Akko." Sucy had to pause. She knew what she should say. But the words got stuck, and wouldn't come up no matter how much she wanted them too. " I…I meant…that wasn't…"

Her voice trailed off like it fell off a cliff. She was messing up so badly. Why was she acting like this? Why couldn't she just kill off her stupid emotions and thoughts? She had been willing to at least consider talking about then before with Akko in Arcturus, so why was she lashing out at Akko so much and just giving her more and more reasons to push her away just because she suddenly felt so, so sick at just the idea of talking about when she—

"Okay."

That one word broke her out of the memories her head tried to trap her in.

Akko looked at her with a soft, tender look on her face.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine," she said.

Sucy stared. "I…really?"

Akko nodded firmly. "I'm not gonna force you to talk, Sucy."

She didn't know what to say. She just kept staring.

"Oh," was what eventually left her mouth. Slowly, she nodded, the lingering heat on her face fading as her shoulders fell a little. "Okay."

She didn't say anything after that. But Akko did.

"But, and I know I keep saying this a lot…" Akko scooted her chair closer, until her legs were almost touching Sucy's own. She looked up at Sucy, then to her hands, and then she lifted her own. The question was clear.

Sucy stared. Then, she rolled her eye with with as much exasperation as she could, and extended her own hand, the one without the bandage, to Akko. Akko gently took it with both her hands, her fingers carefully wrapping around her hand.

Her hand was just as warm as always. Maybe even warmer.

"Whenever you want to talk to me, I'll always be willing to listen. And…if I do or say something dumb or, make you uncomfortable, you can tell me." Her smile slowly fell, and a frown took it's place. "I…I don't wanna hurt you again."

Akko looked to the ground. Or, was about to, before Sucy suddenly put her other hand on top of Akko's. Akko's eyes went a little wide.

Sucy wasn't sure what expression she had on right now, but she hoped it was something…sincere.

"Akko, I…I appreciate that you're trying to help. With everything." Sucy squeezed again, focusing on Akko's warm hands, fingers brushing against her skin. "I…just…" It took her a moment to continue, gaze lowering to the ground. "There are some things that…I don't like talking about. Or…thinking about, I guess." Her voice was lower than a whisper now. She let out a shaky breath.

Akko suddenly squeezed her hand. When Sucy looked up, there was nothing but sympathy and compassion in her eyes.

Sucy focused on that, on Akko's eyes and warmth, and kept going. "But…the fact that you're willing to go so far for me. It…that…"

Her tongue was so heavy. Her heart was starting to beat faster, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant like it was before. She paused, trying to think of what to say next, to convey what she felt but not everything she felt when her head was such a mess. But she kept pushing herself to come up with something, anything. And she did.

"It's nice that you care," Sucy said.

About me.

Akko gazed right into her eye, and Sucy struggled to hold it. Saying all that felt…weird. Not exactly painful, but not exactly all that fun either. It just left her feeling kind of exposed, but not in that horrible way when she thought Akko called her disgusting. More like there was a kind of…growth inside her, and she just let it out a bit. And Akko seeing that felt…okay. It was okay.

Akko squeezed her hand again, and when she spoke, her voice was as soft as her eyes were warm.

"Of course I care, Sucy." Her lips tugged into a smile, one she'd only ever seen from Akko because of how impossibly kind it was, and the warmth Sucy felt doubled. "I'll always care about you. Always."

Something pulsed under Sucy's face. Heat that she barely kept down, that made her feel lighter, even as her heartbeat got a little faster, and her chest kept doing that lurching pull that made her want to, to do something that she couldn't put to words but could maybe put to actions, maybe let Akko see and show her just how much she, she—

There was a click, and the door to their room opened.

Sucy's let go of Akko's hand, and the one Akko held slipped from her grasp with the grace of a snake. Akko blinked, but before just as she opened her mouth, a voice spoke.

"Is everything okay?" Lotte's asked, walking into their room and looking a little worried. Did she see?

Sucy looked to Akko, who just smiled reassuringly at Lotte, and said, "Hey Lotte! Did you finish the glyphs outside?"

She didn't seem concerned at all. Because of course she wouldn't, she had just been holding her hand. There was no greater meaning than that. Akko was the most "touchy-feely" person she'd ever met; she'd hold hands with anyone; comfort anyone, in the exact same way she had with Sucy.

Sucy frowned, minutely, and after a few seconds of Lotte staring at Akko, she continued.

"Y-yeah. They're finished, and should be good enough to keep any spirits out, or warn me and Ilo if one tries to enter."

Akko let out a relieved little breath. "Phew. Least we don't have to worry about any creepy laughing ghost now."

"Spirits," Lotte corrected.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. But still, that's great, right Sucy?"

Right. The weird, "wicked" thing Ilo heard. Something that had been enough to make even her a bit—

That tree from Arcturus appeared without warning in front of her.

She crushed that dumb image. She wasn't worried about some spirit, or some dumb tree. She must've been more tired than she thought to think about stuff that didn't matter.

"Sucy?" Akko asked.

Sucy realized she never answer Akko, at some point lightly scratching at her bandage hand. "Yeah," she said, slowly looking to Lotte. "Good job, Lotte."

Lotte smiled bashfully. "It really wasn't that big of a deal."

"I couldn't do it that fast, and this moron definitely couldn't have done it at all." Sucy said, lazily pointing a thumb at Akko. "And she's the one that saved magic."

At her sarcastic words, Akko just smiled widely at her for a moment. Sucy raised her eyebrow, but Akko just turned around to Lotte. "Yeah, you're really good at glyphs and stuff, Lotte!"

"It's just something I studied a lot when I was a kid," Lotte said, scratching her cheek and shyly looking away. "It's nothing special."

"I'm pretty sure you have to be pretty special to be the 'Greatest Spirit Caller of her Generation,'" Akko said, quoting what those spirits in Arcturus said to Lotte with a big smirk.

Lotte blushed bright red. "O-Oh, stop," she said, giggling with a slowly widening smile. "They were just being polite."

"Lotte, one day, I'm gonna get you to admit how awesome you are without second guessing yourself," Akko said, dead-serious. Ilo nodded on Lotte's shoulder, and Lotte's smile grew even more bashful. Then, Akko smiled as well, pumping her fist in the air. "And now that we don't have any more creepy spirit stuff to worry about or have any more serious talks, we can go back to eating scones!"

"Um, Akko," Lotte said, a bit hesitantly.

"Yeah?" Akko blinked.

"It's almost midnight, and we have a seven AM class tomorrow."

Akko froze, mouth hanging open a little. "Ah. Yeah. Forgot about that." Her arm fell, and she pouted. "I guess that means no scone party."

Lotte laughed. She moved to Akko's bed, where at the foot of it, the basket of scones had ended up; somehow, no one had knocked it over during any of that mess with the "ghost" or Ursula or looking for Alcor. Lotte carefully picked up the basket, and at the same time, took out her wand, and waved it across as she muttered a spell Sucy couldn't hear. The scones and containers of jam glowed a pale-green, the same color as Ilo's body, and she placed them on a nearby chair.

"That'll keep them fresh until morning so long as no one touches them," she said. Lotte looked at Akko, who was still sulking. "We can eat them in the morning as a snack."

"I guess that's okay," She muttered.

Sucy raised a brow. "Didn't you eat like ten of those before Ursula came?"

"It was only eight!" Akko insisted.

"And you still want to eat more?"

"Yes."

Sucy's gaze went flat.

"What?! They're really good!"

She sighed. "Don't blame me when you can't fit in your uniform."

"What are you trying to say," Akko asked, voice very low, eyes sharp with a blaring warning in them.

"That you're getting fat," Sucy said without any hesitation.

"WHAT!?" Akko screeched. "Have you seen these"—she flexed her toned arms—"or these"—she lifted her leg up and gestured at her calf muscles—"or these!?"

She lifted her shirt and vest up, enough to expose just her stomach. Which, while not spouting a six pack or anything, had more defined muscles than someone would probably expect from Akko's seemingly skinny body.

Sucy had to look away, face starting to feel weird; she swallowed thickly.

"I've been able to keep up with the fastest broom in the world on foot while pushing a cannon! And that was before Professor Ursula helped me not just with magic, but in getting into even better shape during our lessons, Sucy!" There was a slapping sound, like Akko just hit her own, toned stomach for emphasis. "So don't you dare mock all the hard work I've putt his body through!"

"Fine. I won't." Sucy had a hand over her face. "Just pull your shirt down, woman."

Akko let out a little "hmph!", and Sucy heard the sound of her shirt and vest falling. Slowly, she pulled her hand off her warm face, and seeing Akko's stomach covered, she let out a tiny breath. Akko glared at her. "I'm not fat," she said, firmly crossing her arms.

Lotte giggled, and Sucy rolled her eye. Akko kept glaring, but then, let out a big yawn, ruining any chance of looking serious.

"You know, maybe we should go to bed," she said. "It's been a long night, and I'm feeling kinda tired." She looked around, and her fingers went to the buttons on her vest. "Where are my pajamas?"

"For the last time, regular t-shirts and shorts are not pajamas," Sucy droned.

"They are too!" Akko finished the last button, slipped her arms free of her vest, and tossed it to her bed, leaving her in just her white dress shirt and skirt. She looked surprisingly decent in that shirt. Maybe it was the way she could actually see how the shirt fit her upper body, how the collar hugged her neck. "Lotte, back me up here!"

Akko's fingers undid the on buttons her collar and ones near her neck, exposing parts of her clavicle, and quickly headed down her shirt.

Sucy turned around, and quickly went to her bed, grabbing her pajamas from the hanger she put a nearby shelf. Facing the wall to her bed, she began to take off her own clothes with stiff, slow fingers.

"I mean…can you really call those 'pajamas' when you walk around in the public with them too?" Lotte asked. Sucy heard the sound of a skirt falling down and softly landing on the floor.

"They still count!" Akko shouted, and Sucy heard more clothes hitting the floor, and could imagine—nothing. There was no reason to imagine anything. At all. No reason.

"Do they?"

"Yes!" Akko huffed, but Sucy didn't turn around to see the no doubt funny, overly annoyed expression she was making. She just looked straight, having finished taking off her clothes and slipping her long nightshirt over her head, and thought about mushrooms. "You wear them to sleep, so they're pajamas! Just ones you can also wear in the day time too!"

"I'm not sure if that's how it works."

"It totally is."

"Then, if you wore your day clothes to sleep, by your logic, wouldn't they also count as pajamas?"

"Yep!"

"Even socks?"

"Lotte, no one wears socks to sleep. That'd just be weird."

"I wear socks to sleep." She could hear the frown in Lotte's voice.

Sucy could imagine Akko blinking dumbly. "Oh, right."

"Yeah. Big wool ones whenever it gets really cold. And they're very comfy, I'll have you know."

"Huh." There was a pause. "I guess you're pretty weird than, Lotte!"

Another, longer pause stretched out.

"Akko, it's only because I want to keep my feet warm in the future that I'm not smacking you with my socks," Lotte said, seemingly dead-serious.

"That's not a denial, Lotte!" Akko all but sang with a giggle, and a moment later, Lotte giggled too, just as loudly.

Sucy brushed off imaginary wrinkles on her pajamas, her eye looking over her bed even when there was nothing there to find anywhere there; Lotte and Akko kept talking, but Sucy didn't focus on their words, preoccupied with her thoughts and the odd throbbing on her face. Should she turn around now? It felt like Akko and Lotte were done, but if they weren't, well, it wouldn't be a big deal. Of course not. It had never felt like before, so if she turned around and Akko wasn't done, no one would care. Especially not her. Not one bit.

"Sucy, if you looking for your sleep-hat-thingy, I got it right here."

Sucy stiffened at Akko's voice. She let out a long breath through her nose, making sure she only thought of mushrooms. Then, knowing she had to or else Akko and Lotte would get suspicious, she turned around.

Akko was in her plain white t-shirt and orange shorts, holding her nightcap with an easy-going smile on her face. The tension in Sucy's shoulders bled out at the sight.

"Catch!" Akko said, tossing her nightcap in a light, underhand throw. It sailed through the air, and without blinking, Sucy caught it with one hand. She gave Akko a nod, and put it on her head while Akko turned around, moving the various clothes off her bed and piling them on the floor.

And as she did so, Sucy let out a tiny breath, thinking of mushrooms and nothing about Akko.

The night air wasn't as cold as it felt a moment ago. Because she finished pulling her hat on.

"C'mon on, Ilo," Lotte said, and Sucy just now realized Lotte was in her loose blue shirt and pants she used exclusively as pajamas. She crouched down at a nearby stool to pick up Ilo, having probably put them there so she could change. Once Ilo was back on her shoulder, Lotte walked to the ladder that led to her bed, and started to climb up it.

Akko finished cleaning her bed of all her clothes, and then fell into the mattress with a big, content sigh. "Oh, bed, you feel extra comfy tonight." She rolled around in her bed, kicking up the covers slightly. Then, she frowned. "Too bad I won't get to enjoy you that much. Why does Lukíc have to have her class so early? She's never done it before."

"Probably wants to get teaching out of the way as soon as possible," Sucy said, finally able to speak again, having moved the covers off her own bed, and now organized her pillows the way she liked them. "I was in her office a few days ago, and I'm pretty sure I heard her telling the other teachers she has an early flight to Hawaii tomorrow. Or something like that."

"You were in her office?" Akko looked at her, both eyebrows raised. "Why?"

"I was just asking her some questions about where to find books about certain potions I was interested in." Well, one specifically, but she couldn't exactly directly ask a teacher about an Essence potion. "Doesn't matter."

Akko furrowed both her eyebrows at her, but didn't say anything. Instead, she just looked at the roof over her bed, and sighed. "Well, it stinks we have to get up early, but at least it's the last day before our vacation starts."

Yep. The last day before they were officially on break. And barely a day after that the next one, Akko would be leaving for Ireland. With Ursula, and Diana.

Sucy scowled a little as she finished fluffing her pillows.

"Lotte, could you turn off the lights—oh, wait." Akko blinked. "They've been off this whole time."

"Yeah, I kinda forgot too," Lotte said. She was on her bed now, under the covers, and took off her glasses. Sucy slid under her own covers and took in Lotte's face. Her eyes always looked a lot sharper without her glasses on, and Sucy noticed the blue in them a lot more without them on. She really should wear contacts or something.

"You know, I never noticed how much moonlight gets into this room," Akko said, looking up at their window, and Sucy could just see the moon shining down on them, even as clouds started to obscure its body. "It's kinda cool! Like a big nightlight."

"It is pretty," Lotte said. Ilo started to make some squeaking sounds at her, and she looked down at them with a smile. "Yes, your flames do make a prettier nightlight. Why do you think I keep you so close to me when I sleep?"

Ilo nodded proudly. Lotte giggled, and looked down at Sucy, then at the bottom bunk beneath her. "Good night, girls," she said, giving them both a smile.

"G'night, Lotte!" Akko said, peaking her head out from her bunk and smiling twice as hard. She looked at Sucy. "G'night Sucy!"

"Good night," Sucy said, voice monotone.

"Ah, wait!"

Sucy was just about to pull the covers over her when Akko said that. She looked at her, eyebrow raised. "What?"

Akko got up from her bed, and walked over to Sucy. When she was by her bed, she spread her arms wide, almost as wide as her smile. The intent was clear.

Sucy stared. Then, with as much annoyance as she could muster, she sighed, but did sit up, and spread her arms.

Akko leaned down, and hugged her.

Sucy felt Akko's strong arms envelop her. The bangs that hung over Akko's shoulder brushed against her nose, and Sucy got a whiff of earth, sweat, and that plum-scented shampoo Akko liked.

She didn't move an inch.

"You're my friend," Akko whispered, right into her ear. The hug tightened. "And you'll always be important to me."

She could all but hear Akko's heartbeat through her pajamas

Sucy didn't say anything. Couldn't. After a few, long seconds, she slowly only raised her arms and, hesitantly, wrapped them behind Akko. Just enough for her hand to lightly touch her back. It was the best she could manage; she wasn't a hugger, especially not when her own heart was beating so stupidly fast. They stayed like that for a moment.

"Thank you."

Those words left her before she could help it, and were spoken in a tone she'd never heard from her own voice.

Sucy stiffened almost violently. Akko didn't react at first, but then, she slowly started to look up.

Before she even realized it, Sucy looked away, quickly letting go of Akko.

"I'm going to bed," Sucy mumbled, bringing the covers over her, and then laying her head down onto her pillow. It was weirdly warm, for some reason.

She could feel Akko standing over her bed, staring at her for what felt like hours.

"Y-yeah. Okay," Akko said, her voice so quiet Sucy almost missed it. There was a long, awkward pause. "Good night, Sucy."

She heard Akko's footsteps echoing on the floor, the sound of covers being thrown and hastily pulled back up, and Sucy could imagine Akko gently closing her eyes shut.

It was quiet. Save for the thoughts inside Sucy's head.

She should've kept quiet. Actually saying "Thank you"—again—was just unnatural. Akko thought so too, going by that pause. Not to mention how weird she sounded when she said it.

Sucy rolled onto her side, eye clenched shut. She let out breath, listed off all the mushrooms she had collected today, from most to least interesting. Every thought slowly left her, and she tried to just go to sleep.

But then Akko's words echoed throughout her.

"And you'll always be important to me."

For a moment, they filled her with that same warmth she'd felt so many times throughout the night. But the next thought she had only filled her with something cold.

Will I?

It came without warning, from some corner of her mind she tried to suppress. Sucy let out a breath, but she suddenly could only focus on how much she had been arguing with Akko, how things had just gotten worse ever since that day she fought with Diana and Akko shouted all those things at her.

Everything was so much worse now. All because of Diana. Because Ms. Perfect didn't have an ounce of humor in her, was such an arrogant little hypocrite, because she was just such a miserable human being she made everything awful just from her presence alone, but for some reason everyone liked her, especially Akko, and now she might lose her all because of that ugly, friend stealing bitc—

A loud snore drowned out her thoughts. Sucy opened her eye, unclenching her teeth as she turned on her pillow.

Akko was fast asleep, covers rising and falling as she snored. On the top bunk, Lotte was snoring too, but far more softly. Sucy could just make out the waning, flickering green light of Ilo, a sign that they were sleeping too.

How long had she'd been stuck in her head?

Sucy stared at Akko's sleeping form. Akko rolled onto her side, and Sucy could see the dopey, happy smile on her face as she slept.

Sucy sighed, and closed her eye.

It wouldn't happen again. Not with Akko. Akko would find some way to make all of her friends happy, and not just make the easy, smart choice that everyone, especially Diana, was probably expecting her to make. Sucy had to believe that Akko cared about her as much as she said. Believe in the best friend she'd ever had.

Because she didn't know if she could handle being abandoned like a disgusting piece of trash again.

As the moon outside was covered by clouds, casting her room in darkness, Sucy once again killed off the thoughts and feelings she wished would stay dead, and slowly, she her mind fell into the peaceful quiet of sleep.

-0-​

In the Forest of Arcturus, a pale purple bat flew. Even though one of its eyes were scarred and useless, it soared the air with the grace of a shadow dancing through the night. And upon spying a scurrying mouse, it descended with all the sharpness and speed of a guillotine, snapping its fangs over the mouse, and then, landing on a broken branch on the ground.

The bat enjoyed its meal, sucking all the blood from the mouse, before swallowing it whole in one greedy gulp. It then let out a screech that, for its species, was the sound of contentment.

And that was when twisted, whip-like thorns made of pitch black bark erupted form the branch, ensnaring the bat in a monstrous grip as it screeched. There was a popping sound, purple blood stained the ashy grass, and the screeches ceased.

For a moment, all was quiet, save for the steady drip of purple blood that leaked down the thorns of the branch.

But then, there was a crack sound, like bark shifting. The branch on the ground started to twitch, and then, it slithered across the ground, pulled by an unseen force. It made its way past the screaming faces of the others trees in the groove, ones that were far more cracked and broken now; past the corpses of other animals, such as another bat who's wings had been ripped off and pinned to the ground, the face of the corpse a rictus of agony. And then, it reached an old, decaying tree. One that had burns on it.

When the branch reached the base of the tree, it stopped moving. There was pure silence.

But then, something inside the tree pulsed, the bark throbbing like a heart. A creaking echoed, but not the creaking of dying moans, but of old bones finally able to move again. The branch on the ground twitched again.

And then, it slowly levitated from the ground, and reattached itself to a broken part of the trees limbs. Wood met wood, bark twisting together to mend a wound, and then, the branch fully reattached itself to the tree.

And the moment it did, some of the burns on the tree started to fade away. Its bark lost just a touch of its decaying pallor.

And then, a malevolent aura of purple light, unnatural even by the standards of the magical forest it was in, surrounded it. There was another pulse from within the tree, one that shook it to its roots, and then, even though none but the tree were in that grove, one sound echoed in the cold, dark night.

A laugh. Not of a man, not of a witch, not even of a beast.

But a haunting laugh that rose like the dead from the grave, and marked the beginning of a nightmare.

AN: Hello there! It's been about four months since I promised to update this story. And it's been just as long any story for that matter. Yeesh.

So, to give a TL;DR about why I've been gone and what took this chapter so long: my mom got into a car accident on like day before I was going to upload this, and while she was fine, dealing with insurance to cover the accident has been a nightmare. I had to take more shifts at my job and work more hours to cover the bills while dealing with them, but, eventually, I got them to fork over the money.

After like three months of that, I started editing the draft for this chapter, and there were certain things I didn't like, and certain plot points I wanted to change, which led to a massive rehaul of certain scenes here. And then like in the second week of November, I got a really bad flu (surprisingly not COVID) that left me feeling like crap for the rest of the month, especially since I couldn't take that many days of work, so I had to work while sick.

And this was all on top of dealing with the fact that the one year anniversary of my best friends death came and went, reminding me she isn't here, and dealing with all the grief that brings.

So, that's what I've been up to these last few months. And yes, that was the summarized version.

I'm really sorry for the delay. And I'm afraid I have some more bad news: because of how busy I've gotten at my job, I'm gonna have to move this story to a monthly release. Sorry, but I don't want to sacrifice the quality of this story by giving out incomplete works just to meet a deadline that I can push back.

But anyway, I do hope this chapter was worth the wait. It's quite long (over 21,000 words, the longest chapter to date!), and there was a lot of talking here, but trust me when I say there were certain moments here that heavily foreshadow key plot points for later down the line. Also, I did my best to make the dialogue, especially between the red team and Ursula, feel authentic to them as characters, as well as doing the emotional moments here justice, and I hope that it made for an enjoyable read. And now, I'm gonna work on the next chapter and try to get it out by January 2nd!

And with that, these notes come to a close. Don't hesitate to tell me what you liked and/or didn't like about this chapter in the reviews! And if you can, please support me on pa tre on!

Also, small announcement, but I recently made a Ko fi page, so if you prefer to donate there, you can!

Any donations really help support both myself and my family, and makes it so that I don't have to take so many jobs and gives me more free time to write. This is Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!

AN: Hello there! It's been about four months since I promised to update this story. And it's been just as long any story for that matter. Yeesh.

So, to give a TL;DR about why I've been gone and what took this chapter so long: my mom got into a car accident on like day before I was going to upload this, and while she was fine, dealing with insurance to cover the accident has been a nightmare. I had to take more shifts at my job and work more hours to cover the bills while dealing with them, but, eventually, I got them to fork over the money.

After like three months of that, I started editing the draft for this chapter, and there were certain things I didn't like, and certain plot points I wanted to change, which led to a massive rehaul of certain scenes here. And then like in the second week of November, I got a really bad flu (surprisingly not COVID) that left me feeling like crap for the rest of the month, especially since I couldn't take that many days of work, so I had to work while sick.

And this was all on top of dealing with the fact that the one year anniversary of my best friends death came and went, reminding me she isn't here, and dealing with all the grief that brings.

So, that's what I've been up to these last few months. And yes, that was the summarized version.

I'm really sorry for the delay. And I'm afraid I have some more bad news: because of how busy I've gotten at my job, I'm gonna have to move this story to a monthly release. Sorry, but I don't want to sacrifice the quality of this story by giving out incomplete works just to meet a deadline that I can push back.

But anyway, I do hope this chapter was worth the wait. It's quite long (over 21,000 words, the longest chapter to date!), and there was a lot of talking here, but trust me when I say there were certain moments here that heavily foreshadow key plot points for later down the line. Also, I did my best to make the dialogue, especially between the red team and Ursula, feel authentic to them as characters, as well as doing the emotional moments here justice, and I hope that it made for an enjoyable read. And now, I'm gonna work on the next chapter and try to get it out by January 2nd!

And with that, these notes come to a close. Don't hesitate to tell me what you liked and/or didn't like about this chapter in the reviews! And if you can, please support me on pa tre on!

Also, small announcement, but I recently made a Ko fi page, so if you prefer to donate there, you can!

Any donations really help support both myself and my family, and makes it so that I don't have to take so many jobs and gives me more free time to write. This is Black Mage of Phantasm signing off. Peace!

 

[The Black Mage]

Art done by the wonderful Pili BlueBerry! Be sure to check out her awesome art when you can!

Also, friendly reminder, I have a Patreon! For just as little as around 3 bucks, you guys get to see snippets of chapters as I work on them, and at higher levels, joining a discord where you can talk about my stories and basically whatever you really feel like, and even check out some original stories I'm writing! So if you can, donate. Because despite lacking all sense of taste and smell, I still gotta eat, and food costs some dough.

I also recently opened up a Ko-Fi account, so if it's easier to donate here and you guys want to get similar benefits there, head on over here!