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“Empty” was the word that came to mind.
An empty desk, empty bed, empty wall. Stripped of everything that had given them life. The desk was missing its scattered books and bits and bobs. The wall its decorations that perpetually asked: “is it weird to have a poster of your teacher?” The bed, of course, was missing Akko herself. It felt unnaturally quiet without her restless foot-tapping or leg-shaking.
Akko was gone again, and it was all Lotte’s fault.
She had tried to stop them, of course. But she had been too timid. Akko’s mother was very similar to her daughter. She had come in like a whirlwind and Lotte had been powerless to object. Lotte even helped her pack. She had held up the precious Shiny Chariot poster as Akko’s mother gingerly removed each of the pins.
Ah, Lotte saw it now. She did know. Akko’s mother knew how much Akko cared. How much Akko loved. She knew Akko loved magic, Chariot, her friends, and it didn’t matter. Lotte didn’t know whether to be furious or despondent, but the tears running down her cheeks told her that despair had won out. It was her fault.
Her fault.
her fault…
“Aren’t you going to do something?” came the familiar voice, although it lacked some of its bite. Lotte’s thoughts shifted. How could Akko’s parents do this? After all she had been through? After all they had seen and done together? They were going to drag her home before she even learned to fly a broom?
Lotte’s gut burned with an unfamiliar fire. Her brow furrowed. She was angry, and she was going to bring Akko back.
She grabbed Sucy’s wrist and, with a turn, raced out of the room, nearly pulling the other girl’s arm off in the process. They barreled through the halls and burst into the Green Team’s room.
“Akko’s parents are taking her home!”
“Wait—” Amanda tried to slow Lotte down, but she was undeterred.
“We’re going to stop them. Any questions?”
Amanda again moved to speak up, but she waited as Constanze scribbled a single word on her chalkboard.
“How?”
“I…don’t know.” Lotte’s facade broke for a moment, before resolve steeled her features again. “But we have to try.”
“Let. Me. Go!” Akko protested for what seemed like the thousandth time. Unfortunately, the grip on her was unyielding, and she was helpless to stop Luna Nova from slowly receding behind them.
“It’s for your own good, dear. This school is just far too dangerous!”
“It is not!”
“It clearly is.”
“Is not!”
“Is too!” Akko’s mother steadied herself. “We are not discussing this.”
Akko felt the pit of despair start to creep closer, and she raged against it. She struggled and wriggled and argued, but it was no use. Even Akko’s optimism could only carry her so far. She closed her eyes, letting herself feel nothing but the heavy footfalls beneath her. She hadn’t even been allowed to say goodbye.
Just then, Akko was jolted back to reality as she was spun around, limbs splaying out from the force. She saw her mother looking with shock at the school, and she gathered that her father was doing the same, although she could only see his back and the lonely path to the Leyline.
“Let me see! What is it? Let me—”
She was cut off by the rush of brooms and—before she was turned around again—caught a glimpse of their riders. It was her friends! Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Jasminka, Constanze…she hadn’t seen Diana, but she must have come too! Akko felt the grip on her loosen just slightly, pried herself free with a renewed strength, and tumbled unceremoniously into the dust.
“You came!” She turned around for a third time to see the six…no…five of them. Diana wasn’t there. That awful feeling in her gut was back.
“Of course!” came the reply, with a pained smile from Lotte, who turned next to Akko’s parents with a firm stare, giving the speech she had practiced on the way here: “We won’t let you take our friend away. We know Akko’s always not the best at magic, but she’s learned so much!”
“She conquered the evil spirit Vajarois.” Sucy droned, dripping some concoction onto a mushroom, which burst into a quite convincing impression of the ghost. One of Lotte’s spirits, topped off with a cartoonish rendition of Akko’s ponytail, dove into the ghost-mushroom, which burst apart with a loud “Bang!”. Pieces of fungi rained on the spectators as Constanze took the stage. Akko’s lips began to turn up at their edges.
“She joined the Wild Hunt.” proclaimed the message scrawled on her chalkboard. Stanbot morphed into a small model of the Grand Charion, and it battled with spirit-shaped pastries conjured by Jasminka. One-by-one the pastries were defeated as the robot bobbed and weaved through the evening sky. It returned to the ground and gave its onlookers a stiff bow. Akko was definitely smiling by now.
“And most of all,” Amanda strode forward with a showperson’s confidence. “She saved magic itself!” With a flourish, Amanda’s broom morphed into a passable rendition of the New Nine’s tandem rocket. The students clambered aboard, leaving Akko and Diana’s places at the front conspicuously empty. They rocketed into the air, falling off one by one as the broom climbed towards the still-hidden stars. The broom was too high to see clearly now, but as it reached its apex Akko swore she saw little magical figures of her and Diana atop it. For an instant, the Big Dipper shone unnaturally bright in the sky, before the illusion burst into a flurry of green stars. They fell to earth slowly, and Akko burst into joyous laughter when she caught one in her hand. She looked up to her parents full of hope. Surely they—
They weren’t smiling. No, if anything, they were furious. The bright expressions on her friends’ faces faded as they caught sight of the scene.
“That’s what you’ve been doing here all of this time?” Her mother’s voice got louder and louder “I thought your professor was at least exaggerating, but this…this—”
“Mom!”
“This is horrible! Everything is so dangerous. Your letters were nothing like this—”
“Mom, please!”
“Why were you lying to us? We would have taken you home months ago, and then—”
“Mom, please, just listen to—”
“Absolutely not!”
Diana had come as fast as she could. Ursula had found her tending to the Jennifer tree, and she had raced over when she heard the terrible news. It felt like a bad dream. Just when things were going so well, they were torn out from under her. Diana wasn’t even sure if the ‘her’ was Akko, or herself.
As she dashed across the campus, she saw stars through eyes watering from the wind. A beautiful shower of green enveloped Diana and her spirits lifted as she saw the sight of Akko’s friends—her friends—spread out across the grass. She couldn’t hear with the whistling in her ears, but maybe…
“Absolutely not!”
Diana would just have to reason with them herself. She landed in front of the family with a defiant thud.
“This has gone far enough.”
“Huuh?” Mrs. Kagari returned in a too-familiar tone.
“Have you even thought out the implications of taking Akko home? I cannot imagine you have. The dangers you are justifiably worried about have passed. The Noir Missile is gone. Professor Croix no longer teaches here. The only dangers that Akko is likely to encounter will come from the process of learning magic. Surely,” she continued with a faint smile, “you cannot think she will stop trying. It is much better for Akko to remain at Luna Nova where her teachers and friends can ensure that she remains safe.” That should work. She had remained calm, presented logical arguments, and—
“Who cares?” Mrs. Kagari exclaimed. “It can’t possibly be worse than here.” She paused for a moment, then exploded. “Akko could have died!”
Oh no. That pit in her stomach. The one she had felt when Akko had run off into a bitterly cold night. Or when she was falling, profiled against the brilliant earth below. And Diana had reached…reached…
Maybe her parents were right. It was too dangerous, being around here, around Diana. Maybe the right thing to do was to let her go. Diana could bear it—the loneliness—if it was for her. Even if Akko hated her for it.
The group erupted into a cacophony of shouts. But Diana only heard one.
“Mom!” The desperation in Akko’s voice was like a stake in Diana’s heart. She looked over and caught sight of Akko’s face streaked with tears. No. This couldn’t be right. Akko couldn’t have come so far…They couldn’t have come so far—together—all for nothing.
“Do you really not understand?” The words were spilling out now. “Do you even know what it will do if you crush Akko’s dreams? You’ll be lucky if she hates you. If you’re not, she’ll barely feel anything at all.”
“Diana…” Akko seemed taken aback. But Diana couldn’t stop. Not when the tears were already rolling down her face.
“None of you saw her! You don’t know what it was like. To see Akko so broken.” She was on the verge of sobbing, but she steeled herself for Akko’s sake. She looked right into Mrs. Kagari’s eyes. “Please, don’t hurt her again.”
A silence settled over the group. Akko’s parents stepped back and whispered to each other. Every second they stayed there felt like an eternity. At long last, Mrs. Kagari spoke up, looking to Akko’s friends.
“You’ll keep her safe?” Her gaze met Diana’s. “Please?”
Choking up, Diana replied, “Of course.”
She sighed, barely muttering “Akko can stay.”
“DIANAAAAAAAAA!” Akko nearly tackled Diana, enveloping her in a tight embrace. Diana held her close. She wasn’t going anywhere. After a few moments, the two were surrounded by their friends in a warm hug. Akko just kept saying “Thank you.” Eventually, the group split off again, the relief evident on their faces.
Akko’s parents called her over for…something about luggage? Diana couldn’t remember. She was too focused on what Akko said next.
“Come see me fly tomorrow! I’m sure it’ll work this time…and I want you to be there for it.”
“Of course. I would be happy to come.” She looked back at her friends, who were happily chatting away.
Should she bring snacks?