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Her feet landed deftly on the floor of the empty hallway as she moved in a brisk and graceful allegro. She cherished these moments, her moments of peace as the eerie silence of the night prickled her ears like a burn being rinsed in cold water. She moved freely at this hour, the mask she hid behind during the day slipped from her face as moonlight adorned it. Her mind felt clearer, a gentle breeze wafting through a dark, cramped room. She continued her dance, making a dull, quiet thud with every jump, small beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She stood still for a moment, her leg lifted high above her head, a passionate glint in her emerald eyes. Her uniform was much too revealing for a move such as that, but she didn’t care–she didn’t care about anything. All that mattered to her now was her performance, the freedom with which she danced through the empty halls. Every night, she came here. Every night, she escaped from the emotions that plagued her throughout the day. Every night, she took off her mask, and danced.
Quiet sobs haunted the library at night as she tried desperately to stop the flame burning dimly within her nigh-frozen heart from dying out. From birth, she had been burdened with the overwhelming weight of the expectations that came with her family name–a weight that grew heavier with each passing moment. She could not falter, for losing momentum for even a second would be a stain upon the legacy she was born to continue. To others, she appeared stoic, composed, ruthless in her superiority–a hardened mask held over a gentle face, one she was forced to wear. She had a duty, after all, and she was not one to flee from it. Behind that mask, however, was a girl who felt cold, lonely, lost–emotions she had no choice but to push aside, no matter how much pain they caused her. The girl had no one to share those emotions with, no one who she let see past her mask, and so, when the school fell silent, she snuck out to the library–a sheltered campfire amidst an icy squall, a sanctuary, an escape from the cold. The heavy tomes that surrounded her were a fortress, walls she could find refuge behind to shed the tears she had to hide. It was all she could do to keep herself at bay, to keep her light from fading. So every night, she came here. Every night, she confronted the emotions she suppressed throughout the day. Every night, she took off her mask, and wept.
“Miss O’Neill.” Professor Finnelan’s voice echoed through the now-empty classroom, causing Amanda to stop in her tracks as she entered the hall. “The next time you’re caught breaking any rules, it’ll be detention for a week. Understood?”
“Yeah, yeah.” The fiery-haired witch responded with a dismissive wave, continuing her exit before the door slammed shut behind her. “That old hag.” She let out an irritated groan and rolled her eyes when she heard an all too familiar sound.
“Ahem.” Diana cleared her throat. “May I remind you once again, O’Neill, that classes are meant for learning and not playing around with paper aeroplanes? You’re 16, not a primary schooler, act like it.” Her voice was cold and stern, the vast majority of students would drop their act and profusely apologise before she had even finished speaking, but not Amanda.
She turned around with a smug grin on her face, eager to see how far she could push Diana this time. “And may I remind you, Cavendish .” She mocked her, speaking in an exaggerated British accent while lifting her nose up into the air. “That you’re a stuck-up bitch that needs to get her nose out of my damn business?” Her voice went back to normal, bold and brash, and the smug expression returned to her face–showing a bit of teeth to assert herself.
“Your business.” The star student scowled at her, taking a step closer. “Can hardly be called that when it involves disturbing class for all of us.” Not wanting to let go of her temper, she took a step back and collected herself. “Don’t let it happen again, O’Neill.”
Amanda rolled her eyes as Diana turned around and walked away, accompanied by her two minions. “Fucking hell.” She muttered to herself, before making her way to the courtyard. Lessons had finished for the day and she wanted to unwind for a bit, rather than studying at the library like most students had planned to do.
Once she had made it to her favourite tree, she let out a loud, drawn-out sigh and dramatically fell backwards onto the grass, making a dull thud. Her head leaning against the trunk of the tree, arms crossed and legs spread out, she slowly fell asleep for an afternoon nap.
It didn’t last long, however, until a certain brown-haired witch snapped her right back out of her slumber.
“Amandaaaa!” A high-pitched, overly-excited shriek came from across the courtyard, going on and on until the witch came to a halt right at Amanda’s feet, almost falling over in the process.
The redhead desperately pretended to be asleep, but to no avail, Akko had already seen a small space between her eyelids that were quickly sealed back shut. When she opened them, she was met with two large crimson eyes mere inches away from her own, causing her to jump up and yelp, now finding herself sitting rather than laying. “The hell was that for? I told ya to wake me up at six.” She groaned in annoyance at being woken up prematurely from her regularly scheduled nap.
“Sorry!” Akko responded, rubbing her hand over the back of her neck with a dorky grin. “I wanted to ask if you’d like to teach me those tricks you did in broom flying class today, they were amazing!” She said in her typical excited voice, completely ignoring the fact that, well…
“You can’t even get off the ground yet, dumbass.” Amanda chuckled. “How am I s’posed to teach ya?”
Akko mumbled something to herself and kicked a pebble in frustration, knowing her troublesome friend was right.
“I’m going back to sleep.” Amanda yawned. “You got this, ‘kay?” She shot Akko an encouraging look, not wanting her to waddle in her sorrows too much, to which she responded with a big grin and determined eyes.
“Got it!” The brown-haired witch shouted excitedly before running off to god knows where, the last thing Amanda saw before drifting off to sleep again.
And at six o’clock, not even a second sooner or later, a little robot came to shake her awake, climbing on top of her and vigorously moving her head from side to side until she gave in and opened her eyes, spotting her two roommates patiently waiting for her to join them for dinner. Jasminka reached out her hand to pull her to her feet, and off they went to the canteen.
Dinner passed without much of a fuss, after which they all returned to their dorms for some late-night studying–or, in the green team’s case, watching movies with the red team. Today’s movie night involved a marathon of the Apkallu kaiju films, which they were all finding rather entertaining–most of them, at least. As fun as movie nights were, Amanda had different plans, and as the clock struck midnight, she excused herself from the dorm. “I got some stuff to take care of, you guys have fun.” Her usual excuse. They knew not to bother her or ask questions whenever she went out late at night, an unspoken rule in the green team’s dorm, so they simply waved her goodbye and went back to watching The Return of Apkallu.
Her intuition was right, Luna Nova’s faculty had finished their hall patrols and had gone to bed. She wandered the empty school for a while, searching for the perfect spot, and–coming around the corner of one of Luna Nova’s seemingly endless hallways–she found it. Moonlight glistened through the tall windows and onto the wine red floor, a sight that soothed her the moment she laid eyes on it. “Perfect.” She spoke to herself in a satisfied sigh, before quickly beginning to dance.
“Croisé.” She muttered to herself, continuing her ballet. She had been lost in her performance and found herself at the entrance to the library, noticing a dim light peeking out from beneath the doors. Her curiosity piqued, she quietly opened them and found herself standing behind none other than Diana Cavendish, who was sitting at a nearby table, engrossed in her books and silently crying into her arms. “Curfew was three hours ago.” She spoke bluntly, a sly grin on her face.
Diana hit her knee against the edge of the table in shock, but quickly collected herself–the impact had distracted her enough to stop the tears from flowing, albeit momentarily. “And who, O’Neill, are you to speak about curfews?” She craned her neck and gave her a fierce glare.
“Nothin’, just telling ya.” She gave Diana a casual shrug and walked around the table, sitting down opposite her.
They sat in an awkward silence for what felt like hours. Diana tried to ignore her, but grew increasingly irritated as she tried her hardest to ignore her presence–she already didn’t like Amanda bothering her during the day, let alone now. Alas, the feeling of her gaze was too strong to ignore.
Amanda propped her feet on the table, much to the disdain of the heiress in front of her. “Whatcha readin’?” She asked, peering over at her book.
The innocent question caused Diana to boil over and shoot her another glare. “What do you want, O’Neill?” Her voice was stern enough to make almost anyone back off.
Any other time and she would’ve responded with a taunt, she hated Diana, after all. “That stuck-up bitch.” Words she must’ve used to describe the heiress dozens of times by now, and she stood by them every single time. But she didn’t feel like it. Having just cleared her head, she felt… calm. “Just askin’.”
“I don’t believe you.” Diana looked at her in suspicion, not believing a word of what she said.
“Oh come on, I’m not looking for trouble right now.”
“You’re
always
looking for trouble, O’Neill.”
Much to her own surprise, Amanda was somewhat offended by her notion, and it showed clearly on her face.
“My apologies, it seems I let my biases get in the way of proper judgement.” Diana noticed her faltering demeanour and felt… strange. This wasn’t the Amanda O’Neill she knew, something felt off about her. “Why are you here?” She asked, a hint of genuine curiosity in her voice.
Amanda put her feet back down, her head now resting on the palm of her hand. “Saw the lights were on, thought I’d check it out.” Her gaze lingered on the pile of books Diana had in front of her.
“That doesn’t explain why you were in the halls to begin with.”
Amanda shrugged, she didn’t want Diana knowing of her passion for dancing. “Just wasting time.” Her answers were short and to the point, she wasn’t fond of sharing this side of her with people–especially not her . “What about you? I didn’t think you had it in you to break curfew.” She asked, wanting the subject to shift away from herself.
Diana stayed silent for a while, debating with herself over how much of the truth she felt comfortable exposing to her. She looked uncertain, causing Amanda’s eyebrows to raise. “I’m not a fan of it.” The heiress responded reluctantly, her eyes drooping slightly.
“...but?”
“Don’t pry, O’Neill.”
“R-right, my bad.” Amanda muttered awkwardly, taken aback by the sudden hostility in her voice.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d prefer it if you left me alone.” Diana ended their conversation right there and then, not even granting her another look.
“Fine.” Amanda stood up and made her way back to her dorm, thoughts and questions swirling through her mind. “What the hell is with that girl?” More than anything, she was confused. “She’s usually a condescending bitch, but… I swear she was being nice to me for a second there. At least she didn’t scold me this time, I guess. Whatever, doesn’t matter anyway.” She quietly opened the door to her dorm–her roommates were fast asleep–and got ready to end the night.
She stared at the bunk above her, her thoughts still lingering on her encounter with Diana. She wouldn’t get much sleep that night.
“SUCYYYYYY!” Akko’s voice rang through the canteen at lunchtime, there was a mushroom sprouting from her head. “How long has that been there?!” Her voice was loud and obnoxious, and she had an angry blush on her face–business as usual.
“Since breakfast.” Sucy responded in her dull, monotonous voice.
Jasminka offered a cookie, which Akko grumpily accepted. “Thanks, Jasminka.” She tried not to come across as too upset. “Now can someone get this thing off my head?” Akko sighed.
Lotte swished her wand. “There, there, it’s gone now, Akko” She gave her a warm, gentle smile. She always does, the sweetheart.
“What’s with the yellin’?” The fiery-haired girl who walked up to them had heard the debacle from outside the canteen. She sat down next to Jasminka and Constanze, who had kept a seat free for her.
Akko pointed at the ghostly girl next to her, who gave a toothy, sadistic grin in response.
“We didn’t see you in classes today, Amanda.” Lotte prompted, a concerned look on her face as she noticed her heavy eyebags.
Amanda simply shrugged and took a sip of juice, leaning back on her chair with her feet kicked up on the table. Those feet, however, quickly went back down when a stern voice spoke out behind her.
“O’Neill.”
Amanda jumped out of her chair and turned around, eyes widened in surprise.
“Staying up late out of your own accord is no reason to be skipping class in the morning. Professor Finnelan has requested that I take you to her classroom immediately.” Diana began to walk away, with Amanda following suit–but not before shooting a worried look towards her friends.
“She’s dead.”
“No she’s not!”
“Miss O’Neil, what do you think you’re doing?” Professor Finnelan’s voice was stern and sharp, she was fuming. “This is the third time this week that we’ve had to hand out punishments to you.”
Amanda was ready to fight her way out of this, or at least fight someone else in . “Why are you only mad at me ?” She asked provocatively, a sly grin hidden behind her bold expression. “Little miss perfect here was out past curfew too, shouldn’t she get in trouble for that?”
Professor Finnelan raised an eyebrow at this accusation. “Is this true, Miss Cavendish?” She didn’t believe it, why would she, but she was obligated to look into such affairs no matter what.
“U-um, yes, Professor Finnelan, that would be correct.” Diana had a flustered blush on her face, but tried hard to pretend otherwise, much to Amanda’s enjoyment.
“I expected better from you, Miss Cavendish.” Her voice displayed great disappointment in her star student, she never would’ve imagined her a rulebreaker. “In that case you two will be handwashing the students’ laundry tonight, no magic allowed under any circumstances. Understood?”
“Understood.” The witches said in unison and left the classroom with a bow. Amanda’s voice sounded slightly annoyed, but mostly indifferent. Diana, however, seemed shocked at the prospect of doing such a task–especially together with her .
After entering the hallway, Diana instantly turned around to face her partner in crime with a fiery stare. “Was that truly necessary, O’Neill?”
Amanda simply shrugged, a smug, crooked smile on her face.
“I’ll have you know I’m not particularly fond of the idea of spending my evening doing laundry with you.” Diana was getting more and more irritated by the second. “You’re insufferable.”
“Like being a bitch is gonna make it any more fun.”
Diana sighed in order to regain her temper, realising she was right. “I suppose, but it would suit you not to use such uncouth language when you’re already facing punishment.”
“Whatever, see ya tonight, Cavendish.” She rolled her eyes and walked away, a mischievous glint in her eyes–she couldn’t wait to see the look on Diana’s face later.
But when the time came, the air was tense and awkward–not at all what Amanda had hoped for. The two witches sat on opposite ends of the room, tending to their laundry in a deafening silence–broken on occasion by frustrated grunts and angry glares.
“Is this what you were hoping for, O’Neill?” Diana asked with contempt in her voice.
Amanda let out a sigh of frustration. “I’ve never had less fun doing laundry, at least with Akko I get to fuck around.”
“I would expect as much from you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Having taken offence, Amanda dropped her laundry and raised her voice.
“It means you never take anything seriously, I’m not surprised punishments don’t work on you with that attitude.” Diana’s voice was cold, her words laced with poison. She was furious with Amanda, but didn’t want to make it apparent.
Amanda stood up and walked towards Diana, balling her fists and rolling up her sleeves. “Here you fucking go again, you’re always talking down on others.” She felt ruthless, a fire burning behind her eyes. “Get off your high horse, everyone who isn’t a suck-up thinks you’re a massive bitch. You’re not some perfect princess, Cavendish.” She took a step closer to Diana, who had stood up and faced her. Diana’s eyes were trembling with a mix of fear and hurt as the hot headed girl invaded her space. “You think you’re so fucking amazing, don’t you? The perfect student who gets her life handed to her on a silver platter. The star of Luna Nova who shows no compassion for those who weren’t blessed with a life of gold and luxury. You know what I think of that? Huh? I think you can fuck off and eat shit.” She took another step towards her, teeth clamped shut with rage, when suddenly… Amanda stumbled backwards, a hand clutching her cheek.
Diana held her hand, a tear falling from her eye–she had slapped Amanda across the face, unable to hold back her emotions. “I…” Her mouth was agape, her eyes widened in shock, she couldn’t believe what she had done. She fell down to her knees and began to quietly cry. Her mask hadn’t just slipped, it had been broken.
The rage in Amanda’s heart faded, being replaced by a hollow guilt in her stomach. She stood still, not knowing what to say or do.
“I’m sorry, Amanda.” She was quiet, sincere–not at all what Amanda was used to. “I shouldn’t have–”
“No.” Amanda interrupted. “I deserved that.” She bent down next to her and, trying to comfort her, gave her an awkward, reluctant hug.
Silence filled the room once more, but this time there was no tension–only the quiet sobs of the usually cold and stoic girl. The pauses between her sobs grew longer and longer, until they stopped entirely. “Thank you.” She whispered, her head buried in the crook of Amanda’s neck. She stood back up, splashed a handful of water onto her face, and returned to her laundry in order to distract herself. “We’d better get back to our duties.”
Amanda nodded quietly and walked back to her side of the room. She moved her pile of laundry over to Diana’s–there was no need for distance now that the hostility had dissipated from the air. “Can I ask something?”
“Sure.”
“Why were you up so late last night?”
Diana stayed silent for a while, thinking of what to say. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”
“I promise.”
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves–she felt scared, vulnerable, and that wasn’t something she was used to. “I’m terrified.” Another deep breath.
“Terrified of what?” Amanda’s head was now resting on the palm of her hand, listening intently to what she had to say.
“Being myself.” She explained to Amanda’s surprise, whose eyes widened almost immediately. “It doesn’t befit a woman of my stature.” She paused for a while, taking her time to process everything. “I guess I’m… jealous–of you, of Akko, of everyone.”
“ You’re jealous…? of us ?” Amanda asked in disbelief. “I thought you hated us?”
She let out a sombre chuckle. “I don’t hate you, Amanda.”
“It sure feels like you do.”
“I’m… sorry.” She looked down, her eyes filled with shame. “I’ll admit, when I see you enjoying yourselves… I let jealousy get the better of me.” She took another deep breath in preparation. “Ever since my mother passed, I… haven’t been able to let my hair down.”
“Diana…” Amanda looked at her in shock, she had no idea.
“When I was little, my mother let me fly overseas to attend one of Shiny Chariot’s shows in secret.” There was a nostalgic smile on her face, it was a memory she held dear to her heart–dearer than any other.
“Shiny Chariot?!”
“I was enamoured with her, but to openly express that was… taboo.” The smile faded from her face. “To be a Cavendish is to be noble, elegant, stern and serious at all times, and Chariot was the opposite of that. If anyone found out, it would’ve been a stain on my family’s image.“
“So that’s why you’re like that?” Amanda figured.
“Yes, and to answer your question, I come to the library every night to… unwind.” The weight that she had felt had been lifted off her shoulders, having finally shown someone her softer side.
“Every night? I’m surprised I hadn’t bumped into ya before.” Amanda replied, causing Diana to raise an eyebrow. She chuckled, slightly embarrassed. “I’m the same as you.” The other eyebrow went up. “I sneak out every night, too, to dance.”
“To dance?” Diana sounded bemused, who would’ve guessed the rebellious Amanda O’Neill would be into something like that.
“Yeah, I like ballet, been doin’ it since I was a kid.” She laughed. “Doesn’t fit my persona, huh?” Her usual smug grin returned to her face as she stood up and stretched–she was rather proud of Diana’s bewildered expression. “My head gets too hot, so at night I like to dance through the halls to cool off.” She stood on her tippy toes and stretched her arms towards the ceiling, letting out a groan of pleasure when she came back down. “I’d show ya, but…” She looked around the room, appalled at the amount of laundry they had yet to do, and swished her wand to speed up the process.
“Amanda!” Diana said sternly, worried they would get caught, to which Amanda laughed heartily.
“Oh, shut up.” She said dismissively. “Finnelan only says that ‘cause she thinks we’re too scared not to listen to her, she’s never actually checked on us before.”
Diana doubted her for a moment, but gave in and shrugged, pulling out her own wand as well.
When they finished, Amanda placed a hand on Diana’s shoulder and gave her a smug grin. “Good job, rulebreaker.” She winked at her and turned around, beckoning her to come with her.
Diana was relieved to see her turn around–her cheeks had turned a slight shade of pink. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had warmed up to Amanda more than she was letting on. She followed her into the hallway and found it deserted. “Is it past curfew already?” She asked, a flash of worry running through her words.
Amanda shrugged. “Who cares, your hair’s down, isn’t it?”
“I–” She stopped in her tracks for a second, but continued walking with a determined look on her face. “Yes, yes it is.”
“Good.” Amanda grabbed her wrist and began to pick up the pace.
“W-wait! Where are we going?!”
“Doesn’t matter, just follow me.”
After running for a while, Diana almost tripping over her own feet several times, they arrived at the courtyard. Amanda took a deep breath and let out a satisfied sigh. “Sit down, I’ve got somethin’ to show ya.” She told her newfound friend with a smug, but ever-so-slightly nervous smile.
Diana sat down, her hands placed firmly behind her back, and watched as Amanda began to dance.
A slow, intimate adagio, Amanda danced with an elegance even a Cavendish would admire. Her eyes glistening in the moonlight, she moved to a song engraved onto her mind–a dance routine she must’ve done a thousand times. Her weight shifted from foot to foot as she effortlessly executed a variety of slow, graceful movements. The performance picked up in intensity with a series of quick jumps, ending in a pirouette. To finish it off, she spun around to face away from Diana and raised one leg high above her head. She leaned her head backwards and winked, looking Diana straight in the eyes–she was still Amanda, after all. She was too busy getting back to her feet to notice the blush that Diana had quickly tried to hide.
It was impressive, elegant, beautiful , and she applauded her accordingly. “That was… lovely.” She told her with a genuine smile as her friend sat down next to her.
“Thanks.” Amanda responded with a proud grin. “Y’know, you’re pretty fun to hang with when you let yourself breathe a little.”
“You really think so?” She asked with pink cheeks and a smile.
“Yeah, I do.”
Diana chucked in satisfaction and slowly, but surely, scooched up close to her as they gazed off into the night.