Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As she arrived, Lucky couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer scale of the academy.

“The game really doesn't capture it, does it?”

Momo laughed. “As if it ever could”

They entered the gate and immediately took a left to the registration desk where Lucky needed to sign in. After briefly greeting the administrator, Lucky gave them her form, and was given a schedule in exchange. Lucky followed Momo to the library.

“I remember this!” Lucky exclaimed. “The first game started here, right?” Lucky saw a book on the wall and instinctively reached for it.

“NO!” Momo yelled. Lucky flinched back. Momo also seemed to flinch at her own reaction. “Sorry. That's the original book, we have plenty of copies if you want one.”

“Really?” Lucky curiously replied. Momo walked across the room to a bookshelf with a suspicious number of identical books lined up. Lucky correctly guessed they were the copies Momo had mentioned when she brought Lucky the same book from it.

Lucky and Momo found a nice comfy sofa next to a far window and sat down next to each other as Lucky opened the book.

“Here's the hourglass.” Momo mentioned. “I had just learned that a few weeks before the game.”

“You were really good at it though!” Lucky said, making Momo slightly blush. Lucky laid down, her head resting on Momo's lap.

“I'll pay for it, we've got a lot more here for you to see.” Momo told Lucky, trying to stand up.

“Awww, I like it here…”

“Oh, come on!” Momo playfully replied. Momo helped Lucky up, and they walked to the desk, Lucky refusing to let go of Momo’s hand from helping her up from the couch. Momo took Lucky up a flight of stairs to her school's dormitories. Momo’s room looked pretty much exactly how Lucky had expected. Extremely neat. There couldn't have been a single speck of dust in the room.

“I made arrangements, we'll be sharing a room.” Momo explained

“Well, I hope you don't expect it to be THIS spotless anymore, Misses Clean.” Momo gave Lucky a playful nudge as she set down her bags. “Which bunk do you want?”

“I'll go on bottom.”

“Afraid of heights, are we?”

“I've been to space, I don't think so.”

“Whatever you say.”

After making Misses Clean’s room less than spectacular, Momo continued to show Lucky around to her classes.

“Do you want to take the scenic route?” Momo gleefully inquired on the way to the cafeteria.

“Of course!” Lucky obviously replied

Momo took an early left, leading out onto a balcony overseeing the ocean, where a familiar white cat was sitting.

“Sugar!”

“Momo! And… are you new?”

“Yep, staying with this delightful idiot!” Lucky rubbed Momo’s head as they all laughed.

“The sunset is beautiful tonight!” Sugar noted. Lucky wished she had more time to look at it before Momo whisked her and Sugar away to the cafeteria for dinner. It was nothing special, just some spaghetti, but it wasn't awful by any means. They sat down at a table towards the center.

“Just one more, the flying one, what was it called again?” Lucky asked.

“It's… just flying.” Momo bluntly responded.

“Oh…” Lucky replied, flustered.

Momo started to laugh, before remarking, “That'll be in the courtyard upstairs.”

“Can we stop by the balcony again first?”

“I’m going to if you all aren't,” Sugar said.

“I wouldn't mind stopping by.”

After dinner, they walked back up to the balcony to once again look at the sunset that had now nearly faded. Lucky hopped onto the railing and sat over the side, facing the ocean.

“This is nice.” Lucky remarked. “Come on, get over here!”

“Alright, I'll join you.” Momo reluctantly agreed. She hopped over the railing and sat beside Lucky, holding her hand as she sat facing the quickly disappearing sun.

Momo quickly lost track of time.

“It's 8:36!” Momo yelled, shocked.

They doubled past the entrance to the dormitories before taking some stairs up to a giant basketball court.

“It’s indoors?” Lucky asked, surprised.

“What, do you want to fall from the stratosphere?” Momo rhetorically asked.

“Wouldn't be opposed to it…”

“LUCKY!” Momo yelled, as they both burst out laughing. When she finally collected herself, she asked, “Let's get back before we get out the doors in front of the gate instead.”

They had to be somewhat careful, they ended up getting back at 9:03 instead of 9:00, but no one seemed to care that much on the first day. Lucky finished up getting everything situated in Misses Clean’s dumpster fire of a dormitory.

“You know, I wish we had just a bit more time watching the sun.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Lucky laid down and got out the book that Momo had bought for her earlier that day.

“Hey, Momo?”

“Yeah?”

“...”

“Thanks.” Lucky told Momo.

Momo gave Lucky a hug. “No problem.”

Chapter Text

Lucky couldn't sleep. A mix of adrenaline and the book being thick enough to keep her up till two left her as the one to wake Momo in the morning. She gently nudged Momo.

“It's 7:30, Miss Clean!”

“Alright, alright, I'm up.” Momo said, trailing off.

“I finished the book you bought me last night.”

“Already!?”

“What? It was only 200 pages.”

“It's the first day!”

“I know.”

“You're an idiot sometimes… I love it.” Momo finally got out of bed and put on her signature grey robes. Lucky, meanwhile, had chosen herself a nice maroon colored set that Momo had bought her before that year. 

“How do they look?” Lucky asked, doing a quick spin as if she was in a fashion show.

“Beautiful!” Momo said, ecstatic. “Come on, let's get to class!”

Thankfully for them, they shared a first period study hall in the library before they had to engage in any actual magical activity. In the meantime, Momo helped Lucky with some simpler spells she should've known from previous years.

“So, you've done the lines, right?”

“No, I did them left.”

“Lucky, I-” Lucky laughed at her own joke, probably more than she should've. “LUCKY!”

“Sorry, sorry. Yeah, I've learned them.”

“Alright, let's try the heart then.” Momo suggested

“Alright, so right about…” Lucky pointed her wand at Momo and drew a heart shape, which was sent forward directly towards her. “There.”

Momo blushed.

“You're supposed to point it at yourself.”

“Oops.” Lucky replied with feigned ignorance.

The bell rang, and Lucky and Momo went to separate classes, not before exchanging a quick hug. Lucky took the flight of stairs upwards to where the flying lessons were being taught by Ms. Yellow.

“Hi, are you Momo’s new friend she told us about?” A pumpkin asked on Lucky’s right. 

“I'd believe that's me, Lucky.”

“Alright, I'm Jack. This your first time flying?” They continued to inquire.

“Yep.”

“Alright, cool, me too. I was supposed to take it last year, but it got pushed back because-”

“Good morning class!” Ms. Yellow interjected. A large chorus of good mornings echoed back from the other students. “For those of you who haven't had me before, I am Ms. Yellow. I'm the principal of the school and also, as you might have guessed, your flying instructor. With a show of hands, how many of you have flown before?”

A few hands were raised, but it couldn't have been more than ten.

“Well then, let's start from zero.”

Meanwhile, Momo was having her own little flying adventure.

Having her two free periods back to back, Momo had arranged to meet Sugar outside on the balcony they had met her on yesterday. Both her and Sugar had brought their brooms since they shared the next period, Flying II. 

“You wanna have a little look-around?” Sugar asked.

“Sure.”

Momo and Sugar both took off at once. 

“Race ya to my ship!” Sugar asked

“Oh, alright!”

As Momo started over to the ship, she began to feel uneasy. Her vision started to go black, as her memories of the ocean started coming back like a flood.

Sugar made it to the boat just in time to turn around to see Momo falling, seemingly in slow motion, towards the ocean.

“Momo!” Sugar rushed towards where she had seen Momo fall and dove in. She spotted Momo nearly immediately, and rushed down to carry her to the surface. She brought her back to the shore, where Momo woke up, coughing.

“My head hurts…” Momo barely got the words out before slowly slipping out of consciousness again.

Lucky finally figured out how to get on top of the broom without making it fall back onto the ground when the bell rings once again. Lucky waited outside the flying room door to say hi to Momo before her next class.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited…

The bell had rung again, Momo was officially late. 

Where is she? Lucky started toward her second study hall now, she could afford being late.

Where is she?

Lucky went by the balcony that she had met Sugar on to see a crowd around someone on the beach side.

Was it? No. It couldn't be…

Lucky sprinted outside to confirm her fears. 

“Is she okay? What happened? I-”

“She's alive, she's swallowed a lot of water.”

Oh thank God. Sugar walked out with Ms. Yellow.

“Sugar! What happened?”

“I don't know, we tried to race to my ship, then I turned around, and she just-” Sugar motioned that she had fallen off her broom.

Lucky refused to leave Momo’s side until she had woken up at near midnight.

Momo woke up to find Lucky asleep in a chair next to her hospital bed. She gave Lucky a nudge awake.

“Hello.”

“MOMO!” Lucky jumped into Momo’s arms. “Sugar and I have been here for hours.” Momo just then noticed Sugar also sitting in a chair on the far end of the room.

“Oh… you really didn't have to.”

“Yes, we did.” Lucky interrupted, giving Momo another hug. “After all, I need Miss Clean to keep my room somewhat organized!”

Momo let out a weak laugh while trying to remember. She was racing Sugar, and then… Nothing. She opened her eyes and saw nothing. She had felt cold, like she was underwater without ever touching it. And then, the sky, and Sugar, panicking. Was it… were they coming back? Surely not-

“So, do you know what happened?” Sugar asked.

“I- I think so. It was like… like they were back.” Momo shivered

“Who?” Sugar asked

“The- the ghosts, and-” Momo was panicking, stuttering like a madman. 

Lucky reached out her hand and helped Momo up. 

“It feels like the world is spinning.”

“It’s ok. Just breathe.” Lucky said, comforting Momo.

Momo stumbled through the halls while Lucky guided her to their dorm.

“Don't worry, only one more flight of stairs, you got it. Aaaand, last step, here we are! Home sweet home!”

Momo collapsed into her bed without even changing clothes. She was still shaking.

“I- What would happen if- if they-”

Lucky climbed into Momo’s bed and put her arm around her. “It will be fine, I promise. Keep breathing.” 

Momo tried to slow herself down. She could feel her heart beating out of her chest. Lucky kept rubbing the back of Momo’s head, and kept consoling her until Momo fell asleep. Lucky gave her a kiss on the forehead before climbing into her bed and falling asleep as well.

Chapter Text

Momo couldn’t sleep. Well, she didn’t think she could sleep, despite the fact that she was already asleep, but dreaming is a weirdly powerful thing. She dreamt that she was still in bed, trying to sleep, but couldn’t. Eventually, she brought herself to get out of bed to use the bathroom. When she came back, she noticed that Lucky also wasn’t in her bed, even though she was in the non-dream world.

Momo looked around her room to try to find Lucky when she saw a ghost outside the window. She shut the blinds so fast that she broke the strings on them, and they fell to the ground. She hid in the corner of her room, as if it would do anything. The ghost saw the open window, and flew through it.

Momo saw the pattern on top of the ghost.

There’s no way… Momo hadn’t seen so many symbols on one ghost before, it was impossible! Without thinking, Momo ran to the door out to the main area of the academy.

Locked. The door was locked… from the outside? No, that wasn’t how this door worked! Momo turned around to find that the ghost had obviously seen her. Momo attempted to fire as many spells at it as she could, but by the time she was at one heart, she knew it was over.

Momo woke up to find Lucky already next to her, nudging her awake.

“Sorry.” Momo said. She was in a cold sweat. Weren’t dreams supposed to mean something? She hoped not. Lucky hugged Momo.

“Don’t worry, are you okay?” Lucky was pretty sure this had something to do with the previous day, when she had fainted over the ocean.

“It was… I was about to die…” Lucky knew what she meant before she said it. “To them.”

Lucky laid down beside Momo. “Look, I’ll be right here if you need me, okay?”

Momo finally returned Lucky’s hug. “Thanks.”

Momo drifted back off to sleep, with Lucky still beside her, and the same dream started up again. Momo noticed very quickly, however, that Lucky was missing.

I’m dreaming, Momo realized. Momo tried the door. Still locked somehow. She looked out the window. Yep, ghost’s still there. She started pelting every spell she knew at it, it felt like she was so close…

She once again woke up. Lucky was trying everything she could to help, but Momo was just…

Momo started sobbing.

“I’m so sorry…”

“What for?”

“I’m just. I…”

Lucky smiled. “Momo, you and I both know I’m too stubborn to give up on you.” Lucky said, with a playful nudge. Momo smiled for a moment, before returning to the depressive state she woke up in. Momo noticed the window was beginning to light up. She must’ve kept Lucky up all night.

“What time is it?”

Lucky got up to check the clock. “Looks like it’s about six.”

“I won’t bother trying to go back to sleep then, I hate it there.” Momo replied through a yawn.

“What exactly was your dream anyway?”

Momo tried to think, but she’d already forgotten a lot. “It was… I was trapped in here, but you were gone I think… The door was locked somehow." Momo kept trying to collect memories. “And there was a ghost outside the window…” Momo started to shiver. “A-and it saw me, and then-”

Lucky sat down next to Momo and put her arm around her. Momo let out a sigh. “I’m just terrified of it happening again…”

“If it does, you won’t be alone this time.” Lucky mentioned. Momo seemed to lighten up at the thought, before quickly realizing what Lucky meant.

“No, I don’t want you to risk yourself for me.”

“Well, I will.” Momo didn’t see the point in arguing. “The cafeteria opens at six, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s head on over.”

Momo quickly changed and, along with Lucky, went down the stairs towards the cafeteria. It was the standard waffles with bacon that they seemed to have every day. After filling up their plates, they sat down with Jack and Sugar.

“Hey Mo!” Jack greeted Momo.

“Hello.” Momo turned to Sugar. “What’d I miss in Flying yesterday?”

“I wasn’t there either, why would I know?” Sugar replied.

Of course she wasn’t there, I saw her. Momo remembered, feeling like an idiot. “Right, right, have you heard from anyone else?”

“Not really.”

“All I know is that brooms don’t seem to like me.” Lucky interjected.

“And I don’t like brooms, apparently.” Momo also added.

“Gosh, does anyone else actually like brooms?” Jack questioned. Sugar sheepishly raised her hand.

“Well of course you do!” Momo said sarcastically. Sugar rolled her eyes and took another bite of her waffle.

The Ghost Gang kept talking until the bell rang at 7, when they all split into their separate classes for a finally (somewhat) normal day of school. Momo thankfully didn’t have much catch-up in Flying since Ms. Yellow had to help Momo at the beach anyway. Lucky continued to look for more reading material in the Library after finishing Momo’s spellbook two days ago, and life continued as normal…

For a while.