Akko was still sleeping in bed.

Xelia was on her desk, preparing her, Akko and Lotte's textbooks and notebooks for the day. Lotte was also asleep, her round glasses on the desk too.

Akko was mumbling in her sleep - she was probably having a dream. Thinking back on it, Xelia was confused.

Why was the Shiny Rod in the Forbidden Forest of Arcturus? Shouldn't it have been with Shiny Chariot?

Then she paled as she came to a realization.

Shiny Chariot went missing from the media after stunning performance.

And the Shiny Rod was in the Forbidden Forest.

Did she venture in, and... and-

Akko sat up in her bed and gasped, startling Xelia. She fell off her table.

"Huh-? Xelia, you okay?" Akko asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Just a little startled." She said nervously. "I prepared al our notebooks and textbooks, by the way."

"Thanks!" Akko said, beaming. Lotte stirred from the sudden chatter.

"Oh, Lotte! Good morning!" Xelia said, noticing her sit up in bed. She handed her her glasses.

"Thanks..." She said, adjusting them.

After a while, with the two of them starting to get fully awake, Akko was her usual perky self.

"Oh, that's right!" Akko said, rummaging through her bedsheet. She pulled out the Shiny Rod. Xelia only grew more nervous at the thought of its possibly deceased owner.

"The Shiny Rod!" Akko said happily. "It wasn't a dream after all!"

She hugged the wand lovingly, her eyes twinkling with the stars of hope and admiration, something she saved only for Shiny Chariot.

"Here we are, finally at witch school!" Akko said, pulling Xelia closer to her. Xelia's face was smushed against Akko's cheek. "And such a highly esteemed one at that!"

"Yeah, we are pretty lucky..." Xelia said, her voice muffled. "But it would be more enjoyable if my face wasn't crushed."

"Oh! Sorry..." Akko said sheepishly, letting go of Xelia.

Back on track, Akko was laughing giddily, thankful for getting in Luna Nova.

"Check it out!" Xelia turned to see Akko finally noticing that Lotte was awake, brandishing the Shiny Rod like a kid showing a wanted toy to their parents.

"So that's the Shiny Rod, right?" Lotte said.

"Bingo!" Akko said very loudly, startling Lotte a bit.

"It belongs to the one and only - Shiny Chariot!" Akko said, pointing at a Shiny Chariot poster on the wall next to her bed. "Not sure what it was doing just sitting in the forest, but until I see her again, I'll be sure to keep it safe!"

"You mean we. I'm helping too!" Xelia said, elbowing Akko's shoulder.

"Yeah!" Akko said. "It's weird but when I'm holding this wand, I feel like I can do all kinds of magic!"

Xelia was about to say something, but Akko pointed the Shiny Rod towards her bed. "I command you - fly bed!"

A few moments passed and nothing happened. "Maybe you should-" Xelia started.

But now Akko pointed the Shiny Rod at the bird plush of Alcor on the desk. Everyone knew Alcor was Shiny Chariot's pet.

"Now - move Alcor!" Akko said, pointing the rod at the plush. Frustrated, she kept pointing it again and again at the plush, commanding it to move.

"Akko, I think I have an idea why it's not working." Xelia said. Akko turned to her, curious.

"Why?"

"Well, it's either because you need to say a spell name, or because it only activates when its needed." Xelia said.

"I hope its not the second one..." Akko said, pouting.

"Well, we won't know until later." Lotte said, joining the conversation. "Now, we should get dressed. We can continue talking in our break."

After a while, Akko put on her hat and smiled.

"Yeah! Transformation complete! The fight is on!" Akko said triumphantly.

"That uniform is for ceremonies and training. This one is for normal class." Lotte said, referring to the uniform she was wearing.

"But that's so boring..." Akko said, slumping.

"Anyway. Our classes are Magic Linguistics, then its Magic Pharmaceutics, and finally, Magic Numerology." Xelia said, reading through her schedule.

While Akko was getting dressed into her correct uniform, Xelia was handing Lotte her books. ("Thanks!" Lotte said. Xelia smiled sheepishly. "No problem.")

Akko got her books. Hugging the books close to her chest, she sighed and stared through the window.

"First day of magic school. I'm gonna live my dream." Akko said airily.

Xelia opened the door to the hallway. "Hurry up Akko!"

"Coming!"

The door shut and the room was empty.

https://youtu.be/JRmgL564x8E

Xelia, Akko and Lotte were talking together, walking through the halls to get to class. Xelia noticed Professor Ursula holding a large stack of books, talking with the professor that brought Akko to her dorm last night.

"Oh hey, its that teacher that helped us in the Forbidden Forest, and the teacher that got you to your dorm, Akko." Xelia said.

But then Professor Ursula lost balance of her books and was tumbling around, trying to catch them. And when she did (in a very awkward position) she tried to hop to continue walking along the hall but ended up falling down in a pile of books.

The students stopped and stared. The other professor sighed and shook her head.

Akko just shrugged, and they went back to talking about uniforms.

"Hm... what a plain uniform." Akko said, fidgeting with the cuffs of her sleeves. "But I guess it will do." She stopped fidgeting.

"Did you come to Luna Nova to rate the uniforms?" Xelia snorted. Akko gave her a petty glare but after a bit she giggled too.

"I can't wait to see what magic class is going to be like!" She said. Xelia smiled.

"I bet it'll be amazing. But judging by one of them being called 'Magic Numerology', I'm guessing it isn't all about turning rags into a ball gown." Xelia said.

"Well, those things won't matter when I want to become like Shiny Chariot!" Akko said.

Xelia frowned as her thoughts about Shiny Chariot's fate swirled in her head. She'd ask Akko a question. Depending on what she answered, she'd tell her what might've happened to her idol. She knew it'd crush her heart, but...

She needed to know.

"Akko, do you wonder why the Shiny Rod was in the Forbidden Forest? And why Shiny Chariot just suddenly disappeared form the media all those years ago?" Xelia asked.

"Well, I guess I do - but there's no use wondering about something if you have nothing to point you in any direction, right?" Akko said, smiling. "Why do you ask?"

She wanted to tell her. To tell her about what she thought. To tell her that maybe Shiny Chariot was gone.

But she looked into Akko's eyes and realized she couldn't. At least, not now. Her dreams would be crushed. And she wouldn't have even gotten the chance to live out through it.

"Oh... no reason, just curious." Xelia said, the lies tasting bitter against her tongue. Akko smiled and turned back to the road ahead of them eager to get to class on time.

That whole walk to class, Xelia's smile was painfully fake.

After a bit, they were all seated in class.

Their professor was now known as Professor Anne Finnelan, and she was teaching Magic Linguistics.

"These Luna Runes are the ancient character system used by witches long ago. They are a type of segmental script." Professor Finnelan explained, twirling her wand in circles and the characters was magically typed on the board behind her. "Is there anyone in the class who can read the letters on the board?"

The whole class had their notebooks open, their quills scratching against teh paper as they all took notes. Xelia noticed Sucy sitting below them.

A girl with pale green hair held her hand up.

"Proceed, Ms. Cavendish."

The girl stood up. "Bless the one that lets the stone remain untouched. Woe betide the one who moves it."

The students were bewildered.

"That is most impressive, Ms. Cavendish." Professor Finnelan said, smiling. "In all my years as a teacher, you're the first student to decipher this."

The pale-haired girl sat down.

The red-haired girl from before (now known has Hannah) was sitting next to the pale-haired girl, along with the dark-haired girl from before (now known as Barbara) on the other side.

They were gushing about the pale-haired girl, and Xelia picked up her name as Diana.

Next class, Magic Pharmaceutics, with Professor Lukic. Green smoke billowed from the cauldron as she stirred. The smoke traveled around the room, Xelia, Akko and Lotte coughing on it.

Xelia noticed Sucy savoring it.

"As you stir the pot, the color begins to change! Next, add a live frog to your concoction. The frog must be added when the water is still cold to achieve the proper effect!" She said. "Add intestines of newt, ground claw, and bat! Introduce these ingredients little by little, then..."

Diana got out her wand and it glowed, the smoke drifting away from her.

"...Do you smell that pleasant aroma it's giving off?" She said, grinning with shark-like teeth. She cackled with delight.

Final class, Magic Numerology, with Professor Samantha Badcock. She was flitting through a textbook, talking to the students. Akko was very sleepy though, and Xelia had to keep tapping on her shoulder when it seemed she was about to fall asleep.

"As discussed in the previous lessons, Heibagerus is said to be the one who created the basics of magic and fortune-telling. Now, let us reference page nine-hundred and twenty-three, at line one-hundred twenty-two." Professor Badcock explained. "Using numerology, you can depict the universe on a scale from one-to-five-"

"Professor Badcock?" Diana said, standing up. Professor Badcock looked up form her textbook.

"I believe its actually one-to-four and not one-to-five." Diana said, calm as ever. Professor Badcock turned back to her textbook with a snap, adjusting her glasses as her eyes widened with the realization.

"What? Oh no! How could I make that mistake?" She said, inspecting the textbook closer to her face. "Yes, you're right."

Diana sat back down. "You're even smarter than Badcock!" Barbara said with a grin.

Since Xelia had been too invested in what had just happened, she'd forgotten to tap Akko's shoulder and now she was asleep, drooling on her notebook. Xelia just noticed and tried to shake her awake.

After classes, they had lunch and headed to the cafeteria.

"I don't get it!" Akko said angrily, chomping her food with a glare. "I thought magic classes were supposed to be fun and exciting! But instead they're all boring!"

"Hey, can you pass me that please?" Lotte asked Xelia, while Akko was ranting about how boring the classes were. Xelia passed the ketchup bottle to her.

"How am I supposed to learn if I'm being bored to death?!" She said, taking a bite of her food. "It's nothing like a imagined - how did Shiny Chariot learn how to do her magic spells in a place like this?"

"Shiny Chariot's magic is frowned upon at Luna Nova." A familiar calm voice said. Xelia recognized it from class.

They looked to see Diana, firm and tall. "She's a disappointment."

Xelia felt annoyed at this, used to hearing it from her parents. But she knew it would probably be nothing compared to Akko's anger.

"Ms. Kagari, is that right? You're new here, aren't you." She said.

"Call me Akk-" Akko said, her voice muffled because of the food in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed it, and continued her sentence. "Just call me Akko. You're the one who read the letters in class, aren't you?"

"My name is Diana Cavendish." She said sternly.

"You really don't know who Diana is? Have you just been living under a rock or something?" Hannah said. Xelia instantly grew more angry at the sight of them and the sound of their mocking tone.

"It's been said that she's the best up-and-coming witch in the whole history of Luna Nova." Barbara said.

"Oh..." Akko said, a little intimidated. Xelia had never seen her like that before. Well, other than that time where they first met Hannah, Barbara and the purple-haired girl (now known as Avery).

"In any case, I'll impart some friendly advice to you - no one here respects Chariot so stop thinking of her as a role model. She's a has-been." Diana said. Akko glared at her.

"That's not true at all! Shiny Chariot has fans all over the world! Her magic show was super popular! Besides, Xelia respects Chariot!" Akko said.

"Who?" Diana asked. Akko pointed at Xelia.

"Yeah, I do too. I was there at the magic show with Akko." Xelia said.

"There are two non-magic users here?" Diana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I come from a witch family." Xelia said.

"What a disgrace." Diana glowered at her.

"Hey! Don't talk to Xelia like that!" Akko yelled.

"Anyway, back to Shiny Chariot - I'll admit, her show was incredibly popular for a time... but really, her show was just a series of cheap parlour tricks that was inevitably doomed to fail. It's been ten years since Shiny Chariot quit her show and disappeared into the shadows." Diana explained. "And it doesn't seem like anyone really cares about whatever it is she's doing now."

Diana was starting to walk away when Akko spoke up.

"I care! And so does Xelia! Chariot helped show us what we really wanted to be!" Akko said determinedly. "I have to find her - so I can give her back the Shiny Rod!"

"The Shiny Rod, huh?" Diana sneered.

They all walked outside to the fields of Luna Nova, and Akko took out her Shiny Rod. Lotte and Xelia were feeling very uneasy, remembering Akko's inability to cast a spell using the Shiny Rod back in their dorm room. Lotte had been to uncomfortable to come, so she'd stayed in the cafeteria to finish her food.

Diana inspected it closely by leaning in, and then turned her head to Akko.

"An obvious imitation." She said, leaning back.

"This is the real deal!" Akko said, glaring at her.

"Xelia, you seem the more reasonable of you two - tell me, do you really think this is real?"

Xelia thought back to how they'd found it, how Akko was able to use magic wielding it, casting the famous Shiny Arc to get them to school.

"If it weren't, Akko and I would be dead by now, our bodies turned to stone by the cockatrice." Xelia said, with a strange calmness that rivaled Diana's.

Diana's eye widened a bit, but she narrowed them back down, as gasps and whispers traveled through the crowd of girls watching from afar.

"I see. Then if it is real, you wouldn't have a problem using it to move that statue there?" Diana said, nodding her head to a statue of three women dressed in robes, standing on a raised platform.

Xelia gulped. "Yeah, no problem." She said.

She walked towards Akko. "Here, I can do it if you don't want to." Xelia said, reaching for the Shiny Rod.

"Okay then." She said. She probably knew that it would be best for Xelia to do it - she had more experience with magic and it didn't work with Akko before.

Xelia wrapped her hands around the Shiny Rod and and walked towards the statue, her walk confident.

Except Xelia was the opposite of confident and was dying inside from anxiety.

Do I use the Shiny Arc, or do I use an actual spell? , Xelia thought. Wait, but the Shiny Arc create a gateway to the Leyline, it wouldn't work here. Besides, that spell needs the Shiny Rod to be glowing. No, I have to use an actual spell. Here goes nothing...

Xelia took a breath, closed her eyes and recited the spell, holding the Shiny Rod out to the statue.

"Bon Solaro!" Xelia said, opening her eyes and shocked to see the Shiny Rod glowing.

The statue was glowing too, and it was moving. The woman in the front dabbed for a good, solid 5 seconds, then returned to its original pose and the glow dimmed from both the statue and the Shiny Rod.

Xelia was extremely thankful, but she cringed when she saw the dab.

"Wasn't the dab a meme that died...?" Xelia mumbled to herself, before she realized where she was and what she was doing and turned to face Diana.

Diana's eyes were widened so much they were like saucepans. This time she didn't narrow it down. Barbara and Hannah were gaping at her, and the rest of the crowd was gasping in awe.

Akko was beaming at her. Then she turned to Diana.

"See! It's real!" Akko said.

"I-I didn't realize." Diana said. A few seconds passed before she regained her calm demeanor. "Well then. Since I was proved wrong, I'll leave you be."

And with a flip of her hair, she turned away and walked back inside. Hannah and Barbara followed her like minions, and some of the crowd of girls headed inside too...

But most of them swarmed Akko and Xelia.

"How did you find it?"

"What happened in the Forbidden Forest when you were there?"

"Can I touch the Shiny Rod?"

Akko and Xelia were practically drowning in the swarm, unable to say or do anything as they were squished.

From a window on the third floor of Luna Nova, Professor Ursula had watched the whole scene in shock.

"The Shiny Rod chose... both of them?!"

A/N:

Hello! Yes, I made the statue dab! The idea popped into my head and I was like, "YES!", so that's how that got in there, lol.

Anyway! I hope you liked this chapter! Second part of this episode coming soon! :)

I have BIG plans for the story, totally - I'm totally not writing this on a whim, yeah. Totally.

I can't remember if I said this already or not, but...

Don't worry WinterStarFragments, your character will come in Chapter Five! :D

Stay safe and well, and have a great day/night! <3 <3

P.S. I was pretty sure I'd fail on drawing the Shiny Rod so I just drew myself in the Luna Nova school uniform. And for some reason, I chose to make myself cross-eyed. Fun Fact: I can make my eyes cross-eyed and gives me a weird sort of vision where everything is blurry and cloned.

Anyway bye!