Our Ideal Place (Little Witch Academia)

Chapter 38: Valentines

"Tooth fairy's tooth, silkworm silk, west facing moss, minotaur claw, firefly fire, five o'clock dew, Yeti fur plucked on Wednesday." Lotte checked off each ingredient as Akko brought it over from the cabinet while Sucy carefully weighed the required portion on the scale. This time, they'll get it right. Somehow, their potion boiled over during class so they have to redo it and submit their work before 9 PM. On the bright side, it was Friday and tomorrow, they could go to town. She looked forward to getting the next volume of Night Fall. According to the forums, new characters would be introduced.

After Sucy was done, Akko returned the jars to the cabinets.

"Ow!"

Lotte turned around. Akko was looking at her index finger. She walked over and showed a splinter on her finger.

"Do you have tweezers?"

Lotte rummaged in her bag and found tweezers. Carefully, she pulled the splinter out.

"How'd you get a splinter?" asked Sucy.

Akko examined her finger closely, squeezed it till it bled a little then dabbed it with tissue. "I just grabbed the handle to close the door."

"Which one?"

"Moss."

"You got a splinter from closing it but not from opening it?"

"It was kinda open already."

"Huh. On second thought, let's move." Sucy moved the pot from their usual table to the one Diana's team used.

Why did Sucy switch? Lotte stared at their table and didn't notice anything unusual.

They followed the recipe as closely as possible. Sucy hovered near the pot protectively which meant that Akko wouldn't be near it. Lotte double checked each step. Meanwhile, Akko stood nearby, fidgeting restlessly. Sucy added the sixth ingredient, west facing moss. When green smoke rose from the liquid, Lotte immediately cast a shield out of habit. She had barely finished when the contents of the pot bubbled over and burst forth like a geyser. Quickly, she backpedaled behind a chair, shield spell over her. With its contents exhausted, the pot simmered down.

Lotte peeked around the chair and saw Sucy and Akko lying on the floor, covered in green goo. She cast a spell to gather the goo and deposit it in the waste bin. "Are you two ok?"

Sucy sat up slowly and shook her head as if waking from a deep sleep. She took several breaths. "Hufff... just a bit winded."

Akko didn't respond so Lotte immediately checked her. "She's breathing." She shook her gently. "Akko... Akko... are you ok?"

"Is she hurt?"

Lotte cast a spell to check her vitals. "No sign of injury." She shook her again.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Sucy shook her more. "Akko! Diana's wearing a swimsuit!"

Lotte blushed in embarrassment. Of all the strange things to say. "S-sucy! Not so loud!"

"Out cold. Even Diana can't wake her." She sighed and flicked her index finger on Akko's forehead. "What a pain. We need to take her to the infirmary. But before that..." She stood up and moved the pot back to their usual station then went to the cabinet where all the moss ingredients were stored. She took the jar of west facing moss and put some in a vial. She connected the vial to a distiller and manipulated a series of pipes. "Give me a few minutes to check this then we'll go."

When she was done, they cast a light levitation spell on Akko and took her to the infirmary.

Prof. Lemar rolled her eyes. "Again?"