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Terms had been set that Croix was allowed to remain “incarcerated” under strict supervision watch, as long as she had access to Luna Nova’s irreplaceable and unreplicatable archives of ancient text and history across the world to use for research.
It was now her second year at Luna Nova as a teacher- Akko’s second year.
Things had been admittedly and justifiably rocky at the beginning, but everybody could understand that Croix had gone through a massive change of heart since the incident earlier this year.
Admittedly- Croix was close. Wagandia’s curse wouldn’t last for much longer.
She discovered fairly early on- in a very risky attempt to gather samples of Wagandia’s pollen- that it was, fundamentally, no different than a form of dampener to magic. It didn’t completely get rid of one’s ability to fly, it’s just that the Wagandia tree itself has a problem with being able to disperse its pollen due to the massive change of climate in Arcturus.
It only ever releases it’s pollen once per year, and that means it has an entire year’s worth of built up, thick pollen that results in a very long lasting magic dampener.
Which means that, hypothetically, all Chariot needed to do was wait…
But, that didn’t mean Croix wanted to. She spent a long time just waiting around.
So, regardless of that revelation, she set out to find a cure like she did initially. It still ended up taking much longer than Croix felt like it should’ve, but she feels like she’s right at the cusp of a breakthrough that could change the magical field entirely.
Considering Chariot wasn’t as exposed to the pollen as some others in history were, she could hazard a guess that if she waited, it was possible she’d live to be able to fly again. Most of the pollen she had come in contact with ended up burning up during her descent towards the bottom, but some still managed to get in her system, so that meant that there was a timer that Croix couldn’t gauge left in its wake and she really didn’t want to just tell Chariot to wait it out.
But, now that she’s close, she feels as though she doesn’t have to. There’s one thing left missing in order to lift this curse. A potent enough magical source that can act as an initial catalyst for the pollen to attack, only to end up going to its own demise.
Basically- Croix needs to find a way to kill the curse like it’s a virus. Croix needs to find a potent enough magical source that can act as a basis of her “vaccine” that can then kill that curse and free Chariot from it.
There are multiple forms of energy that fit the bill, but the two biggest ones Croix can find are that of Wonder…
And that of Love.
As absolutely cheesy as it sounded… Croix needed Chariot to love her again.
They’ve both lived enough Wonder to make it nearly impossible for it to work. The best bet Croix had now was Love. Once she had the Love she needed, all she had to do was administer the vaccine like normal.
…It was also very important to note that it was a literal vaccine that she helped make with Sucy. Because she had access to a black market of potion materials and there’s a lot of interlap with actual chemicals.
…Now that Croix thinks about it, maybe pseudo-partaking in a potion ingredient black market probably wasn't the best idea when she’s supposed to be on watch, but hey- she’d probably get pardoned for that once she ends up making and testing a working cure for Wagandia’s curse.
However, the basis being on magical energy meant that it would require a LOT of it. February already came and went, so it’s not like she could do anything Valentines related… so had Thanksgiving and other such holidays…
Wait… it’s the 20th of December?
“Chariot!” Croix called out.
“Y-Yes?” Chariot responded, ducking her head out of a pile of paperwork.
“Does Luna Nova celebrate Christmas?”
“I…” Chariot started to think. “I don’t think so? Considering not everybody celebrates it around the world, it would be kind of rude to celebrate one form of the holiday, and not the other.”
“Damn…” Croix sighed, slumping down in her chair and resting her head in her hand. “We celebrate Halloween but not Christmas?”
“It’s Samhain , not Halloween, Croix.” Chariot chuckled.
Okay, if Croix wanted this to work in a way that didn’t seem selfish, she needed to get Chariot to love her again, and use the fact that it’s a holiday to elevate that love to much further heights.
…It sounded so clinical, thinking of Chariot that way. So lifeless.
Croix truly does love Chariot, she always had. But… it was kind of hard to get past the years worth of rocky territory they had now. Chariot was nice, she was kind and caring, even gave her pastries on visits, but she never could truly figure out if Chariot loved her now the way she used to. If she could ever love her again at all.
“Chariot…” Croix started, eyeing her slightly. “Do you… How do you feel about me?”
Chariot perked up again at that, and turned to look at Croix fully.
“A lot has happened…” Croix sighed, running a hand through her hair. “It’s kind of hard not to think about it, y’know? It’s just… I really do wonder, I guess, about how you think about me now.”
Chariot stood up, and walked her way over to Croix, making Croix sit up straight to look at her more properly.
She felt Chariot wrap her arms around her shoulders, and rest her head on top of Croix’s.
“I really do still care about you, Croix.” She started with a hum. “To be honest, I’ve wanted nothing more than to feel this again. To be able to be your closest confidant again… to be able to be your friend again.”
Croix felt a hard twang on her heart at that, but she shoved that feeling aside.
“A lot has happened- you’re right. Too much that can just… easily be forgotten, or forgiven...” Chariot continued, before letting out a long sigh. “But, even after all that… I’d be lying if I said I resented you at all for all of it. It feels weird to say, but... I feel like I’ve already come to terms with everything that’s happened.”
Croix could smell Chariot’s strawberry conditioner, her hair was so close- she was so close.
“But… I still feel like I need a bit of time, is all. A bit of time to just… think.”
Chariot took her arms off of Croix, and gently patted her shoulder. “And hey, if it means anything, your image has improved quite a bit among the students already.”
She watched Chariot walk back towards her desk, before turning to look at Croix with a smile.
“And, if you manage to get Holbrooke to agree, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind some form of Christmas celebration. Although, you’d likely need the student’s approval. Not all of them understand, or even celebrate Christmas, Croix.” Chariot chuckled.
“...Croix?”
Croix managed to shake herself out of her Chariot-induced funk, slapping her cheeks lightly a few times. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good- I’m good. Sorry, just went out of it for a second.” She nervously chuckled. “But yeah, that’s fair. I’m still definitely gonna try, though.”
Chariot chuckled, before smiling. “I’m sure they’ll at least enjoy another celebration. They’re pretty rare and far between, after all.”
“Yeah… yeah!” Croix started to pump herself up, turning fully towards Chariot with a wide smile. “Let’s bring Christmas to Luna Nova!”
Chariot honestly did not think Croix would take it as seriously as she was.
While she knew Croix told her that she would bring ‘Christmas to Luna Nova’ in a way that sounded like it wouldn’t just be a normal Christmas celebration, she didn’t, however, think it would mean that she’d gather up all of her old roomba robots to get the students in the air all around the school to hang garlands and set up trees with tons of self-manufactured ornaments.
It took not even a day for Holbrooke to give the OK for Luna Nova’s first Christmas, and over the past few days were a frantic effort to get the main hall decorated for the occasion. And now, here they were, on December 23rd.
The whole place was fully decorated with garlands and tassels and trees and glitter… There was even the obligatory mistletoe hung up on one of the largest ceiling arcs, directly in the middle of the set-up dance floor.
Despite the sudden event, tons of gifts were placed around the tree from various witches to other various witches, all to be given out during the event- to explicitly avoid any possible Amanda related prank-gifts not being recorded for punishment related purposes.
It felt like Croix put her all into the event, and Chariot couldn’t help but love her for that.
…In a platonic, professional way, of course.
It just felt… very nice to see Croix put her all into something that wasn’t an evil plot to probably reshape the entire world on her own whims. Instead it was put into an impromptu Christmas celebration that everybody could enjoy.
Akko seemed to be awfully psyched about the mistletoe though, which Chariot didn’t want to question nor really wanted to know why.
But… the stage was set for Luna Nova’s first ever Christmas. And it was all thanks to Croix. All she can hope for is that things continue to go well, and that she hopefully doesn’t have to figure out what Akko and Amanda could be scheming.
Assuming everything worked out, Croix’s plan would turn out like so;
Step 1: Get Chariot to consume a cup of “hot cocoa,” which in reality was mostly a potion mixture that could work as a substitute to a standard vaccine to act as a good basis for the rest of the operation.
Step 2: Be with Chariot the whole event, making sure she was alright (just in case any negative effects occur,) and to be by her side the whole time to make sure she doesn’t feel any semblance of being alone.
Step 3: Assuming things work out and Chariot loves her back, all she has to do is kiss Chariot under the mistletoe, and everything should just work.
Optional Step 4: Panic if it doesn’t. Panic a lot- but don’t let it show, we’ll always get ‘em next time. But preferably this time should be the one because it would be a while until Croix gets another good shot at this whole idea.
She cross-referenced a lot with Sucy, who turned out to be just as helpful as she herself was on the whole thing, basically making it a joint effort that Sucy would be rewarded handsomely on assuming things work out.
Although, Sucy made a lot of effort in making sure Croix understood that “things are going to work, it’s practically impossible for it not to- assuming you didn’t screw anything up,” and Croix could not for the life of her understand where Sucy’s confidence came from.
A lot of the basis of this whole deal, though, hinged heavily on speculation. They could be totally off-base and nothing could work, and she could end up making Chariot very sick which- despite Sucy’s reassurance that none of the ingredients used when separate or combined, were toxic- could be a very real possibility.
But, if everything worked… what’ll happen to every onlooker, is a true- yet cheesy- love-induced Christmas Miracle.
Croix looked over everything multiple days in a row, made absolutely sure with Sucy that everything was safe for consumption, correctly mixed together, and most importantly, tasted exactly like a cup of hot cocoa.
Now, all that was left to do was wait for tomorrow… and things will be back to how they were before. Chariot can fly again, and Croix can be there to watch it. Right by her side.
“Professor Ursula!!” Akko called out, as she continued to knock hard on her door. “It’s the 24th!! Merry Christmas Eve!!”
Chariot managed to hobble her way to the door, and opened it up to reveal a very festively dressed Akko, wearing a fuzzy winter sweater, and held in her hands was a set of small gifts.
“Oh, Akko, you really shouldn’t have.” Chariot smiled, as she ushered Akko into her room. “I assume it’s a pair of gifts for me and Croix?”
“You bet it is!” Akko smiled, as she sat the two presents down on the small table in the center of the room. “Hey, where is Croix?”
“She said she was preparing some hot cocoa for me and her.” Chariot said as she sat down. “Come, have a seat.”
Akko excitedly sat down, and the two waited for Croix, who started to step down the spiraling steps towards the upper section of the astrology tower that they and Chariot had both set up in.
“Oh! Hello, Akko…” Croix sheepishly smiled, as she set down two cups of cocoa in front of the two sitting on the couch. “What a… pleasant surprise!”
“Merry Christmas Eve to you too, Croix!” Akko smiled, as she attempted to grab at one of the cups of cocoa.
“D-Don’t touch that!!” Croix called out much too loudly, causing Akko and Chariot to perk up in surprise. “S-Sorry, just… Can I borrow Akko for a second?”
“S-Sure?” Chariot looked over to Akko, who just shrugged and smiled, as she stood up to follow Croix up the steps towards the room’s upper level.
As Croix quickly took Akko up, she pulled her towards the furthest away part of the upper level, and put her arms on Akko’s shoulders.
“I know this is about to sound deranged and probably really crazy.” Croix began, with pleading eyes. “But that cocoa was a specially concocted potion / vaccine in disguise that’ll cure Wagandia’s curse assuming everything tonight goes well.”
“Oh, is this that thing Sucy’s been helping you work on?” Akko asked.
“I… yes… Yes it is.” Croix responded amidst some confusion. “How did… Did Sucy tell you?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, I was testing it a bunch too.” Akko smiled. “Sucy used me as a guinea pig for all of the different variations of stuff to see if it would’ve worked properly without it being potentially toxic or anything. Honestly not the worst thing Sucy’s ever randomly subjected me to!”
“I don’t even want to think further on that.” Croix patted Akko’s shoulders. “Alright, good deal. Just don’t drink any of the cocoa.”
“It smelled good, though!” Akko laughed. “I honestly thought it was some actual hot cocoa. Tasted a lot better than the experimental peppermint flavor!”
Croix ushered Akko back down the steps, and was relieved to see Chariot finishing up her own cup of cocoa.
“Ah… Sorry, Croix.” Chariot sheepishly smiled. “I was admittedly pretty thirsty. It tasted the perfect level of warmth, too- it didn’t burn in the slightest!”
“Yeah, being good at science and all that junk means I’m pretty good at measuring temperatures now.” Croix smiled. “We’ll be seeing you later, Akko.” Croix gently patted Akko on the back.
“Oh, I dropped some gifts off, by the way!” Akko waved as she made her way to the exit. “Open those up at the party later!!”
With a loud slam of the door, Croix sighed.
‘Okay, that was one crisis somehow very easily averted. Here’s hoping the rest goes well.’
“Croix…” Chariot began. “Why didn’t you want Akko drinking the cocoa? I would’ve happily given her mine.”
“A-Ah!” Croix nervously chuckled. “I just… I put a lot of effort into that cocoa, so… I wanted to make sure you had some.”
“That’s awfully sweet of you, Croix.” Chariot smiled warmly. “It certainly tasted like it had a lot more effort put into it than some standard store-bought stuff.”
“What can I say, I’m good at this sort of stuff.” Croix smirked. “Now, let me have my cup and we can get ready for the real festivities.”
The party started as expected. Plenty of people were enjoying the refreshments provided, gifts were all piled near the large tree positioned by the large hall’s windows, and Christmas-y dance music already filled the whole room, along with plenty of chatter.
Croix decided to wear a bit of a classy white suit, with a less-than-chic Christmas themed tie, and Chariot decided to go a bit more “formal dress” and wore a very nice looking velvet red with some white fluffy-bits that Croix didn’t know the exact name for that made it look a lot more Christmas-y.
(Admittedly Chariot just looked really breathtaking, but Croix would not say that out loud.)
Chariot was feeling perfectly fine- despite her confusion when Croix kept asking- and, all in all, everything was going according to plan. They had eaten good food, had their own fair share of dancing, enjoyed some laughs with their co-workers, students, and just by themselves in their own space. Everything was going great.
…Until Akko started walking Diana over towards the center of the hall, the latter being very, very flustered.
“Chariot…” Croix pointed at the two, walking towards the center of the room. “Do you have any idea as to what they’re doing?”
“Not in the slightest, no.” Chariot chuckled. “They might just be going to dance… wait, Croix. Look above them.”
Croix looked up, and slapped herself on the head. “Oh, of course they are.”
The mistletoe.
“Ok, sidestepping that…” Croix chuckled. “Be honest with me, Chariot, how have you been enjoying the event?”
“I will admit, the random questions of “are you okay” were a bit unnerving, and a bit strange, but otherwise, I think I’ve been very much enjoying my time.” Chariot smiled. “If I was to be so bold, it almost feels like we’re on a date.”
Silence between the two rang out for a bit.
“I-I mean!!” Chariot quickly followed up with. “I mean- it just feels like that, is all, not that-”
Then, the whole room erupted into copious amounts of loud, excited cheers, which drew the two to look at the center of the room, where they watched… Akko kissing Diana. Directly on the lips.
“...Oh.” Chariot eventually managed to squeak out, working through her own flustered state. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at that.”
“I didn’t expect Akko would be that bold.” Croix laughed. “I didn’t… expect that… at all.”
‘Dammit, Akko!!’ Croix internally cursed. ‘You stole my whole plan!! It won't be as sudden or as impactful now when I do it!!’
“Croix?”
Croix turned to look at a confused, and slightly flustered Chariot, eyeing her curiously with those piercing red eyes that made it really hard to lie as easily, now that they’ve finally gotten this close again.
“S-Sorry, I just… it’s nothing.” Croix sighed. “Do you… want to try and continue dancing, after whatever is happening over there passes?” Croix smiles.
“Sure.” Chariot nods.
Ok… this is it.
It had gotten substantially more dark out, the mood was fully set- much more ballroom-dance style music started to reverberate around the room… if there was any time to do it- it would be here, and now.
Assuming her hypothesis is correct… all she has to do to break this stupid Wagandia curse… was kiss Chariot, and hope that the love there is strong enough.
Despite how frankly obvious it felt that the love was there- Chariot clearly felt something , judging by that sudden admission earlier and her strange eagerness to dance much more closely, and intimately, now that the time has come for that, but the doubt in Croix’s mind was still there and not easy to avoid.
“Hey… Chariot…” Croix whispered low, as they danced their way further towards the center of the room. “If… you don’t really mind… what was it that you were talking about before?”
Chariot perked up at that, and a small dusting of redness appeared on her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
Croix chuckled. “You do not hide it well.”
Chariot sighed, and moved to rest her head against Croix’s collar as they continued to dance. “It’s… hard to describe how I feel, really.” She started. “The best way I can say it is… I really do want this. I feel like I need some time but… I can’t deny that I just… I really do want to be with you again. Now that we’ve gotten to this point, I just keep remembering what we used to have…”
“...It makes me yearn for that time to come back. I want to be that close again. Much closer than just… close friends… and yet I still feel as though I need time anyways, despite how much I want it.”
As they continued to move about the dancefloor, Croix gently rested her head on top of Chariot’s. “...I get what you mean. It’s hard to say that I want anything other than you back in my life like we used to be back then. I want that love back- truly I do...”
The two continued to sway slowly in a circle, moving in time with the music.
“I guess… I’m just a bit worried, is all.” Croix sighed. “If you’d truly want that again, especially after all I’ve done.”
“Croix…” Chariot gently looked up to Croix, moving her head back to keep it level with Croix’s. “I wouldn’t be saying what I have been if I wasn’t sure I wanted this. I’m mostly just unsure about the pace at which we’d go, is all.”
“So… you… want to try again, is what you’re saying?” Croix couldn’t hide the smile that crept its way up the corners of her mouth. And Chariot just smiled back with a smile that Croix hadn’t seen in what’s felt like decades.
“Yeah…I guess I am.”
“Well…” Croix smirked, as she raised one hand up to point above the two of them. “You know where we are.”
“Oh, god damn it, Croix.” Chariot chuckled. “Sure, why not?”
Croix smiled as she leaned in to close the distance, and landed her lips right on Chariot’s.
The crowd around them started to gasp, and after a minute it felt like the room was entirely silent.
But Croix, nor Chariot cared. Not in the slightest.
Once the two finally moved away from each other, Croix watched as Chariot’s eyes began to glow- practically sparkle. It was as if a fire returned back to those eyes that she honestly hadn’t noticed was gone to begin with.
All they could do was stare into eachothers eyes at that point, unsure about where to go next after that. It took a few moments, but Chariot started to shift a bit in place after they stood there for what felt really like an eternity of standing still.
“Croix…” Chariot started. “I… what was that?”
“I… It was a kiss, Chariot.” Croix lightly chuckled. “We’ve done it before, why are you surprised?”
“No… no, not that.” Chariot smiled back. “It’s different. A much different feeling. I don’t know how to describe it other than the fact that my stomach kind of feels like it’s full of butterflies.”
“...You’re nervous?” Croix responded with a bit more confusion, unsure of where this was really going.
“I mean, kind of, but… It feels like my stomach is literally full of butterflies- but not in a real way, it just feels like there’s a lot of something going on.”
“Ah.” Croix nodded. “...Wait, what?”
Did that mean it worked?
“...Chariot, I have a gift I need to give to you. Right away.” Croix grabbed onto Chariot’s hand, and quickly rushed her through the crowd, gathering more and more attention in their wake.
“C-Croix!” Chariot tried to call out. “W-What are you doing?”
“Giving you your gift!” She laughed, as she let go of Chariot, quickly picking up her gift from the large pile laid out underneath the tree.
She quickly put it into Chariot’s arms- and it didn’t even take Chariot more than a moment to figure out what it was.
“...Is this a broom?” Chariot eyed Croix curiously. “...And I take it it’s some form of fancy no-magic-required broom?”
“Just open it, I promise you’ll love it.” Croix’s smile grew even wider. “Really.”
Chariot looked a little apprehensive, but nonetheless started to unwrap what was very obviously a broom in front of a crowd of confused onlookers. What made it even more confusing was that it was literally just her own broom .
“Croix.” Chariot lowered her brows.
“Get on the broom, Chariot. Trust me.”
“I… okay.” Chariot sighed.
Everybody watched as Chariot slowly straddled her broom, despite fiddling with it a bit due to the fact that she was wearing a dress. Everybody was mostly looking confused and uncertain, considering everybody at this point knew that Chariot wasn’t able to fly anymore.
“Croix-”
“Just fly, Chariot. Trust me.”
Despite the look of uncertainty on her face, Chariot nodded, and took a deep breath.
And the entire room- including Chariot herself- was stunned into silence, as they watched Chariot rise up off the ground.
“Hell yes!!” Croix shouted. “It worked!!”
What followed was Croix jumping right up to Chariot, quickly joining her on the broom, resulting in a flying mess of laughter that slowly began to re-adjust itself to compensate for the sudden shift in weight.
“I- I just can't believe it!!” Chariot laughed, holding Croix close. “H-How?! Did you find a cure to the curse?!”
“I found what was effectively a cure.” Croix smirked.
“W-What was it?”
“What can I say, other than that it was just a meticulously planned and manufactured Christmas miracle?”