A/N: I've been writing this story for a while now, and I wanted to upload it only after I'd finished writing the six words (I've got five). But since today is the first day of Charoix week and this first chapter fits the prompt, I decided, why not? I hope you like it :)

Chapter 1: Seeking help.

Akko skipped up the stairs towards the room of her favorite teacher. It had been only two weeks since the seal of the Grand Triskallion had been broken, and everything was finally starting to resemble normality at Luna Nova. Her classmates no longer pestered her and the other six youngest members of the Nine New Witches for details about how they had stopped the missile. The professors had stopped swooning over Diana's performance during such event (mostly because of the insistence of said girl). Akko kept struggling with homework and getting chastised even more than usual (because apparently now that she was one of the Nine New Witches, she had a responsibility to be at least as good as Diana). And she was slowly but surely learning how to fly.

The most notorious changes were Croix's absence and… Professor Ursula's new look. Akko still hadn't gotten used to it. But at least she was nicer than ever to Akko, and had promised to keep tutoring her whenever possible.

That day was one of those days. While normally she'd meet the teacher at the gardens outside the school, so she could practice her spells without danger of hurting anyone, today was different because she had to prepare for the theoretical exams, and being out on the fields wouldn't help her with that. So she was meeting her at the Astronomy Tower.

As soon as she arrived, she opened the door without knocking, knowing her professor was already expecting her, and exclaimed loudly her exited greeting.

"Hi, Ursula-sens…! Uhm… Chariot-sensei." Akko amended sheepishly. The red-haired woman, who was sitting at her desk, turned to look at her and gave her a gentle smile.

"I told you, Akko: you may call me whatever you feel comfortable with." She answered, fully aware that, given everything that had happened, this whole situation could be more than a little awkward for her student. Even if Akko had been the one who convinced her to abandon all pretense and just admit her real name was Chariot du Nord.

"Right. Sorry, it's just taking some time to get used to this." Akko answered as she sat down at the chair next to her professor. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask, why Ursula? Not that I don't like the name, but it's too different from Chariot." Akko asked, and to her credit, Chariot didn't even raise an eyebrow at the sudden question. She was used to them by now.

"It was mostly because of the Ursa Major constellation." She answered, knowing Akko wouldn't have been able to concentrate if she hadn't.

"That's the Shiny Rod constellation, right?" Akko asked.

"Exactly." The professor nodded and gave her a gentle smile. "Besides, Ursa in Latin means she-bear. And one of my familiars, Arcas, is a polar bear." She explained patiently. "I believe you met him at the Fountain of Polaris."

"Oh, yes, I do remember Arcas. He almost ate me!" Akko exclaimed dramatically before giggling cheerily, the professor joining in.

"Well, now let's take a look at your notes, shall we?" Chariot said before Akko could cause another distraction, and took the notebooks from the young witch's hands, setting them on her desk and opening up one of them. "Your first exam is… numerology?" She asked as she read Akko's messy handwriting, barely being able to understand a thing. More so considering some of the notes at the margin were in Japanese. The brunette girl just answered with a distracted hum.

"I remember you telling me you were having difficulties with it. Do you have any specific questions? Or do you prefer that we go through everything before touching individual subjects?" When a few seconds passed without answer, the professor sighed internally, knowing Akko had probably already been distracted by something else. She turned to see her student and, sure enough, her stare was fixed on a spot on the wall. A spot that had a recently-added picture hanging from a nail. A picture of two young girls.

"Akko?" She asked, hoping to get her attention off of said picture. The girl blinked and turned to look at her with curiosity shining in her crimson eyes.

"Is that… Croix-sensei?" She asked with obvious interest.

"Yes. Though back then she wasn't a professor." Chariot answered with a light giggle. "Now, let's get back to numerology…" She tried to redirect the conversation to the academic terrain and away from her personal life, but Akko interrupted her.

"She looks grumpy." Akko commented, continuing to eye the picture intently. "So different from how she is now."

"Believe it or not, she's actually smiling in that picture." The professor said as a fond smile of her own formed on her face when she looked at her old friend.

"You two appear to be very different." Akko commented, still looking at the photo as if she was expecting it to answer all of her questions by itself. "How did you become friends?" She asked, noticing how cheerful and energetic Chariot appeared to be, compared to the serious-looking girl with the glasses.

"Akko." Chariot sighed. "Now is really not the time to talk about this. You need to study." Akko pouted at her.

"But… I really want to know more about you." She protested. "I want to know how you became friends with Croix, and how was your life at Luna Nova. I want to know how you obtained the shiny rod and the six words of Arcturus. And…" She paused, unsure if she should be asking the next thing, but soon enough her curiosity grew inside her to the point she couldn't contain it. "I want to know how you became Shiny Chariot!" She couldn't keep the enthusiasm from showing all over her face, a big smile firmly on place.

Chariot, however, was having mixed feelings. On one hand, she knew Akko had a right to know, since she had lied to her for so long, not only about who she was, but about what she had done to her and about her knowledge on the words of Arcturus. On the other hand, many of those memories were now bittersweet, thanks to everything Croix had done. And also, Akko needed to study, not to hear stories from her professor's school days.

"Pleaaase?" Akko insisted, making her best puppy dog eyes and pouting so adorably Chariot wondered how someone could ever deny a thing to this girl. So she sighed, resigning herself to make a compromise.

"Okay, how about this: We study for two hours, and if at the end you manage to answer my questions correctly, I'll tell you how I met Croix."

Akko remained pouting for a few more seconds, but thankfully she relented at the end, apparently realizing that she really needed her professor's help studying, and that she wouldn't get her questions answered otherwise.

"Okay. Deal." She finally said, grinning as happily as always and extending her hand for the professor to shake.

"Deal." Chariot confirmed, shaking her hand.

"Twelve out of twenty." The professor announced once she finished grading the small test she'd made for her student. "Not bad, but I really think you could do better."

"I'm tired." Akko pouted.

"Well, then I guess you no longer wish to hear the story about how I met Croix." Chariot teased, already knowing what would be Akko's answer.

"Oh! Yes, please Ursula-sensei!" She said with a wide smile. That was the whole reason she had studied so thoroughly, after all.

"Very well." Chariot chuckled. Truth to be told, she had been debating with herself whether or not she should tell Akko about her past. But after seeing how focused and disciplined she was being, just so she could hear her story, she had pushed past her fears, doubts and shame. It was about time she started being more open with her favorite student.

"Alright, where should I start?" She asked herself, pausing and watching as Akko got comfortable in the chair and regarded her with more interest than she'd ever put in any of her classes. She smiled at this, already glad about her decision. "Well… First thing you should know, when I started attending Luna Nova, I was a troublemaker." Chariot giggled. "Not on purpose, of course, but most of my spells tended to go haywire half the time."

"Oh, I know!" Akko interrupted her. "The Fountain of Polaris showed me."

"The Fountain of…?" Chariot started questioning, before realization downed on her. "Oh. Of course." She sighed, embarrassed that her student had seen her like that. Still, she knew it had probably helped Akko in her own journey, so it was okay. "Anyways. It had only been a week since the classes had started, and I was already in danger of being expelled, so I decided to seek help."

I did it again. This time during potions class. We were supposed to do a little flick with the wand in order to infuse the levitation potion with magic, but I did it clockwise, instead of counterclockwise, and as a result the brew exploded. As in, a big, smoky explosion that managed to destroy one of the cauldrons. Might have also had something to do with me applying a bit more fern-flower pollen than it said in the book… but it just gave the potion such a pretty color!

But anyways, the reason doesn't really matter, because it still earned me yet another visit to the headmistress's office. Yet another scolding. And not only from the professors either; my teammates are getting sick of me by now, and I've heard they even asked to be assigned another partner. This is so wrong! I never thought learning magic could be so difficult!

"Can you stop whining already? You're not letting me concentrate." Amelia, a blonde girl with short hair, soft features and a rather thin complexion, sends me a glare from the desk at which she'd been sitting at, studying for tomorrow's class.

"I wouldn't be whining if you hadn't been so harsh on me." I answer with a pout.

"We wouldn't need to be harsh if you hadn't almost blown the potions lab up and gotten us yet another failing grade." My other teammate, Karen, answers from her spot at the bottom bunk, which is across from my bed. She was laying on it, reading a book, but now is looking up to shoot daggers at me with those cold green eyes of her. Honestly, if she wasn't so scary I think she could be pretty, with her straight and long brown hair and her princess-like manners. But alas, she's been nothing but rude to me ever since the day we met… which may or may not have something to do with me setting her broom on fire (long story).

"I'm sorry, okay?" I say for the millionth time, sitting on the edge of my bed and glaring at my teammates. "I didn't intend for that to happen. How was I supposed to know that fern pollen was explosive?!"

"That's basic witch knowledge." Amelia deadpans before deciding to turn back to look at whatever she had been previously working on.

"Which I lack." I remind her. "And that also isn't my fault."

"Yeah, yeah, your complicated family history, or whatever." Karen rolls her eyes, clearly irritated. "That doesn't change the fact that you're so behind in every single subject that you should be in magical kindergarten."

"That's a thing?" I ask, wishing I'd known sooner. Then maybe I wouldn't be so lost when it comes to magic.

"No." She deadpans.

"Oh." I pout. Seriously, why did I have to be assigned such mean teammates… granted, no one else has been good to me either. And they did try to be more patient after Holbrooke explained the whole situation to them, but still… "I need help." I whisper, more to myself than to them.

"You could ask someone to tutor you." Amelia suggests, without tearing her gaze away from what she's writing. I pause, considering her words. Yes, someone tutoring me outside of classes could be helpful, since the professors just won't lower the level for my sake, and it'd be unfair of me to ask for special treatment, but…

"It has to be someone super intelligent though. And patient. To be able to deal with you." Karen adds unhelpfully.

"Well… what about you?" I ask against my better judgment. "You got a perfect score on the entrance exam, right?"

"It has to be someone from the second or third year." Amelia answers before Karen can kill me solely with her angry gaze after I made such an outrageous suggestion. "That way she'd already know what topics to focus on in each subject."

"But I don't know any of the older students!" Or from this one, for that matter. It's only been a week, and my reputation precedes me, so…

"Ask Croix Meridies." Karen says. "She's a second year, and also the prodigy of Luna Nova, or something."

I knock three times on the second-year lilac team dorm door, where I'm supposed to find this "prodigy". Honestly, I don't know what to expect. Amelia and Karen said Croix Meridies is super smart, but they also said she's rather… reclusive, so I wonder if she'd want to even listen to what I have to say, or if she'll just close the door on my face.

Before I can reign in my nerves and stop my palms from sweating so much, the door opens and a girl with short olive hair appears.

"Hi!" I exclaim quickly before she can say anything. "Are you Croix Meridies?"

"No. And she's not here." She says, glancing curiously at me. "Are you a friend of hers?" The way she asks the question makes me think she doesn't quite believe that's the case.

"Uh… no. I just wanted to ask her for help." I explain.

"Ah. You must be a first year." She chuckles, and my cheeks redden in embarrassment. "Well, if you must know, she went to the third floor. But if I were you, I wouldn't even bother; she rarely helps anyone."

"I'll never know if I don't try, right?" I shrug, trying to stay positive even after what that girl told me. "Thank you for the advice though." I wave her goodbye before scurrying down the corridor and up the stairs, towards the third floor. I've honestly never been to the third floor of the school, and… it looks surprisingly similar to the rest of it. Except there's only one classroom; the other two doors leading to storage rooms. There are also three stairs, two leading to the west and east observatories and the third one to the Astronomy Tower. I explore them in that order, leaving the Astronomy Tower for last because I really don't want to climb that many stairs.

As luck would have it, I don't find anyone in the other places, which is not really all that surprising considering the sun is already settling and curfew will start soon. But still, I wonder why Croix would be in the Astronomy Tower. I heard it's been in disuse for the longest time (as well as the observatories) since it's more practical to show the students magical projections of the firmament than to wake them up at midnight to make them read the actual sky. But hey, maybe Croix is really into astronomy?

As I come to the top of the stairs, I take the doorknob and twist it, trying to push the door open. But it's locked. And it shouldn't be. Also, even though there's a curtain covering the small rhomb-shaped window, I can see there's light from the other side, and I hear movement, so there must be someone in there.

I decide to knock.

A few seconds pass and no one answers, but the movement on the other side of the door stops, so I knock again. Still, the door remains closed, but if my possible salvation is at the other side, I can't give up now.

"Hi, are you Croix Meridies?" I ask, raising my voice so she'll be able to hear me, even from the inside. "I'm Chariot du Nord, a first-year. And I really need your help, so if you could…"

"Go away." Comes an exasperated voice from the inside. "I don't have time to deal with dumb first-years like you."

"Hey! That's very rude. You don't even know me!" I exclaim indignantly.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not helping you." She reiterates, sounding rather harsh and cold. Kinda like Karen actually, but less… refined. Still, that's not exactly the kind of person I'd want teaching me magic, even though I do need help… huh, maybe I could just ask like the second-best student? Or something? It doesn't have to be Croix.

"Fine." I huff. "Goodbye, you grump!" I hope I could come with a better insult (actually, grump isn't even remotely an insult!) but it's not like I have any experience with that, so… yeah. I better go with what's left of my dignity. At least we didn't even see each other's faces, so it won't be awkward when we pass each other on the hallways.

I turn around and start descending the stairs, thinking that maybe if I tell Karen that Croix didn't want to tutor me, she'll agree to do so instead. It's a remote possibility, and not one I'm particularly fond of, but…

CRASH

Before I can take another step, there's a thunderous sound coming from the top of the stairs that makes the whole tower shake, and I fall on my rear and have to cling to the steps in order not to fall further down. I look up to the source of the noise, and see smoke coming from under the closed door next to which I was standing just seconds ago. I hear coughing from the other side, followed by a pained groan, and I quickly rush upstairs to try and help her. Sure, she wasn't exactly the nicest person ever, but I can't just stay here and do nothing! Even if my legs are still trembling because of the fright this whole ordeal caused me.

Not pausing to even think about casting a spell, I kick the door open (and surprisingly get it on the first try) before rushing in and immediately being hit by a curtain of smoke that makes my vision blur with tears and my throat itchy to the point I can only cough loudly before I decide to put my arm over my mouth in an attempt to breath more normally.

The smoke thankfully starts to clear as it exits the room trough the recently-opened door, and I'm able to see what's inside. The room itself isn't different from the other observatories; round, with stairs that lead up to a platform from which you can look out of a circular window with the emblem of Luna Nova. However, this room also has an old couch, an even older desk, tons of books scattered around, cauldrons, flasks with various ingredients, tons of instant ramen cups (both new and empty), and also a wide assortment of electronic equipment, varying from old televisions, computers, telephones, cellphones, cables, wires, batteries, and many more things I can't distinguish with so much smoke still in the air.

Yet, what I do see in the middle of it all, is a girl with the Luna Nova uniform laying on the ground and clutching her right hand tightly as she rolls around crying in pain.

I'm with her in an instant, searching for any apparent damage. The sleeve of the arm she's holding has been torn apart, but the flesh appears to be intact, if a bit reddish, but the look on her face as she clutches it is of pure agony, indicating something is wrong. Then again, if she hurt herself using magic, the injuries could be invisible for all I know. I have to do something then! But what?

"C-Croix?" I ask, my voice trembling as I think over my options. "What happened? What can I do?"

Her previously-shut eyelids open, revealing a pair of bright teal orbs that reflect the pain she's undoubtedly feeling, but there's also something more… dread, perhaps?

"Out!" She rasps out, clutching her teeth as she tries to sit up but fails with a wince.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you! You need to go to the infirmary, or…"

"What happened up there?!" Professor Finnelan's voice is heard from far down the stairs, cutting me off before I can say anything else. Croix's eyes immediately widen in fear, and she looks around the room, at the (undoubtedly) illegal laboratory she's made for herself. If the professors find it, there's little doubt she'll be in trouble. More so considering the explosion and the injuries she caused to herself.

"I don't know." This time we hear Professor Babcock's voice. "I came to investigate as soon as I heard the explosion."

"I wonder if Miss du Nord has anything to do with it." Finnelan says with a sigh. I can only barely repress the impulse to protest loudly. "We better hurry, before something else happens."

"Chariot, right?" Croix's pained voice makes me look at her again, instead of at the open door from where the voices are coming. I can just nod numbly in response, too stunned that the lilac-haired girl even remembered my name. "There's a green vial in the top drawer of my desk. I need you to pour it all over the door and close it, saying Vera gurasidia."

"I'm not good at spells!" I protest.

"The potion will do most of the work." She counters. "And if you manage to pull it off, I promise I'll tutor you."

"Really?" I exclaim in surprise, having thought it would take much more than that to convince her. Yet, as soon as I see her nod stiffly I rush to the desk and open the drawer with so much force I end up dropping it to the ground, but I barely let that stop me from taking a green vial and rushing to the door, following Croix's instructions.

"Vera gurasidia." I say, once the potion has been distributed over the now closed door. Instantly, the door starts shining green, only for the light to recede a moment later. I don't know what it was for though. "Did it work?" I ask.

"We just have to wait and find out." Croix says, laying on the ground and staring at her right hand. Although her expression is calmer than before, I can still see beads of sweat traversing her forehead, and she looks rather pale, so I suppose she's still in pain. I wished I knew some healing spell, but those are rather advanced, and I don't think my exceptional flying abilities are of much use in this situation.

So, as we wait in silence, hearing at the professors' steps come closer and closer, I limit myself to sit down next to Croix and watch her. She has a thin complexion, much like myself, and her figure is rather feminine, though the overall impression she gives with her looks and attitude in general is more towards the masculine side. Part of the reason is, perhaps, her long lilac hair not having any particular style. Like she simply brushed it and called it a day, instead of trying to accommodate it. She also isn't using any makeup, and is completely covered in soot and grease. And her glasses are now completely shattered, though the black frame still remains.

I think the look suits her, even if she'd probably be stunningly beautiful if she paid more attention to her appearance. Granted, right now I shouldn't be thinking about that, but on the incoming professors… speaking of which, I don't hear their steps anymore.

"Isn't it kinda silent?" I comment.

"So it worked." Croix lets out a relieved sigh.

"What was it?"

"A teleportation spell that will take them to the west observatory." She explains as she tries to get up, wincing again. I notice and rush to help her, and though she tries to pull away at first, she almost falls over again at her actions and reluctantly allows me to assist her.

"Won't they notice the difference?" I ask once she's standing on her own two feet and I'd let go of her.

"I don't think so." She shrugs as she goes over to her couch, takes a grey hoodie and tries to tie the sleeves around her neck. It takes me a moment to realize she's trying to make a makeshift sling for her arm and rush to help her. She just blushes and looks away with a bashful expression as she mumbles something like 'thanks'.

"You should go to the infirmary now, to get that checked." I say, pointing at her arm.

"No, it would be too easy to connect it with the incident." She answers. "I'll just fake an accident tomorrow during flying class."

"Are you sure?" I ask witch concern. "Maybe you should just admit it was all your fault and get medical attention now. I'm sure the punishment won't be that bad."

"I'm mixing magic with technology." She deadpans. "I'd be lucky if they expelled me."

"What, is that a crime?" I joke, chuckling, but her serious expression makes my reconsider my previous assumptions. "Uh… I mean…" I mumble, trying to cover my embarrassment for appearing like an idiot in front of her. That's probably common knowledge among witches, isn't it?

"I see you're lacking in more fields than I was expecting." She sighs. "But a promise is a promise, I guess."

"So you'll tutor me?!" I practically jump in excitement at her words.

"Only if you're out of here in less than ten seconds." She smirks. "One, two…"

"But wait, your arm…" I try to protest.

"Three, four, five…" She keeps counting and I curse under my breath before turning around and sprinting out of the room. After all, you can't help someone if they don't want your help; especially if that someone is a prodigy and you're just a dunce. I'm sure she can handle it, right? I'm freaking out for nothing. Tomorrow I'll come here and her arm will be as good as new.

A/N: Well, I hope you liked that and if you did, please fav/follow/review. It truly motivates me to write more! After all, this is my first LWA fanfic, and I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapters. And if you're wondering, yes, this will be the complete tale of how Chariot and Croix became friends, obtained the shiny rod and six of the seven words. It will also have fragments from the time after the series ended, mainly because I want Croix to also tell Akko her side of some parts of the story... and because I love Diakko and I want to write a little about them too XD.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and see you soon :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwacher13.