Jasminka and Mo

**Jasminka and Mo**, also known as **Jasminka and Mo (REFORGED)** in its updated form, is the second prequel story to *Little Witch Academia: Witches of Midgard*, which takes place after *Promise to Meet Again* and events of anime TV Series as well as concurrent with the next short *Spear of Keiran* and prior to the series' main storyline. It was originally published in July 5, 2020 in Archive of Our Own before eventually updated into the current version in April 7, 2021.

Archive Of Our Own link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30533694

## Summary

*Nightmares plagued Jasminka following the removal of demonic faery she ate when she was a child. In hopes for answers, she, accompanied by the faery and her older sister, retraced her steps as she was led to grisly past which started it all.*

## Full Recap

### Part 1: Nightmares

Jasminka bolted out of her sleep, sweating and breathing heavily. Looking around, she found her older sister, Tatiana, sat beside her and a blue blob-like creature on her lap, the feeling of worry etched on their faces.

"That nightmare again?", Tatiana said indignantly. "Jasna, it's been three nights you have it already."

Jasminka nodded. "And getting worse and clearer than the last."

"Glad I have prepared some sleepless dream potions beforehand but, I don't like the idea of you drinking it every night", Tatiana said before approaching the door. "Stay here. Let me take it for you."

Appearance-wise, Tatiana resembled Jasminka a bit, except that she was slightly taller than Amanda, much slimmer than her sibling, and had straight long hair which reached her hip and left loose instead of tied into twin braids.

Tatiana left their shared bedroom, but not before giving a dirty look on the blob-like creature. Jasminka sighed before said to the uneasy blob on her lap. "It's not really your fault, Mo. If I didn't know better, I'd say this nightmare had something to do with that forest more than you."

Indeed, her predicaments with the blue blob, along with the nightmare itself, were all started from that fateful day in the forest near their house...

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

*Ten years ago...*

*The sun already set by the time Jasminka realized she ventured too far into the forest near her house. Had the trees were not so tall and dense, she could've easily navigated her way back home.*

*"M-Mommy?", Jasminka asked, her voice quivering as she tried not to cry. "Daddy? Sister?"*

*The little girl couldn't help but feel truly alone. She wanted her parents and older sister to be on her side and even better, brought her favorite pastries as well, because she also very hungry. But her instinct screamed against staying there and waiting for help to come. At the same time, she sensed something watching her among the trees.*

*After a moment of uncertainty or two, Jasminka mustered her courage to walk through the trees with moonlight which barely shining through as her only guidance and source of illumination, hoping that she was on the right track. The feeling of being watched worsened upon noticing fast movements around her seemingly following her wherever she went, prompting the little girl to hasten her step. In her fear, Jasminka failed to realize that she rushed straight toward a steep hill before lost her footing and rolled off with a yelp.*

*Jasminka couldn't remember what happened between that moment and finding herself back at the doorstep of her house surrounded by her worried parents and older sister on the next day save for two things; one was an abandoned building deep in the forest, and the other was a strange blue jelly she stumbled upon inside. Oddly enough, she developed a strange condition where her strength increased the more she ate at the cost of constantly hungry since her awakening. Putting aside her inability to fast as the result, Jasminka initially perceived her new condition as a blessing, as it helped her performing her chores better than she'd ever been.*

*But then, she discovered her newfound gift's sinister nature upon hearing the town elders' stories about hunger faeries, demonic faeries said to haunt deserted facilities formerly belonged to Soviet Union officials who involved in Holodomor, the man-made famine which starved millions of their people from 1932 to 1933, and alleged accounts pertaining a certain magical clan whose members imprison said faeries inside their own bodies for power. Horrified by the realization that she had consumed one of such faeries during her time in the forest, which was none other than the blue jelly itself, Jasminka told Tatiana about what she had done and pleaded to keep their parents in the dark about it. Tatiana agreed, and promised that she would find a way to rid the demonic faery inside her.*

*"I'll find the way to rid that foul thing inside you, Jasna. I promise", Tatiana said with determination in her eyes as she placed her hand on Jasminka's shoulders to reassure her.*

*"You promise?", Jasminka tearfully repeated.*

*"Yes, I promise", Tatiana reassured. "I don't like the idea of hiding this from Mom and Dad but, it all happened because of me. Had I not been more alert during that day, you won't have to endure this terrible burden."*

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

*Neither of us expected we would keep that up for 10 years until sister fulfilled her promise. Even though it was for the best, I still felt bad about keeping Mom and Dad in the dark about what truly happened. Not to mention I didn't do much in my own part*, Jasminka thought sadly as she looked back on their past struggles and the promise made between them, one which already fulfilled not too long ago.

Just then, she noticed a leather-bound book Tatiana left behind on their shared desk. There was no title on the cover, only a large symbol in form of white heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends and a large circle on the center. Its pages were written in two languages she already familiar with, Russian (her native tongue) and English (her secondary language), and handwritings changed as she flipped through the pages until the end, indicating those who owned the book continued to contribute meaningful information to it.

Jasminka began reading.

"Holy Magic, also known as Templar Magic in some sources, is a sacred practice allegedly developed through the collaboration between followers of the Nines and religious officials near the end of Witch Hunts against practitioners of demonic magic who sought to escalate the chaos during those dark times. In addition of methods against evil magics and other unclean forces, this art encompasses powerful blessings and exorcisms originating from the purity of the heart and unshakable faith in the good, justice, and divine. As long as they fulfill aforementioned criteria, the caster may perform this magic at its fullest."

"The purity of the heart and unshakable faith in the good, justice, and divine, huh?", Jasminka wondered before continue reading the book.

Several pages later, she stumbled upon the illustration of a familiar-looking magic glyph and her mind drifted to the fateful day when Mo was expelled from her body at long last...

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

*Three days ago...*

*"Sister, are you sure Master Bogdasha can help rid of the faery inside me?"*

*"There's no need to worry, Jasna. He knows what must be done."*

*Antonenko sisters stood in front of a gray, dull-looking two story building where the person they looking for supposedly lived at. The unpleasant smell coming from it, a mixture of bad eggs and rotten cabbages as well as other scents Jasminka already familiar with from Lukić's potion class; along with noticeable magical residue in the air around the building, indicated it to be a magical apothecary. From what they heard about the shop, its proprietor, Master Bogdasha, was originally a wandering wizard who traveled around the world studying various healing techniques and remedies, mundane and magical alike, before establishing his shop in their home town. His vast knowledge in his field coupled with reasonable price of his wares made him popular among the town's inhabitants.*

*What made Master Bogdasha stood out from the rest of known healers in the town, however, was his mastery over a unique mystical art he learned in Jerusalem during his past travels and connection with a local abbey judging from its elderly abbot's recurring visit to his shop. Tatiana mentioned the same abbot visited him for advices which, from what she heard, had something to do with cleansing haunted places around the town. When she eventually met Master Bogdasha himself at the busy street by chance one afternoon during which the healer somehow able to tell that she needed help, that was when she knew he was the right person to turn to.*

*The rusty bell on the door chimed as Antonenko sisters entered the apothecary. Jasminka's eyes roamed the store while continued munching her favorite bag of chips at the same time, fascinated by everything inside which more than enough to make up for its smell. There was an eclectic mix of ingredients of potions and remedies from floor to ceiling, from jars of herbs to snarled claws and mushrooms.*

*The proprietor of the apothecary, Master Bogdasha, conversed with the elderly abbot who stood on the other side of the counter. They seemed to have an important conversation by the time Jasminka and Tatiana showed up.*

*"So, it has been sixth case as of this month, I presumed?", Bogdasha asked.*

*"I'm afraid so", the abbot sighed. "I can't help but feel sorry for those witches. It's true they can become more powerful by having hunger faeries living inside them like parasite but, constant hunger that comes from it made such practice counterproductive and wrong. Not to mention we now know from where those foul creatures came from and we'd tried to convince them to abandon such accursed practice for their own good. It's fortunate we were managed to exorcize them thanks to special candles you kindly share to us along with how to use them despite our initial distrust."*

*"Glad to be of help, brother. Actually, those are beeswax candles not unlike ones you use albeit better thanks to their unique ingredients", Bogdasha said. "Your doubts about my kind and our magical practices on the other hand, even if you already understood that we are harnessing latent energies of Ley Lines as opposed of using power from the pact with infernal entities like some of our foolish predecessors did, were understandable. You see, the thing about magic is that its study leads to many dark places. The trick is not wander too far into the void."*

*"Absolutely", the abbot then glanced to the clock beside the proprietor. "Well, now if you're excuse me. I must return to continue monitoring the progress of their rehabilitation. As for the ingredients of those candles, I'll keep that in mind" He then walked out of the shop, but not before nodded to Jasminka and Tatiana with a smile. That was when Master Bogdasha finally noticed Antonenko sisters and greeted, "Ah, Tatiana! It's about time you finally showed up with your sister."*

*"What was that all about, Master?", Tatiana wondered, briefly glancing at the door."*

*"Remember the town elders' stories about a magical clan in the country whose members allegedly sealed hunger faeries inside their bodies for power in return of appeasing them by eating constantly? Apparently, they are real. And worse, some of them lost control over their faeries because they demand more energy from their hosts than usual, prompting the abbot and his disciples to step in and help those unfortunate witches with aid of cleansing candles I gave to them", Bogdasha explained, much to Jasminka's shock. "That can't be a coincidence. A lot happened since Yggdrasil's restoration already. It's clear those creatures are getting stronger as the result, which means our time is short. We must expel the hunger faery inside your sister as soon as possible, Tatiana."*

*Retrieving his staff which he kept beneath the counter, the elderly healer waved it at the door and windows, magically locking them all at once. "We're going to do this in my basement. Are you ready?"*

*Antonenko sisters nodded quietly. With that, they followed Master Bogdasha to his shop's basement through the wooden stairs just beside the counter. As they did, Jasminka took a closer look on the elderly healer. He appeared to be a bald man in his 50s with dark grey eyes and matching goatee clad in crimson robe and matching boots. The staff he carried was crudely fashioned from a tree branch and had an octahedron-shaped crystal hanging on its top secured with silver cord. For some reasons, the crystal's yellowish white glow filled them with sense of warmth and comfort.*

*The basement beneath Master Bogdasha's apothecary was a decently spacious room, with a high ceiling and a row of opaque windows to let in light. Alchemy equipment and other paraphernalia which he utilized to brew some of his medicines as well as furniture such as a long desk, a chair, and a cupboard to store vials and ingredients, had been moved aside for a wide drawn magic glyph on the floor at the center of the room.*

*The glyph was quite simple in design, consisting of two concentric circles and a straight line stretched from the center to the outside of the outermost circle at the upper right direction. Upon closer inspection, Antonenko sisters noticed it made of what seemed to be hardened yellowish substance.*

*"Is this...", Jasminka started to say, but was interrupted by Tatiana adding in, "General exorcism glyph of Holy Magic! Designed to expel possessing entities within anyone who stand above it."*

*"Correct. I drew it myself with cleansing candles this morning knowing you two will come and get this over with", Bogdasha nodded proudly, before addressing specifically to the shorter of Antonenko sisters. "And you must be Jasminka, I presumed?"*

*"Y-yes?", Jasminka nodded nervously.*

*"I wondered when I'd be seeing you, Jasminka", Bogdasha smiled warmly before meticulously checking on the glyph to make sure nothing would go wrong. " It seems only yesterday your sister her told me about your predicament with a hunger faery at the forest near your home. To think the circumstances when we first met were quite eventful yet Tatiana was more desperate than she let on." After a moment or two, he nodded to himself and said, "Alright, the final checking is completed. Jasminka, can you please stand at the center of the glyph? You ought to be careful not to break it and leave your snack at that desk. You may continue eating it later." He gestured at the nearby desk in his last few sentences.*

*The chubby young witch hesitantly did as Master Bogdasha told her. Once she stood at the center of the glyph, she asked nervously, "So, all I have to do is just stand here and let you uh... activate this glyph?"*

*"Yes. Just relax and let me and your sister do our job", Bogdasha nodded before explained. "Before we begin, I must tell you something important my mentor told me back at Jerusalem when it comes about exorcism: Even with proper methods, it's not easy to forcibly expel a possessing entity from a person. Not only some entities may be harder to exorcize than the others, but the process can be potentially fatal to the host despite the exorcist's best efforts. Not even experienced exorcists like me are safe from possession either."*

*"Which is why Master Bogdasha taught me everything he knows about Holy Magic and we waited until your body is strong enough not just to handle, but also recover from its after-effects which is now, all to improve our chances to save you", Tatiana added as she whipped out her wand. It was a collapsible silver rod with wooden handle and overall design not unlike Luna Nova-issued one albeit with the tip resembling four-pointed star. "We could've done this sooner but, the process would either cause irreversible damage to your systems or worse, kill you", she added the last few sentences grimly, causing Jasminka to gulp heavily.*

*"Not to mention it won't likely be a perfect success considering you and your hunger faery have bonded for 10 years straight... a bit longer than those witches admittedly. Who knows how much it affected you both but, it's better to be this way than living in such torturous existence for the rest of your life", Bogdasha continued before asked, "So, Jasminka, you ready for this?"*

*Looking back at the first and fortunately, the last time she lost control over her hunger faery, Jasminka was relieved to see no one got injured. She held no hard feelings toward Akko who forced her to fast for the previous year's physical exam at Luna Nova and even not believing her story since that incident allowed her to realize the depth of her situation. Not wanting it to be repeated once again, Jasminka steeled her resolve and nodded firmly. "I'm ready."*

*Master Bogdasha and Tatiana shared a glance, then nodded before the former slammed his staff into general exorcism glyph's outer circle and the latter followed with the tip of her wand, igniting it in yellowish white fiery energy. The same energy then formed light tendrils that encircled Jasminka before glowing intensely as the chubby young witch found herself floating a couple of feet in the air. Starting from her legs, the glyph's magic began to flow into her body.*

*When the glyph's purifying power reached past her lower half, excruciating nausea and pain exploded in Jasminka's stomach before spreading throughout the rest of her body. It was agony not unlike the one she felt when her hunger faery attempted to take over and would've brought her to her knees had general exorcism glyph beneath her not keeping her afloat. Simultaneously, several gelatinous blue tentacles sprouted from her back and lashed around in erratic manner. Try as they might, neither of them was able to reach beyond the glyph, let along touching either it or its light tendrils.*

*"Jasna!", Tatiana cried.*

*"NO! Don't stop! I can do this!", Jasminka screamed, clutching her belly tightly as she mentally struggled to keep the agitated hunger faery inside her at bay, slowing down the movement of its already manifested tentacles in doing so.*

*"Your sister is fighting that thing with her own strength! We must help her by doing our part", the awed Bogdasha exclaimed before channeling more magic into the glyph.*

*"Don't worry, sis. I'll be fine", Jasminka smiled reassuringly despite her agony.*

*Moved by her little sister's smile, the same smile she put on most of the time so as no one had to worry about her well-being, the same smile that showed how much the younger Antonenko trusted her, Tatiana increased the output of her magic into general exorcism glyph like her mentor did at once. The whole basement was soon filled with a powerful yellowish white light; she could feel the floor and walls quivering around her; the sound of indistinct croak rumbled in her ears.*

*When the light died out, the first thing Tatiana saw was Jasminka lying down spread eagle on the floor at the center of the burnt mark that used to be general exorcism glyph, seemingly unconscious. Yet there's no sign of the hunger faery itself.*

*"Did it work?", Tatiana wondered.*

*"There's only one way to find out", Bogdasha said before cautiously approaching Jasminka.*

*The elderly healer had already few steps closer when the chubby young witch unexpectedly jumped to her feet, pushing her older sister aside for the nearest trash bin and vomited up everything she just ate, much to their shock and disgust. During such abrupt turn of events, the two were alarmed by something blue and jelly-like sitting on top of her head.*

*"J-Jasna, there's something on your head!", Tatiana warned frantically while gesturing at the gelatinous thing, prompting Jasminka to reach it so as to get a better look on the blue blob.*

*On her hand, the gelatinous thing blinked the sleep out of its two yellow orbs for eyes and sprouted tentacles for legs, side carapaces, and a pair of small wings before looking up on the chubby young witch in a stunned silence. It took a long moment of mental processing through which they could only stare stupidly at each other. Once they got their wits about them, however, the two did the only appropriate thing in this situation:*

*"AAAAAHHHHH!"*

*"AAAAAGH!"*

*"GET AWAY FROM MEEE!"*

*Hilariously, the blue blob also screamed before Jasminka hurled it in blind panic, leading it to bounce against the basement wall and ricochet around uncontrollably like a ping-pong ball, smashing unfortunate furniture and equipment that stood in its path. In the ensuing mayhem, Tatiana and Master Bogdasha erected a dome-shaped barrier around themselves with Jasminka cowering behind the two for protection.*

*Eventually, the blue blob, or rather the hunger faery that previously trapped within Jasminka's stomach, rolled to a stop at Master Bogdasha and Antonenko sisters' feet after the chaos ended. Feebly returning to its feet, the blue hunger faery looked up on Jasminka and raised one of its tentacles to reach her. Unfortunately for it, such gesture provoked Tatiana to exclaim,"*Lumen Icio!*"; a concussive blast of yellowish white light left her wand and slammed into the blue blob, sending it flying smashing into the wall behind it before sliding down to sprawl on the floor.*

*"Leave. My sister. Alone", Tatiana threatened with emphasis.*

*Master Bogdasha calmly approached the terrified blue blob to get a closer look on it. Noticing its wings which curiously feathery in appearance, the elderly healer sighed in relief. "There's no need to be violent to this fella, Tatiana. It's not as dangerous as we expected to be", he assured.*

*"How can you be sure?", Tatiana asked in disbelief, her silver wand still trained at the helpless hunger faery.*

*Conjuring a sphere of green magic which encapsulated the blue blob within through a wave of his staff, the elderly healer held the sphere to show it to Antonenko sisters. "See its wings?", he pointed. "We would be in the very serious trouble if they're leathery. Hunger faeries with bat-like wings are truly nasty pieces of business. The abbot nearly lost some of his best disciples just to deal one."*

*"Did he?", Jasminka wondered.*

*"Things would be uglier had I not interfered and gained his trust regarding this kind of matter in the process back then", the elderly healer shuddered. "Ones with feathery wings such as this fella, on the other hand, are easier to handle because they are more docile despite having equally large appetite... according to the abbot, of course" Master Bogdasha raised his staff, bringing forth a small cage from the corner of the basement in which he gently put the trapped hunger faery into. The sphere dissipated as soon as he locked it, leading the blue blob wasted no time to try to squeeze its way out to no avail – a thin yet powerful barrier powered by a spellstone placed on top of the cage manifested over every gap in it, preventing its prisoner within from getting out. "Anyways, I'd better off keep this fella for a time being since this is admittedly, the first time I encountered this particular specimen. Is it okay for you?"*

*"That's uh... fair enough", Tatiana nodded despite her skepticism over such decision.*

*"And Jasminka, get some rest and don't do any magic for 24 hours. Don't forget to inform me if there's a new development", Bogdasha continued to Jasminka.*

*"Okay", Jasminka nodded.*

*"Come on Jasna. We'd better get back before our parents do", Tatiana said to her little sister.*

*Without a word, Jasminka followed Tatiana exiting the basement of Master Bogdasha's apothecary, but not before retrieving her snack. The ordeal made her lose her appetite that she decided to continue eating it later. On the bright side, the chubby young witch felt immense relief washed over her as she now no longer burdened from being the host of a hunger faery at long last.*

*Jasminka took her time looking at the source of her decade-long hardship with mixed, if not bitter expression etched on her face. She couldn't tell whether its sad gaze indicated the feeling of guilt or something beside the helplessness by its current predicament but, she was too upset to care. As such, the chubby young witch left all while ignoring its distressed croaks and slammed the door shut behind her.*

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

*As it turned out, that day wasn't going to be the last time we saw you, Mo. Despite Master Bogdasha's best efforts, you always managed to return to me. In the end, I took you in as my familiar so I can keep you out of the trouble after that fiasco during the dinner with my family*, Jasminka reminiscing about what happened after her fateful exorcism while petting on Mo's gelatinous form, in which the blue hunger faery responded with a content smile.

It became apparent to them that the blue hunger faery was not only very drawn to Jasminka, but also very keen to stay close to her as if it developed a kinship toward its former host. Hours after being expelled from the chubby young witch's stomach and its subsequent imprisonment, the hunger faery went on a rampage, breaking free from its enchanted cage and even fighting its way through the elderly healer's advanced enchantments specifically placed to contain it, all just to be with her again. As much as she wanted to deny it, Jasminka felt a similar pull toward the faery and therefore predicted Tatiana recapturing it and returning it to Master Bogdasha upon caught it sneaking into their house later that night would be a waste of effort. True to this, when Antonenko family were about to dine together at their home in the next day, the blue hunger faery showed up in front of their doorstep and nearly feasted on their meals. As the result, Jasminka reluctantly allowed the faery to join them while Tatiana concocted a convincing story where it befriended her little sister at the forest while got lost there 10 years back. It's pretty much a half-truth since the ACTUAL circumstances that surrounded their unlikely friendship was very different and therefore explained Jasminka's eating habit that had since quelled by the exorcism, but Mr. and Mrs. Antonenko accepted their explanation nonetheless and implored their youngest daughter to keep the hunger faery under control at all times.

It was after informing Master Bogdasha regarding the change of plans surrounding the blue hunger faery Jasminka named it Mo.

Finding nothing useful beside some intriguing spells and other rituals such as Smite (*Lumen Icio*) that allows the caster to project concussive blasts of Holy Power and general exorcism glyph, the chubby young witch closed the book before browsing another among school supplies for her upcoming second year at Luna Nova beside her bed; *The Comprehensive Guide to Familiars*. Jasminka had previously consulted with the book to comprehend the peculiar bond that formed between her and Mo following her exorcism, though she now wanted to re-read it from the beginning in case of her overlooked something.

*Familiars and magic users dated back to Middle Ages when a Celtic witch named Erline and her best friend from a distant land, a völva (Nordic shamaness) known as Jorunn, managed to discover the peculiar relationship between magic and animals. Through their study on such relationship including means to establish a spiritual bond with an animal, they learned that the familiar chooses the magic user and one may form the same bond with some mystical creatures such as faeries or beings from other realms in Nine Worlds as they too have similar relationship with magic albeit to a greater degree.*

*Once a familiar chose a witch or wizard, it will form an unbreakable bond between them and it remain bound to him or her for the rest of its natural life. The same bond obliged the familiar to unflinchingly loyal towards its master or mistress and remain on his or her side no matter what. This is what set them apart from demons who can only bond with a witch or wizard through Faustian pact and sought to exploit their master or mistress for their personal gain while wreaking havoc upon the world.*

*Related to its function as the support role for its witch or wizard master ranging from offering advices to combat assistance, it's no surprise a familiar's abilities typically complement his or her own. There are uncommon, but not unheard of, cases where less talented witches or wizards being chosen by immensely powerful familiars and that familiars in question also assumes sort of mentor role to guide them as they develop into proper spellcasters.*

Subsequent articles went to various documented creatures that have bonded to witches or wizards as his or her familiar where the most common instances being crows, owls, snakes, stoats, and faeries. These include selected few among Unseelie Court, a group of darkly-inclined faeries notorious for attacking and harassing mortals without cause or reason, but not necessarily evil just as their benign counterpart Seelie Court not necessarily good. Such Unseelies can be a best familiar for their witch or wizard master and even befriend his or her allies, but also worst annoyance one could possibly imagine that keeping them in tight leash is the best way to prevent them from causing unwanted troubles. Not surprisingly for Jasminka, these include hunger faeries since they were dangerous around food.

Unfortunately, as with Tatiana's leather-bound book earlier, it didn't help her in resolving another problem which plagued her as of late that the chubby young witch dejectedly closed the book and placed it back among her school supplies. In addition of aforementioned bonding with Mo, Jasminka had a recurring nightmare which increasingly vivid each night that she now able to remember much of it at that point; streets littered with starving peasants, a Soviet Union brigade who carried confiscated crops into an outpost deep in the forest with carts, and the carnage which occurred at the same outpost – the former two were jarringly similar to grim sceneries of Holodomor from documentary films about it albeit through the perspective of someone who lived during such dark times. Looking back at what she saw in the dream, however, Jasminka found the outpost stood out from the rest because the forest surrounding it greatly resembled the one near her home.

Her trail of thoughts soon interrupted by Tatiana who entered the room with a blue vial on her hand. As she took a sip of the potion before went to a dreamless sleep, the Russian young witch had made up her decision; if she wanted to get a bottom of this, she had to revisit that forest for answers.

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

In the next morning...

"I need to retrace my steps at the forest near our house to figure out how I found Mo. My nightmare must have something to do with it", Jasminka said firmly on the next morning.

"You can't! There's no telling what will happen to you there", Tatiana argued. "You were lucky to be able to get out of that forest alive."

"I know but, as much as I don't want to get back to that horrible place, this might be the only way", Jasminka insisted.

Although she wanted to dissuade Jasminka from entering the forest, Tatiana too, had her own fair share of questions, particularly how she encountered a being which existence tied to Holodomor. So, she nodded, "Alright, but I'm going with you. Mom and Dad left me in charge of you but, they didn't say where."

"Really? Thank you so much!", Jasminka said happily before pulling the older witch in a bone-crushing hug much to her pleasant surprise.

"D-don't mention it", Tatiana said as she struggled to breath before Jasminka let her go. "But first, we need some provisions in case of us went past the lunch time", she paused upon looking at Mo. "And to keep Mo behaved."

Jasminka and Tatiana's parents owned a pastry shop named *Antonenko's Bakery* just beside their residence. The shop was quite popular in their hometown thanks to its exquisite pastries, some of which involved Culinary Magic in their baking process. Putting aside the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Antonenko had to occasionally worked overtime to follow up their increasing customers' demands, their booming family business has its benefits for their children; in addition of introducing them wondrous cuisines, Jasminka and Tatiana got several varieties of Culinary Magic-improved pastries to determine which one that appeased Mo most with. To their surprise, the faery loved their family's special poppy seed roll.

Shortly after changing from her gray nightgown to red tunic and brown boots along with matching gloves, Tatiana began putting a dozen of the poppy rolls along with Jasminka's favorite snacks into her bag. "Good thing we have a pastry shop", Tatiana said as she did before turn to Jasminka and Mo. "You guys ready?"

Jasminka and Mo nodded simultaneously as the former prepared her wand and a medkit in addition of her own bag of provisions. The chubby young witch already threw on a white tunic worn over dark purple jacket with pink trim and a black lining along with light gray leggings, and black boots.

"Let's go."

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

**Author's Note #0: I'm certain you've probably seen this story before, and that's because you have. In fact, this work is revised version of Jasminka and Mo I originally published in July 5, 2020 (thus explained why I called this one Jasminka and Mo (REFORGED)). When I finished the final part of the story's original version back then, KatTheIndigoWolf gave me an important feedback regarding how I should write my fanfics which, admittedly, made me realized why part of me felt dissatisfied with how it turned out, more so after reviewing it:**

**"I like that ending. However, my biggest feedback for you is to show, don't tell. There were a few instances, like the beginning of this chapter where that happened. Other than that, great story!"**

**Discovering how much the first and last part desperately need extensive revisions more than the rest and taking notes from both KatTheIndigoWolf's advice above and a certain Little Witch Academia fanfic series which quality "progressively and consistently worsen" that made Michael Bay's *Transformers* movies enjoyable in comparison, I reluctantly took this fic's original version down so I can replace it with the current version. In the process, I had to revamp certain details; for example, I changed Bogdasha from being a local monk to the elderly wizard and healer who became a close associate to the local abbey thanks to useful crafts and other intriguing knowledge he learned from his time at Jerusalem. There will be more changes in the next parts and I can only hope it won't be too drastic.**

**Author's Note #1: Considering I don't have much plan for Jasminka-centered chapter in my fic series, I decided that a prequel fic will make up for it. As the matter of fact, I found Studio TRIGGER's proposed idea of her background where she had some sort of demon stuck in her stomach as revealed in its official panel at AnimeNEXT 2017 unsettling, more so the demon's supposed connection with Holodomor, the man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. I didn't want to believe it, as such concept proved surprisingly grim and out of place in a family-friendly franchise such as *Little Witch Academia* that Ursula, Akko, and Croix's Dream Fuel Spirit case looked tamer in comparison. But then, to my surprise, it was later adapted into Chapter 12 of Keisuke Satō's Little Witch Academia manga, though the author reestablished the demon as spirit beast (or magical beast depending on the translation) all while adapted out its ties with Holodomor possibly due to page constraints and for the sake of maintaining the manga family-friendly image. Regardless, its connection with such grim historical event is still there.**

### Part 2: Blast to the Past

The night when Jasminka got lost in the forest near her home was a traumatizing one not just for her, but also for Tatiana. As if her failure to notice her little sister's disappearance because of distracted by her attempts to properly bake their favorite pastries until it's too late was bad enough, Tatiana heard old, unsettling urban legends pertaining the same forest told to children sometime after Holodomor. Up until that fateful night, Antonenko sisters believed neither of such stories.

Despite their fear, Antonenko sisters steeled their resolve to venture through the forest in order to discover the truth about it and Jasminka's dream. As they stepped into the forest by foot (it would help Jasminka remembering her path from ten years back better) with Mo looking out for potential danger on top of Jasminka's head, Tatiana decided to begin a conversation. "Jasna, do you remember one of stories town elders told us when we were kids?"

"You mean about this forest and hunger faeries?", Jasminka replied.

"Yes", Tatiana nodded. "Around more than eighty years ago, there was a Soviet depot belonged to one of the regime's Red Train brigades which used to hoard crops forcefully taken from our country's peasants in this forest. When peasant revolts broke out, a mob of desperate farmers overrun the depot to reclaim their stolen food, sparking a carnage between both sides which so gruesome authorities at that time decided not to record what had transpired. Of course, it didn't stop rumors from spreading and eventually reached the ears of Yagas, the country's great magical family, who then set out to investigate what happened years earlier."

"However, the Yagas refused afterward to talk of what they found inside, but the least frightening part of it was that place was infested with hunger faeries. No one knows how or why but, one thing was certain; the force of hatred of those who died during the massacre there had since attracted all sorts of evil into such forsaken depot. Or something..."

Giving some thoughts about the story, a realization hit Jasminka upon realizing how familiar the whole thing sounded. "A Soviet depot? Could it be — AAAAH!"

"Jasna!"

The chubby young witch abruptly slipped and rolled off a steep hill she overlooked because of bushes concealing it, prompting the panicked Tatiana to hastily rush for her little sister. To add insult to injury, Jasminka quick to recognize the slope she slipped on as the *exact* same one from ten years back. Fortunately, instead of hitting the solid ground far below, she landed by her belly on something squishy and slimy(?) with a boiling tar-like sound. Sensing something off, she hastily jumped onto her feet and saw a poodle of blue slime beneath her.

"Oh my God! I — I killed Mo!", Jasminka cried.

"Jasna, are you okay?", Tatiana asked upon landing beside her.

"I'm fine, but...", all the horror-struck Jasminka muttered while pointing at the slime pool Mo used to be.

To her relief, the squashed hunger faery reformed with a loud pop and smiled at Jasminka upon finding its former host unharmed by the fall.

The disoriented faery then noticed scattered poppy seed rolls nearby and hastily recovered them (though it tempted to eat a few at the same time) — the fall must've scattered their shared provisions somehow.

As soon as Antonenko sisters joined Mo in recovering Jasminka's scattered snacks, a large creature landed in front of them out of nowhere and voraciously feasted on the rest much to their shock and dismay. Turning at the stunned girls and their hunger faery companion, the creature regarded them with its cold, chilling eyes and leaped away, but not before abruptly (or rather comically) snatched the roll poking out of Mo's mouth. It took the hunger faery's furious roar as it began chasing the offending monster to snap Tatiana and Jasminka from their stupor.

"We should go after that slime ball", Tatiana said before she and Jasminka rushed for their angry companion with their wands ready.

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

It didn't take long for Antonenko sisters to finally catch up with Mo who had jumped over a rusted fence. Deserted, rundown buildings along with carts and other vehicles could be seen on the other side. Decades of negligence had since allowed vegetations to take over the area, yet the facility itself somehow remained untouched for some reasons.

Jasminka was about to call out for Mo before Tatiana gestured her against it, though she didn't have to explain why; upon entering the abandoned facility through a large gap, Antonenko sisters felt the air unexpectedly getting very cold. Too sudden to be natural in fact, and they knew it means there was evil presence in the area. The smell of death and decay permeated the air, and the surrounding darkness seemed to close in and envelop them despite of it was still daylight. It was a dark place, haunted and cursed.

Cautiously exploring the facility, Antonenko sisters stumbled upon tattered remains of grain sacks on abandoned carts. They did find a few which still intact, though their contains had since wasted (much to Jasminka's dismay). Similar sacks could be found on deserted trucks nearby. Writings on the trucks' sides had been faded in time, but Tatiana nevertheless managed to make out two words written in Russian;

 ХЛЕБ CОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИЙ

The writings on the truck disturbed Tatiana, more so when they came across a worn-out red flag on the ground. Examining the flag, they discovered it bore a familiar-looking insignia in its upper left canton; a golden hammer with matching sickle crossed together beneath a gold-bordered red star. Putting pieces together with the story they discussed earlier, it was then Antonenko sisters knew who owned the abandoned facility was.

"This place... It must be the Soviet depot the elders mentioned", Tatiana deduced anxiously.

"Indeed", Jasminka nodded as a realization hit her. "And what's more, I've been here before in my dream."

Without warning, Jasminka ran off deeper into the depot.

"Jasna, where are you going? What do you mean you were here before?", Tatiana yelled.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say my dream was a vision from the past! One about someone who used to work her during Holodomor", Jasminka explained as Tatiana hurried to keep up. "He was a Soviet officer who disillusioned by his role in the genocide against our people. In his disgust and remorse, he returned his confiscated crops back to their owners and even had some of them fled the country behind his peers' back before setting out to confront his commanding superior who stationed here alongside him. But by the time he did, what await him in this place was a sight of..."

"Carnage. His fellow officers and the desperate farmer mob had killed each other like in the elders' story, right?", Tatiana guessed.

"Yes, but it all nothing compared to what happened next", Jasminka nodded grimly as they finally stopped in front of a particular building which seemed to be a warehouse of some sort.

Unknown to Antonenko sisters, several ghastly figures were watching them from dark corners of the depot. The figures then began their move as soon as they entered the warehouse.

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Suddenly, time seemed to stop. As Jasminka and Tatiana carefully entered the warehouse, they had a strange ghostly vision; the two found themselves back to the outside of the very Soviet depot they just entered, only that night had fallen and the whole place was in flames. Bodies of Red Train officers and farmers alike were strewn across the depot, and they all clearly died of extreme violence. Blood was everywhere.

Moments later, a military truck arrived at the scene followed by its driver who hastily jumped out of the vehicle. The driver, a slightly stocky Red Train officer with glasses and messy dirty blonde hair, was horrified by the morbid scene in front of him as much as Antonenko sisters and wasted not time to look for survivors, but not before tossed what seemed to be an object with reflective surface back into his truck. As he did, he briefly turned at their direction just enough for Jasminka to recognize him.

"It's him! That's the officer from my dream", Jasminka hissed.

"Are you sure?", Tatiana asked in disbelief.

"He had a habit of checking on his looks with a mirror shard he normally kept inside his truck sometimes to annoy his friends. You know, the glowing thing on his hand earlier?", Jasminka explained.

Just then, the bespectacled officer noticed someone who limped toward him. It was his fellow Red Train officer, his uniform tattered and bloodied in some parts. Said officer eventually lost his footing and fell, though his bespectacled friend managed to catch him at the last moments. The two then conversed in Russian, a language Antonenko sisters already familiar with since it was their native tongue from start — Jasminka and Tatiana spoke in English most of the time so they could improve their fluency with it as their secondary language, which no surprise as the former currently enrolled at a British magic school.

["Talk to me. What just happened here?"], the bespectacled officer asked.

["The farmers... They somehow managed to overrun the whole... depot"], the wounded officer said weakly. ["As soon as things got out of control, Colonel totally lost it! Went nuts... killed... everyone!"]

The bespectacled officer's jaw dropped upon hearing what his dying friend just said. ["Colonel did WHAT?"]

["He killed... everyone. Get out... while... you can"], all the wounded officer said before he faded away.

Neither the bespectacled Red Train officer nor Antonenko sisters liked what they just heard. It appeared the Colonel he answered to already unpleasant to begin with, but the moment when he indiscriminately killed everyone around him at the height of the chaos proved that he had crossed the line. Not long after that, they heard screams from a nearby warehouse, prompting the bespectacled officer to set out to investigate. Although she didn't like what she was sensing, Jasminka indicated that they should follow him and Tatiana obeyed.

True to this, the sight that greeted them inside didn't fare any better. Before the very eyes of Jasminka, Tatiana, and the bespectacled officer, the Colonel, a man with large stature and gray hair, was furiously and rapidly stabbing a malnourished man to death with his knife. His decorated uniform, which symbolized his rank and authority, had been completely drenched with blood. Watching him nearby was a scared peasant girl with ragged gray dress. Putting aside her lank and dull hair and skinny stature, she bore a jarring resemblance to Jasminka herself.

["Colonel, what the hell happened here?"], the bespectacled officer asked as calm as possible.

["Ukrainian scums... How dare they attacked us... "], the Colonel muttered, still stabbing his already lifeless victim. ["They must pay... this transgression... with their lives!"] Ceasing his brutal assault, he eventually regarded his horrified subordinate, a crazed look in his eyes. ["Oh, it's about time you finally showed up. Are you here to help me teach these fools a lesson they won't forget? Of course, you would, considering how eager you are to serve the Union."]

["Not in this way, sir"], the bespectacled officer shook his head sadly. ["I thought we fight to improve everyone's lives but... but this? I don't want to take part in this madness!"]

["Madness? MADNESS?! These people... these rats... they are nothing but traitors to their own purpose! Even this scum... "], Colonel bellowed deliriously as he grabbed the peasant girl by the hair and tossed her to the bespectacled officer's feet like a ragdoll. ["If you didn't show up, she would've stab me in the back already!"] He then took a nearby axe and aggressively passed it to his subordinate. ["Do you still want to serve your country? Hack that little farm whore for me and I'll take it as yes."]

["P-p... please"], the girl pleaded weakly.

The bespectacled officer looked at his crazed commander, then the axe on his hands and the terrified peasant girl in front of him. Forcefully taking away Ukrainian peasants' food supply was one thing but, to be ordered to kill a helpless girl proved too far.

["Come on, kill her already! Or you wanted to quit like those traitors?"], the Colonel demanded.

For a second, the bespectacled officer relented and reluctantly raised the axe above his head. However, the helplessness of his would-be victim caused him to falter and lower his weapon before glared angrily at his crazed commander. ["No, I killed enough innocent lives already. I'm not here to follow your orders anymore, nor some goddamn genocidal regime! Day and night, I can't help but wonder why many of us didn't even think whether leaving those hapless peasants starved to the death was wrong, let alone what kind of monsters we have become at the same time."]

Tears began to flow from his eyes as he continued, ["But now I do. I do after watching some of us **proudly 'run their cars' over those starving peasants' dead bodies and seeing you slaughtering everyone like some pigs!!!** We casted away our conscience for the sake of becoming Stalin's lap dogs! Perhaps the only way for us to understand the gravity of our crimes is to be subjected with the exact same hell we inflicted to those people. If I eventually punished in such manner either after this all ends or in the afterlife, that would just be okay."]

Jasminka and Tatiana were unable to help but moved by the bespectacled officer's remorseful speech. Turned out there were good people even among followers of communist regime who involved in Holodomor. The same could be said to the peasant girl, as the fear in her eyes receded into that of awe. The Colonel's reaction on the other hand, was unsettling. At first, he laughed at his subordinate's defiance in the sickening manner not too different with Hannah and Barbara did back when they were still good-for-nothing bullies. But then, his laughter warped into chilling, almost gargle-like.

["That's right! We casted away our conscience to please our great leader Stalin! It's a pity not many of us can do that!"], the Colonel ranted. ["Well, before you go, let me kill this whore first!"]

"NO!!"/["STOOP!!!"], Jasminka and the bespectacled officer yelled in unison with English and Russian respectively; the bespectacled officer instinctively pushed the peasant girl out of the way just as the Colonel threw his knife at her, resulting it to struck him instead. As he fell onto his knees feeling his life began to fade away, he saw the Colonel menacingly advancing toward the helpless peasant girl who pressed herself into the wall, wishing that she able to phase through it somehow.

["Don't... "], the bespectacled officer choked, his sheer rage unbelievably gave him strength to get on his feet and tighten his grip over the axe on his hands all while ignoring the knife that lodged into his heart. ["Leave her alone!!!"]

With a furious roar, the bespectacled officer leaped toward his crazed commander and landed a titanic strike; his axe inflicted a deep gash wound across his shoulder and torso, spilling his blood everywhere and prompted Tatiana to cover her sister's eyes sparing her from such gruesome sight — the older Antonenko swore a bit of his innards stuck out from the attack somehow. The Colonel looked down at his grievous wound in disbelief before collapsing to the floor, dead. The bespectacled followed soon after, finally succumbed to his injury. With the last bit of his strength, he looked up at the peasant girl and smiled knowing she was unharmed — a smile that Antonenko sisters found familiar somehow.

Soon, the scene around Antonenko sisters whirled into the darkness. Before long, the two found themselves back to the warehouse they just entered, the same warehouse where the gruesome flashback took place...

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

**Author's Note #2: Back when I wrote this particular chapter, I took my time conducting some research about Holodomor so as things Jasminka and Tatiana found at that abandoned Soviet Union depot would be consistent with historical accounts pertaining such gruesome event as possible. First of all, I figured out Soviet Union indeed had brigades who in charge of (often forcefully) collecting crops and food supply from Ukrainian peasants as part of Soviet Government's policy during such dark times called "Red Trains" according to Wikipedia. Because such brigades only made a passing mention in the same site, I still uncertain whether I portrayed them in this fic as accurate as in real-life. I also discovered that there were indeed real-life cases of peasant revolt during such dark times not unlike one in this chapter along with the bespectacled Red Train officer's claim regarding his peers who "proudly" run their cars over starving Ukrainians' dead bodies, which taken straight from this Holodomor-related documentary YouTube video (at 14:33).**

**Among minor changes I made when revising this fic was the way the bespectacled officer killed his maddened Colonel where he nearly disemboweled the latter which admittedly, through combining two earlier ideas of the outcome of such lethal blow; I originally intended the Colonel being disemboweled outright with more bits of his innards spilled to the floor, yet that deemed not realistic enough if we take the account of his killer's weakened state that the next idea toned it down into a deep gash wound. Oh, and I also clarified that everyone in the flashback Antonenko sisters saw explicitly speak Russian and the writing at the deserted trucks Tatiana found (SOCIALIST'S BREAD) being written in the same language.**

### Part 3: The Closure and The Truth

"Was that the reason the Yagas refused to speak about what they found here? And how this place became cursed?", Tatiana said at last.

"To think of it looked exactly like how my dream ended... At least I got a better look on that officer this time. And his eyes, they were just like Mo's", Jasminka said as she looked at where the bespectacled officer died, then the wall where her lookalike got cornered by the Colonel.

"That's true but, I don't see any connection between them", Tatiana shrugged.

"Maybe there is. We'll figure that out as soon as we find Mo", Jasminka insisted.

"Sooner the better. I have a bad feeling about this place", Tatiana agreed.

Before Antonenko sisters could leave the warehouse, a white mist began to rise from the floor around them. One by one, spectral entities materialized around the two and surrounded them in a crude circle. Resembling ghosts from the previous year's Wild Hunt event at first, the restless spirits of the dead glitched into forms they had in life; some assumed the appearance of Soviet Union officers who stationed at the depot in life, while others the farmers. True to grisly circumstances that surrounded their deaths, their spectral forms were riddled with very wounds that killed them.

Holding her silver wand against her chest with both hands, Tatiana recited, "*Ignis Purgatio!*" A brilliant yellowish white fire burst from its tip before coalescing about the wand into a fiery long blade. To Jasminka's further awe, its presence caused the ghosts to briefly recoil.

"Jasna, stay behind me", Tatiana instructed, ready to attack any ghost who dared to get too close.

Jasminka did as her older sister told to, but nevertheless readied her wand since they were outnumbered. That was when she noticed a peculiar ghost who happened to be the malnourished man whom the Colonel stabbed to death among the spirits of the dead. Not surprisingly, his spectral form was riddled with stab wounds.

The ghost's cold expression changed into that of sadness upon the sight of Jasminka, and he began to swoop in to reach her. It took a couple of seconds for the chubby young witch to realize she apparently reminded him to her lookalike who witnessed his death and that the girl might be his relative, his daughter perhaps. As much as she sympathized with his plight, Jasminka knew better putting him back to rest was the best course of action.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of black and red light, and with a loud banging and crashing, the rusted metal backdoor of the warehouse was blasted apart. This soon followed by a sharp tentacle which speared through the malnourished ghost's torso and pulled him toward a huge jagged maw, much to Jasminka's dismay and horror. More tentacles appeared and began their short work on the remaining restless spirits of the dead, either dismembering them outright or stuffing them into the same jagged maw. They moved so fast that not only Antonenko sisters were unable to determine their numbers, but also none of the ghosts in the building survived the ensuing onslaught.

It didn't take long for the massacre to finally end, allowing the two to get a better look at the ghosts' assailant. The very creature who stole Jasminka and Mo's provisions earlier. A jet-black, boar-sized hunger faery.

In stark contrast of their adorable companion, the gelatinous entity before the two was a dreadful, if not downward terrifying sight. Its two pairs of bat-like wings, four blood red, spider-like eyes and matching aura gave off a demonic image, and the faery's coarse laughter as it revealed itself before Antonenko sisters obviously didn't help the matter.

Having witnessed its display of brutality, Jasminka and Tatiana became uncertain with their chances against the demonic faery, let alone escaping. Worse still, Mo was still nowhere to be found...

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Mo frowned at the bits that used to be it and its former host's shared poppy seed rolls. It dismayed the hunger faery as not only it lost the nasty food thief, but also got separated from Jasminka and Tatiana because of recklessly chasing the creature on its own. And now it found itself somewhere in the middle of the forsaken Soviet depot which fortunately, used to be its former home for as long as it remembered.

It didn't take long for the blue hunger faery to find Antonenko sisters just as they entered one of the depot's abandoned warehouses. By the time it did however, restless spirits of the dead who haunted the area had converged on the building. To make matter worse, the elusive food thief was also there, beheading and devouring ghosts who unfortunate enough to stand in its path. Fearing the worst, Mo made haste for the warehouse at once.

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Letting out a hysterical laughter, the black hunger faery charged at Antonenko sisters. It moved so fast that neither Jasminka nor Tatiana had time to even think about dodging it, let alone anticipating its incoming assaults. Like a ball thrown during the dodgeball match, it bounced off Tatiana before slamming into Jasminka firmly in the gut, knocking the wind from her and brought her to her knees.

"What in the world?!", Jasminka cried incredulously before getting crushed under the demonic faery's weight.

"Leave her alone!", Tatiana cried while hurling arcs of white fire via. rapid swings of her bladed wand carefully aimed at their enemy so as she won't struck Jasminka by mistake.

Jumping off the disoriented chubby young witch, the gelatinous monstrosity rushed toward Tatiana all while performing erratic maneuvers to evade incoming projectiles and laughing maniacally, resulting them struck random crates behind it and setting them aflame. She then attempted to swing her bladed wand against the black hunger faery as soon as it got to close, but none of her strikes were connected despite her best efforts.

Although the memory of Mo possessing her and wreaking havoc at Luna Nova during her first year there was foggy at best, Jasminka knew Akko and the others had a hard time in stopping them. Not even Diana was able to do the same, as the academy's top student got *devoured* before had a chance to do so. As such, neither her nor Tatiana would have believed anything that was more troublesome than their hunger faery companion. But when the demonic faery overpowered them in less than a minute or two, they both knew it.

The black hunger faery ultimately ended Tatiana's assaults by unleashing a sonic shriek that pinned both her and her little sister to the warehouse wall. It then wasted no time holding Jasminka in chokehold with two of its tentacles. Despite of her managed to loosen its hold over her throat, the demonic faery responded by holding her limbs in their place.

"Jasna!", Tatiana cried before the black hunger faery whipped her aside and snarled as her, daring her to witness what would be her little sister's last moments.

When the hope seemed lost for Antonenko sisters, they soon heard a sound of rapid, pounding flesh that getting louder and louder as seconds passed. The next thing that happened was something fast slammed into the gelatinous monstrosity with such force not only it forced the demonic faery to let go of Jasminka, but also sending it flying through the warehouse wall like a cannonball. As the chubby young witch regained her breath with Tatiana hoisted her up to her feet, she looked up at her unexpected savior who was none other than their missing blue hunger faery companion.

"Mo!", Jasminka exclaimed.

Mo nodded at Jasminka before confronting its larger brethren, its side carapaces opened up like some sort of hatch where each unveil twin whip-like, sharp tentacles with spiky ends underneath. Crawling back into the warehouse, the black hunger faery formed sharp talons on two of its tentacles and charged. A fast-paced, brutal fight ensued as both faeries repeatedly clashed their weaponized limbs against one another with equal ferocity, laying waste upon everything around them in process. Unlike its opponent who was indifferent to its surroundings, the blue hunger faery took Antonenko sisters' safety into account, consistently blocking and redirecting every attack which seemingly aimed at the two as they scrambled for cover. What made it even more awesome was Mo's surprising ability to match its larger opponent's might with sheer raw power alone despite their obvious size difference.

Having enough, Mo entangled its opponent with its whip-like barbed tentacles before hurling it toward the fire Tatiana unwittingly started from her attacks earlier like a slingshot. Though the demonic faery managed to fly away from the yellowish white inferno, its left wings got caught by the flames and was unable to put it out despite its best efforts. As the result, the black hunger faery was forced to sever them so as the consecrated flames won't spread to the rest of its gelatinous form.

Enraged, the black hunger faery protruded spikes all over its body to show that it's going to all-out, prompting Mo to be defensive by lifting its carapaces like shields to block its opponent's incoming assaults. Despite its formidable defense, the demonic faery didn't tire. A savage blow knocked one of its carapaces aside and a brutal salvo of tentacle thrusts sent it sailing. As Mo plowed helplessly through the warehouse floor, its larger opponent crawled in for the kill, its talons morphed into large cleavers it dragged along.

It was then Jasminka did something unexpected. Without realizing it, she rushed placed herself between Mo and the murderous demonic faery with her arms spread wide, causing the latter to briefly falter in its advance before growled angrily at her.

"I won't let you hurt Mo any further!", she exclaimed.

"What are you doing?! Jasna, get out of the way!", Tatiana cried.

*Akko, if you are here, you will surely do the same thing*, Jasminka thought. It's not her nature to be as reckless as her accident-prone Japanese friend, but that didn't mean she just stood by and watch their blue hunger faery companion perish either, even if said faery being the one who forced her to eat constantly for a decade no less.

Mo, obviously horrified as much as Tatiana, croaked pleadingly at its former host. Jasminka, understanding what it said, shook her head in response. "No, I can't! I won't let you fight that thing by yourself after you saved me at that slope and seeing you protecting us like that."

"To be honest, even now, I... I don't know what to think about you. I wanted to hate you for everything you put me through all these years. Yet thanks to you, I could experience wonderful cuisines and even learned how to cook them. Not to mention about useful tips I could share with my parents which allowed our family business to be more successful than ever. So, for now, let us fight together as friends, Mo!"

Jasminka's declaration left the blue hunger faery speechless. Despite her misgivings toward it, that didn't deny the fact of her had genuinely acknowledged it as her friend. Moved by this, Mo enlarged its feathered wings as it began to flap them, taking off to the air before performing an unforeseen miracle...

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Mo's glowing form burst into a mass of swirling tendrils that pulled concrete chunks along with pieces of debris scorched by Tatiana's consecrated flames into its epicenter, reforming into a two-handed battle axe that landed in front of Jasminka's feet with a loud clank.

It was a remarkable yet crudely shaped weapon, composed of bluish solid rocks and hardened azure slime putting the whole thing together. Its edge on the other hand, which glow in bright electric blue, was smoother and painfully sharp. A disc with a large, blinking pupil-less eye on the center that glow in yellow, connected both the edge and long handle. Lastly, a pair of small wings resembled those of Mo could be seen at the handle's base.

"Mo, what are you...?", all the awestruck Jasminka said at last.

"Slime ball transmogrified itself into an Unseelie Blade!", Tatiana exclaimed.

"Unseelie what?", Jasminka asked.

"A type of enchanted weapon with terrible power", Tatiana explained. "There are stories of witches and wizards in Scotland who crafted blades made of solid rocks infused with concentrated essence of Unseelie Court. If you take one of them, you will receive great power, but you can hold it for so long before..."

"...it takes control of you", Jasminka guessed.

"Yes. Only those with strong will that can overcome its overwhelming power, and why those Blades normally under restraints while not in use. Of course, it wouldn't be that difficult if it happened to be an Unseelie who turned into one in its own volition and already formed an emotional bond with you beforehand instead, or something..."

"So, it's a double-edged weapon."

"Precisely. I can see that slime ball wanted to help us but, are you sure about this, Jasna?"

Jasminka looked on the axe Mo had transformed into. While it's nice to see the blue hunger faery willingly lend her its power to help them even their odds against their common adversary, that was not to say it would make things easy for her. Yet at the same time, it showed how much the two bonded in the past few days assuming it to be true to Tatiana's explanation about Unseelie Blades and information in *The Comprehensive Guide to Familiars*. Seeing this as some sort of test of trust between them, the chubby young witch steeled her resolve. "There's only one way to find out."

As soon as Jasminka firmly grasped Mo's axe form, a violent surge of dark blue magic burst from the weapon with an audible shriek. Tatiana watched in mild awe as her little sister struggled to contain its terrible power as she lifted it – not even the Unseelie Axe's raw magic that began to consume her starting from her hands deterred her from taming such dangerous weapon. Considering that she managed to keep Mo at bay for ten years straight and only lost control once, mastering its axe form shouldn't be difficult for her. The black hunger faery on the other hand, realizing what the chubby young witch attempted to do, stopped looking like statues and leaped forward, letting out another maniacal laughter with its clever arms aimed at her throat.

Before the demonic faery's lethal blow could reach her however, Jasminka suddenly looked up and blocked the incoming attack with the Unseelie Axe at the last moments, showing no sign of strain despite the clash between their blades produced a shockwave that trembled the whole warehouse. As she did, the weapon emanated another blast of energy followed by its magic surge which subsided and coursed through her instead of continue taking over, giving its wielder strength as she slowly pushed the demonic faery back – she has tamed Mo's axe form as well.

In the ensuing blade struggle between both combatants, Jasminka managed to get a better look at her opponent's eyes and sensed something familiar in them before the two eventually distanced themselves several meters away.

"Where have I seen eyes like those?", Jasminka wondered before a realization hit her upon recalling on the insane Colonel from the vision. "How is it possible?"

"Jasna, what is it?", Tatiana asked, followed by Mo's axe form blinking as if it had the same question.

"It might be just me but, I think the hunger faery in front of us was the Colonel who died here", Jasminka replied grimly.

Tatiana's expression changed into that of shock, but not for long as she and Jasminka soon noticed the black hunger faery hopping around the warehouse erratically, each leap was faster than the last. Before long, they found themselves surrounded by dozens of their enemy.

Or so it seemed. Thanks to the Unseelie Axe enhanced her senses as much as her strength and speed, Jasminka could easily tell that instead of multiplying, the black hunger faery created several afterimages of itself with its incredible speed to confuse them. Closing her eyes, she focused on the demonic faery's tentacle-steps to read its movements knowing any sudden change of pattern means it would attack either her or Tatiana and that was when she must strike.

As soon as she sensed the black hunger faery leaped to attack her from behind, the chubby young witch turned around and swung her weapon at its direction simultaneously, releasing a crescent shaped blast of dark blue magic which slammed against it. The counterattack was not only sent her opponent flying into the pile of crates behind it, but also dispelled its afterimages altogether. Not taking any chances, Tatiana hurled concentrated arcs of white fire at the-then exposed black hunger faery, setting it ablaze.

"Jasna, now!", Tatiana cried.

Coating the Unseelie Axe with a surge dark blue magic, Jasminka charged toward the weakened black hunger faery and slammed her energized weapon down upon it while exclaimed, "Your madness ends here, Colonel!"

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

As the energized Unseelie Axe cleft through the black hunger faery's gelatinous form, a bright golden light shined from the weapon and Jasminka soon had another ghostly vision. This time, one that took place at the plains not far from Soviet Union borders.

The first thing she was a familiar-looking truck which stopped there before its driver and his companion jumped into view; the bespectacled Red Train officer and his friend from the previous vision, only the latter was in good shape and no wounds riddled his body. Both officers then abrasively dragged their truck's other occupants who sat in the back; a small Ukrainian family consisted of father, mother, and daughter. At first, it appeared the two were about to execute their captives on the spot because they aimed their rifles at their heads in the next instance.

But then, to her surprise, the officers instead fired their weapons to the sky at the last moments before urging the baffled family to flee their country for their own safety. Though she barely able to hear their conversation, Jasminka could tell that the family were grateful nonetheless before made a run for it. Before they did however, the bespectacled officer asked the family their coats as the proofs to support the false report of his and his friend that they had executed their captives as per their commanding superior's order. Understanding what their unexpected saviors up to, the father, despite his distrust, procured a knife from his pocket to cut his own hand so he could stain his coat with his own blood to make it even more convincing and urged his family to do the same for a good measure. Once the deed was done, the family and the two Red Train officers parted ways.

The bespectacled officer continued watching the family they spared departed to parts unknown for a moment or two before unexpectedly turned on Jasminka's direction and smiled warmly. That was not unusual in the slightest. What was unusual was that his image suddenly flickered into Mo with similar smile like glitches in a broken video recording as the vision concluded.

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Regaining her senses, the first thing Jasminka saw was burning halves of the slain black hunger faery which disintegrated into golden particles. Sunlight shined upon the victorious chubby young witch through the warehouse's windows as she and Tatiana felt the air around them became warmer, signifying the weakening of the evil forces around them.

The Unseelie Axe fell to the floor with a clatter, turning back into Mo who then caught its former host as she dropped into her knees from exhaustion, prompting Tatiana to do the same. Turning to the blue hunger faery weakly, Jasminka suddenly saw the bespectacled Red Train officer in its place smiling approvingly at her as he said, "Well done, kid." Uncertain whether it was a fatigue-induced hallucination, all she could responded was nodding aggressively.

"That was amazing, Jasna!", Tatiana praised her little sister, snapping her out of her stupor before looked on the blue hunger faery apologetically. "And you too, slime ball. I supposed I owed you an apology for being wrong about you. You see, things scorched by my cleansing flames cannot be touched by demons and other beings with malice in their hearts, and the fact that you absorbed some of them as you turned into an Unseelie Axe proved that you are truly neither of those things", leaving the blue hunger faery pleasantly surprised.

"As much as I wanted us to celebrate, I think we should do it at home. Besides, I already have my closure here", Jasminka said.

"You're right", Tatiana nodded before waving her bladed wand over the still burning white fire in the warehouse, dispelling it before it could damage the building further. The process also did the same with flames around her wand. "Slaying that faery might be not enough to break the curse that plagued this place. On the bright side, we gave it a well-deserved respite. Best we off before it lasted."

As they departed from the abandoned Soviet depot, Jasminka took one last look at the area. She found not only the closure from her recurring nightmare there, but also something more — what could spoil their happiness?

Unfortunately, the answer to that was waiting on the other side of their entrance to the abandoned Soviet depot. As Antonenko sisters and Mo crawled through the large gap of the facility's rusted fence, they stumbled upon Master Bogdasha whose jaw dropped in shock.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME YOU THINK YOU DOING HERE?!"

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

**Author's Note #3: When I struggled to finish original version of this part, it unexpectedly took three months because of my foolishness in allowing some ransomware infected my laptop. On the flip side though, I learned the danger of ransomware and how much it costed me.**

**As with the second part, this one underwent little changes in its revisions (or re-forged as you put it), most notably the change of the color of Tatiana's cleansing flames from bluish white to yellowish white (Holy Power and Light Magics tend to be portrayed with this color in various fictions) and Antonenko sisters and Mo's encounter with horrified Master Bogdasha in the ending.**

**The idea of Mo turned into a powerful yet dangerous sentient axe as well as Unseelie Blades in general were inspired by two things; Devil Arms from *Devil May Cry* franchise and Demon Sword from *GARO: Versus Road*. Devil Arms refer to weapons of overwhelming power that are essentially the embodiment of a demon's soul/power and can be wielded by anyone provided that such weapons have been subdued first and that person possesses sufficient strength to wield them at their fullest. Demon Sword on the other hand, is a cursed weapon that grants incredible strength and power to whoever wields it, but they must cut an enemy with it before its 99.9 seconds time limit elapsed or its dark power consumes them and turns them into an undead. Luckily for Jasminka, she won't face the same risk as with the latter while using Mo in its axe form, but she still had to use it sparingly (it will be further explained in the epilogue part of this fic).**

**Up until I wrote this prequel story, I came up with two different ideas regarding the dynamic between Jasminka and Mo the blue hunger faery. The first one portrayed it as some sort of posthumous character where it left Jasminka's body for good in response of her ate something that forced it to do so by mistake, but not before infused a portion of its essence into her arm, mutating it and giving it unique powers both as the parting gift and apology for troubles it had caused to her. The second idea on the other hand, involved the two having a symbiotic relationship akin to jinchuuriki and their respective tail beasts from Naruto series which allows Jasminka to access Mo's destructive powers such as manifesting some of its tentacles from her body. At first, I thought the latter idea suit both Jasminka and Witches of Midgard-verse series pretty well but, that seemed to be no longer the case the more I worked on revising this fic series' lore and story. With this prequel story, I have completely scrapped the jinchuuriki & tailed beast-like dynamic idea for those two.**

**The next and final part is going to be the epilogue and foreshadowing for The Rise of Luna Nova Valkyries, the first part of Little Witch Academia: Witches of Midgard.**

### Epilogue

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME YOU THINK YOU DOING HERE?! Explain yourself, both of you!", Bogdasha demanded.

Before Tatiana could say anything, Jasminka interrupted, "It's my fault, Master Bogdasha. I was the one who insisted that we should go to this place."

The elderly healer gaped upon the chubby young witch's confession. "Jasminka?"

"I-I had a vivid nightmare ever since you and sister expelled Mo from inside me", Jasminka explained. "A dream about someone who used to work in this depot long ago. He was a member of Red Train brigade who reluctantly participated in Holodomor and died here when it was overrun by the mob of desperate farmers. Not just one night. I had it three nights straight!", She indignantly slumped onto the nearby large rock. "It was maddening me."

Bogdasha merely looked at Jasminka as she continued her story.

"But that was not it all", Jasminka continued. "It took me a while but, I realized this forest, the very forest where I ate Mo 10 years ago, and the one in my nightmare, are the same place. So, we decided to retrace my steps both to make sure and figure out why I had this nightmare to begin with. We thought we could handle whatever dangers stored for us in this place just with Tatiana's Holy Magic. But we were wrong. Had it not for Mo here, we'd probably be dead."

"I know I should've kept my sister out of this accursed forest but, the fact that she stumbled upon a demonic faery which existence had something to do with Holodomor disturbed me as much as her nightmare", Tatiana added.

Mo stared at Antonenko sister with its jaw practically reaching the floor. While much of their story was true, the blue hunger faery knew they wouldn't enter too far into the ruined depot if it hadn't chased the elusive black hunger faery who stole its and Jasminka's shared provisions. Even if it was able to talk like its former host, Mo won't mention that little fact, of course.

"Be that as it may... it was an extremely foolish thing to do", Bogdasha reprimanded. "I would have expected more rational behavior on your part, Tatiana. Although, I must admit you kids were extremely fortunate as well. Not many little witches around your age could not only survived haunted ruins the living dared not to enter, but also weakened the curse that plagued it at the same time and lived to tell the tale. Your sheer dumb luck has miraculously allowed you to significantly mitigate evil presence in this forsaken place."

The elderly healer then crouched to enter the gap on the abandoned depot's rusted fence, but hesitated for a moment or two before turned on Antonenko sisters and Mo and asked, "Well, I'd like you kids to come with me in exploring this ruined depot a bit and explain everything you did there along the way. It should be safer now."

With that, Tatiana, Jasminka, and Mo hesitantly caught up with Bogdasha back into the abandoned Soviet depot.

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Antonenko sisters concluded the story of their adventure in the abandoned Soviet depot with Jasminka adding more details pertaining her recurring nightmare as they, Mo, and Bogdasha entered the warehouse where they vanquished the black hunger faery moments earlier.

When they had finished speaking, the elderly healer thought deeply about what he learned from Jasminka and Tatiana before nodded, "I see. It seemed the strength of that faery was what kept the evil in this ruined depot focused here. But banishing it was not enough... this entire ruin must be exorcized thoroughly in order to break its curse once and for all. And you kids did a great help in pinpointing its center. However, it's best if I take the whole credit because things would be complicated if the abbot learned that I received unexpected assistance from some meddling kids. Is it okay for you?"

Antonenko sisters exchanged glance, then nodded in agreement. "Nope. No problem", they said in unison.

"Good. Before I inform him about this development, there's something I need to make sure", Bogdasha said before placing his hand on the warehouse floor and closing his eyes.

"Um, Master Bogdasha, what are you doing?", Jasminka wondered.

"'Seeing' into the history of this warehouse. Believe it or not, I was born with the gift to perceive the past, the future, and other information of anyone or anything by either touching them or sensing their auras while focusing on them at the same time. An ability you may called psychometry", Bogdasha explained before gasped. "So, this is where *that* tragedy took place", he then turned on Antonenko sisters and Mo before stretched his hand. "Jasminka, Tatiana, Mo, take my hand. There's something you need to see."

The three uncertainly did as the elderly healer asked. As soon as they grabbed his hand, a series of visions played out in Antonenko sisters and the blue hunger faery's mind. It took them some time to fully comprehend what the elderly healer showed them, but once they did, the three discovered similarities between the visions, Jasminka's recurring nightmare, and ghostly vision pertaining the warehouse. The moment the bespectacled Red Train officer discovering the depot in flames, the bloody confrontation between him and his insane commanding colonel, everything. Even the manner they perished was jarringly similar. As with the latter two, the visions concluded with the bespectacled officer dying with smile upon confirming the peasant girl, Jasminka's looked alike, unharmed by the ordeal.

Returning to the present, Jasminka stumbled back as she remarked grimly, "It was just like in my nightmare and that ghostly vision in this place."

"Hey, what's wrong with slime ball?", Tatiana asked all of sudden, prompting Jasminka to look down at their blue hunger faery companion and found it shaken by the past vision the elderly healer showed to them. It seemed Mo took it all worse than Antonenko sisters and Bogdasha knew why as he explained, "I knew it would react that way but, your little friend needs to understand. Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery."

"That's one of Hellibore the Phoenix Knight's lines from Hereweald Potter the Great Stag Knight series!", Jasminka exclaimed before she could stop herself. "I-I mean, what do you mean Mo must understand it?"

"Shortly after I and Tatiana exorcized it from your body, I peered into this faery's past to learn how you both stumbled upon one another 10 years ago and importantly, from where it came from", the elderly healer said quietly to Jasminka. "As we suspected, you DID eat Mo because you mistook it as some jelly while stumbling upon this place back then. However, it was nothing compared to something else I discovered – peculiar memories which, assuming my guess is correct, might very well from its past-life. One of such memories revolved around the tragedy that took place here long ago, the same one in the vision I just showed you."

"Past-life?", Jasminka repeated before realized what the elderly healer meant. "Wait, are you saying that Mo is... "

"Yes. Admittedly, this sounds more of guesswork than actual truth but, if we take the account of one of faeries' folk origin theories in which they are spirits of the dead reincarnated as one... ", he then turned on the blue hunger faery. "I'd say Mo is the reincarnation of someone who died here. And that person was the Red Train officer with glasses in that vision."

Antonenko sisters looked to the ashamed Mo as the truth became increasingly clear, though Jasminka was not too surprised by the revelation.

"I believed Mo somehow remembered much, if not all of its past-life memories, which further attributed to it developed a soft spot for you since you reminded it to the girl it saved in its previous life", the elderly healer continued quietly to Jasminka. "But do not think less of it for this. Many of its past-life memories proved uneventful that it had suppressed them for quite a while. It even managed to block my psychometry somehow, though I managed to make out a few of them where they all led to this forsaken place. For the same reason, I didn't expect it to accompany you both back to this place, even if that means it would have to confront its forgotten memories in the process."

"Then, how about my sister's recurring nightmare? Does it have something to do with Mo as well?", Tatiana asked.

"Jasminka's recurring nightmare does have something to do with Mo, but it's not something it intended to cause", Bogdasha replied. "I already told you that expelling Mo from your sister's body won't be a perfect success because it had been trapped inside her for so long. If anything, bits of themselves were already flown into one another prior to the exorcism without they realized it, including their memories; just as Jasminka relieved its past-life memories as a recurring nightmare Mo developed a taste for your family's special rolls which also her favorite according to what you informed me in their latest development."

The blue hunger faery croaked apologetically to Jasminka who understood what it said as she let it hopped onto her welcoming palm. "I understand, Mo. Looks like I'm not the only one who needs some closure, huh?"

"You know what intrigued me most in your mishap with that blue hunger faery beside it being trapped inside you for 10 years? In normal circumstances, it supposedly takes weeks, if not months, for a witch or wizard to completely win his or her Unseelie familiar's loyalty and even has it unveiling its weapon form for him or her to use in combat. Yet, you achieved it all in mere few days thanks to it", Bogdasha said.

Jumping off its former host's hand, Mo stretched and deformed its gelatinous shape midair to proudly show its two-handed battle axe form which landed in front of Jasminka with a loud clank. "And its Unseelie Blade form looks magnificent no less with bits of Holy Magic coursing through it!", the elderly healer continued in awe before collecting himself. "Well, now that you have Mo as your familiar, you will need something to keep it behaved owing to its troublesome appetite and reassure others you are capable to do so, Jasminka."

Mo dejectedly deflated back to its normal form upon that statement as the elderly healer procured something from his robe. It was a silver round medal-like device bearing the insignia of Holy Magic; a heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends and a large circle on the center.

"Subjugation Talisman?", Tatiana wondered upon recognizing the device.

"Yes. This Talisman has the power to restrain and, if necessary, imprison the Unseelie familiar bonded to it within, making it a perfect tool to ensure it won't cause too much trouble. Despite already benign and obedient, such kind of familiar still retains its darker tendencies", Bogdasha explained.

"Restrain and imprison?", Jasminka repeated.

"I think Master Bogdasha has a point there. Although Mo can quell much of its voracious urges, it will need your help to do so, Jasna", Tatiana said.

Jasminka and Mo exchanged glance, then looked at Subjugation Talisman on the elderly healer's hand. With their bond now stronger than ever, that left figuring out subtle means to deal the blue hunger faery should its gluttonous behavior got out of hand. And so, she reluctantly took the Talisman before holding it upon the blue hunger faery who also felt the same way as it promptly placed one of its tentacles over it.

Bogdasha stepped forward before placing the tip of his staff on the Subjugation Talisman. A tendril of golden light emanated from the staff's crystal, encasing the Talisman within like a cocoon before each of its end wrapped tightly around Jasminka's hand and Mo's tentacle respectively like a rope, establishing a link between them. After a moment or two, the light tendril disappeared.

"With this, you now able to use this Talisman to keep your Unseelie familiar under your control. Not only this enchantment bound Mo to it, but also ensured only you and you alone that can use it", Bogdasha said formally.

Jasminka looked at the elderly healer with big smoldering eyes not unlike when she gazed upon the most exquisite of dishes and simply nodded. "Whoa...", she whispered after a moment.

Bogdasha procured something else from his robe, this time an antique pocket watch that showed it's already 12'o clock. "Well, looks like we took our time long enough. As we get back, we ought to look for some roots along the way. Just in case if anyone caught us walking out of this forest."

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

Antonenko sisters, Bogdasha, and Mo arrived at the elderly healer's store with some roots at hand. Jasminka didn't speak at all as they step down the staircase leading to the basement where she had Mo exorcized from her body at long last, taking her time looking at the floor where general exorcism glyph of Holy Magic was drawn by Bogdasha prior before placing the roots along with the rest in the nearby cupboard.

It took Mo croaking on her side followed by Tatiana asking her that she eventually snapped from her stupor. "You all right, Jasna? You seem very quiet."

Jasminka wasn't sure she could explain. Both she and Mo had found their closure over their problem and even better, found themselves bonding as a witch and her Unseelie familiar – and yet – she remained silent, trying to find the words.

"I thought a lot about everything I've gone through until now; keeping everyone in the dark about my predicament with Mo while you were tirelessly figuring out the way to expel it from inside of me, embarking on many adventures with my friends at Luna Nova, and our fiasco at that ruined depot... ", Jasminka said at last. "Sometimes, I... I felt I didn't do my part in it all good enough, being a 'fat pig that only cares about eating' most of the time. Even in the fight against that black hunger faery, it was thanks to Mo we all made it out alive."

Mo croaked and gestured with its tentacles that could be interpreted as "Hey, *I* am the fat pig that only cares for eating, not you! You merely acted like one because of me." This was followed by Tatiana who rested her hand on Jasminka's shoulder with a reassuring smile.

"You know what? I've always wanted to be like you, Jasna", Tatiana said. "Regardless of how small your part in it all, you did what everyone, even me, believed to be impossible. In fact, it took me witnessing how you mastered Mo's overwhelming power to figure out how strong and brave you really are. I think you've been more than you think you are all along. You just haven't known it."

Jasminka felt like a great weight had just been lifted off her shoulders. Looking back at it all, the chubby young witch realized she proved herself loyal and helpful to the others time and time again despite her hunger faery-induced gluttonous behavior, even at slightest. The adventure at the ruined Soviet depot cemented the fact that she was more than a freak she believed herself to be. With a relieved smile, Jasminka hugged Tatiana and Mo close, who returned the warm embrace.

The elderly healer turned to one of the basement's windows as if something on the outside caught his attention, which gave Antonenko sisters and the blue hunger faery time to spend such touching moment. Shortly after they were done, Jasminka said to Tatiana, "Last night, I read your book which tells about special magic you and Master Bogdasha used to exorcize me as well as the fire spell you casted at that ruined depot. Can you teach me how to use them?"

Bogdasha and Tatiana were pleasantly surprised by such request. "You mean, Holy Magic?", the latter asked. "Hmm, I don't think we have enough time to teach you all of its spells because you have to return for your second year at Luna Nova soon so, we will show you essential ones instead", she then turned to the elderly healer. "Can we, Master Bogdasha?"

"I don't see why not, though whether your sister can master them at their fullest depends on whether she has fulfilled this magic's essential criteria; having pure heart and unshakable faith in the good, justice, and divine", Bogdasha smiled. "For now, you two need to get some rest because you have gone through a tough day. We can start train Jasminka tomorrow around 3'0 clock here, in this basement. Oh, I almost forgot... "

The elderly healer's staff glow as he waved it over Antonenko sisters. The next thing they knew, their clothes, which turned torn in some parts from their adventure at the ruined Soviet depot earlier, magically restore themselves, good as new. "Your parents will suspect something if you return home with your clothes in awful shape like that", he continued.

With that, Antonenko sisters and Mo headed back home. It was a thrilling and emotional adventure as well as exhausting one (Mo has already fast asleep by the time they stepped out of the store). As she gently petted the sleeping hunger faery on her hands, once the source of her 10-year torment, Jasminka couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next...

=ᚢᛁᛐᛍᚼᛂᛌ ᚮᚠ ᛘᛁᛑᚵᛆᚱᛑ=

**Author's Note #4: Had my laptop not screwed by some \*\*\*\*ing ransomware back then, I would've finished the original version of this fic in less than 5 months.**

**Out of four parts of this Jasminka-centered prequel fic, this one received most drastic of revisions as it properly told how Jasminka learned Mo's nature as the reincarnation of a Soviet official who perished in a tragedy that cursed the-then abandoned depot he stationed at during the height of Holodomor, the same officer in her recurring nightmare, as well as how she received Subjugation Talisman for disciplining Mo should its hunger got out of hand. Though this unfortunately means I had to completely omit the part where Jasminka told the gang her, Tatiana, and Mo's adventure at the aforementioned Soviet depot, it was admittedly for the best. The final part of the prequel fic might very well still the weakest aspect of its storyline overall, but nonetheless better than its previous version which I found rather cheesy in comparison.**

**I mentioned the idea of Unseelie Blades (ex. Mo and its two-handed battle axe) being inspired by Devil Arms from *Devil May Cry* series and Demon Sword from *GARO: Versus Road*, right? Well, the design of Mo's Unseelie Axe form was admittedly inspired by Heavy Moon's Axe Moon configuration from *God Eater 3* in some respect. Not only that, in addition of wings, coloration, and friendlier personality, other change in the blue hunger faery which further differentiate it to its Keisuke Satō manga counterpart was side carapaces each containing twin barbed tentacles beneath – a trait inspired by those of Zegga, Akane's kaiju form from *SSSS.Gridman*, which admittedly deliberate in my part given that Jasminka and Akane were voiced by the same actress, Reina Ueda herself.**

**Surely you guys didn't expect Bifröst to show up in this fic's stinger, did you? Or the stoat-like creature who came out of it for that matter (unless you read original version of the fic). That should be enough foreshadowing of what will appear in Witches of Midgard-verse series.**

**Anyways, I'm going to take a break or two before finally rewriting *The Rise of Luna Nova Valkyries* as promised, for real this time! Probably some of you have already read it in Little Witch Academia Fanon Wiki but, that one was technically an outdated, incomplete version which had since contradicted much of the series' updated lore and therefore would be replaced with the better, finalized one.**

**One adventure ends. Another begins…**

**Additional Updates in this prequel fic:**

* **Incantations used by Tatiana to perform two of her Holy Magic spells, Smite (in Part 1) and Cleansing Fire (Part 3), has been changed from *Lumen* and *Sacred flames fueled by my unshackable faith, come forth!* to *Lumen Icio* and *Ignis Purgatio*. It was partly done for the sake of simplicity.**
* **The color of both Holy Holy Magic energies and Cleansing Flames has been changed to yellowish white given that in popular culture, holy power tends to be given such coloration.**
* **The scene of Jasminka, Tatiana, and Mo looking at visions Bogdasha shared to them has been simplified due to proved repetitive. (Update as of October 3, 2021)**