Duel Between Diana and Croix

**Duel between Diana and Croix** is the confrontation between Diana Cavendish and Croix Meridies when the former discovered her dark secrets.

## Plot Overview

### Background

#### Learning the Plot

Though Diana was happy that she able to resume her education in Luna Nova, she still bothered by rumors that spread in academy since Professor Croix's arrival. Some students mentioned about a truck which occasionally brought a large crate to New Moon Tower where her lab located at, and for some reasons, whatever that contained in those crates seemed agitated the faeries that they dared not to approach the building. Not only that, Professor Croix refused to disclose to anyone whatever those trucks brought to her and had tightened the security in the building.

In spite of her lack of interest in Modern Magic subject, Diana still able to keep on good grades in that subject thanks to her familiar Pongo's guidance as he able to understand Modern Magic better than her. Some students in the academy still struggled in this new subject though, even with help of their familiars.

That afternoon, Diana was going to brought her written essay about Modern Magic to Professor Croix when she overheard conversation between Professor Ursula and Biri Biri where the weasel confirmed that exposure to Wagandea Tree's pollen had stripped her her ability to fly. The blonde-haired young woman had no interest in their conversation until they mentioned Professor Croix's attempt murder on Akko and them near the Tree, which startled her that without thinking twice, she eavasdropped on their conversation.

Diana knows that eavasdropping on conversation that had nothing to do with her business is not a good thing to do, but the mention of attempt murder on Akko by the new teacher disturbed her. And then, she heard Biri Biri who stated that he had confirmed the mastermind behind the strike on the very day Professor Croix arrived at Luna Nova: Through interrogating one of the fairies, the weasel confirmed that they bought isolator panels from someone who referred herself as Tinkerer who currently in custody of Witch Community. Biri Biri also deduced that Professor Croix and Tinkerer had conspired to instigate the strike so she can convinced the traditionally-minded teachers in Luna Nova to accept her Magitronic concept and their plan went smoothly since they aware with uneasy relationships between witches and fairies in the academy. Not only that, Professor Croix also schemed on acquiring Grand Triskellion and plotted on something that might bring destruction not only for what Nine Olde Witches stand for, but also entire world.

#### Suspicion On The New Teacher

The conversation between Ursula and Biri Biri proved too much for Diana that she decided to left them alone, but she cannot rid the thoughts of Professor Croix being the bad person. As she went for New Moon Tower, Diana stumbled upon Professor Finnelan and Pongo who conversed about how he and his master made their mind to return to Luna Nova. Diana then used the opportunity to asked Professor Finnelan whether she suspected something fishy surrounding Professor Croix. The strict teacher said that she doesn't like Professor Croix for her Modern Magic concept that involving combining magic and technology, but the only thing that bothered her was strange crates that brought to her research lab and nothing else. Once Finnelan left the young witch and her chamrosh alone, Diana asked Pongo to accompany her to New Moon Tower not just to bring her homeworks to Professor Croix, but also to find out what she hid from everyone, much to his surprise.

### Infiltrating The Lab

Entering Croix's Lab, Diana gave the new teacher her essay where she examined it for a second. To Croix's pleasant surprise, she found that Diana had finished her homework well and wondered whether she now had interest in Modern Magic. Just then, the lilac-haired witch realized that she had something to worked on and dismissed Diana before went deeper into the lab. Of course, instead of leaving, Diana and Pongo explored the tower without Croix knowing it. Venturing deeper into the lab through an alternate route and barely avoiding patrolling Sorcery Units and other security systems, the young witch and familiar entered an oversized room where to their surprise, they saw Croix and Disa who overseeing the construction of a giant magitronic device that eeriely resembles Shiny Rod. Pongo, through his sharp hearing, overheard the new teacher and her assistant Disa who schemed the plan to break the seal of Grand Triskellion, confirming the conversation that his master heard from Ursula and Biri Biri.

During this point, Diana suddenly fell into a trapdoor that suddenly opened beside her, prompt Pongo to immediately catch up to his master. Once he and his master were on the other side of the trapdoor, they found themselves in another large room, this time full of several cages. As Pongo bemoaned that infiltrating the lab being a horrible idea to begin with, Diana, whom inspecting one of the cages, was horrified that it contained a winged monster which lower half of its body resembles centipede's, the same monster who attacked Akko at Luna Nova Familiar Stable and involved in the attack on Thapoli. Not only that, the young witch and her chamrosh also stumbled upon the largest cage that, to their horror, contained a deformed 3 tailed huge monster that roared on their face and attempted to clawed its way out upon the sight of them. Having enough, Diana and Pongo fled out of the room.

### The Battle

By the time the duo reach the staircase however, they were ambushed by someone who attacked them with a large magitronic blade around her right arm from above. Diana and Pongo managed to evade the attack, though the young witch received small cut on her left cheek in process. Pongo was shocked to see that their attacker was none other than Professor Croix, but Diana was less than surprised and demanded the explanation over projects that she worked deep inside the lab. Ignoring her questions, Croix stated that she cannot let Diana and Pongo around due to them know her secrets too much before summoned a squadron of Sorcery Units to dispatch the young witch and her familiar. To Croix's surprise, Diana easily dispatched them with combination of firing magic bolts and fencing skills where she formed an energy rapier around her wand before prompted Pongo to spew forth a thick smokescreen to cover their escape. Unfortunately, just as they reach the exit, a giant sentinel statue suddenly awakened and blocked their way out, forcing them to resume the duel.

Croix then deployed a swarm of magitronic cubes that converged into two lizard-like creature to attack her opponents. Diana easily dispatched one monster with her energy rapier while Pongo did the same by spewed forth a large amount of oil on its face before set it ablaze, destroyed it and rendered magitronic cubes that it composed of useless. Undaunted, Croix deployed more swarms of magitronic cubes again, this time to have them formed a swarm of python-sized serpents that coiled around Diana, only for her cut and skewered them all into pieces. Not taking any chances to let her opponents get the upper hand in the fight, Croix send another swarm of her magitronic cube that converged into a large lizard-like creature that knocked Diana to the chasm near them, seemingly sent her plummeting to her death far below before had one of her Sorcery Units fired a net to bind Pongo.

Unfortunately for Croix, she overestimated the full extent of the young Cavendish's powers, as when she going to deliver a final blow on Pongo, Diana rose from the chasm with an animated hawk statue on her feet before delivered several magic bolts on the lilac-haired witch. Though neither of the bolts able to harm Croix as she formed a barrier out of her remaining magitronic cubes, this distracted her long enough for Chamrosh to tore the net and conjured several fireballs on his enemy. Predictably, Croix deflected them aside with her magitronic blade, but failed to react as Diana magically hurled several rocks that formed stone manacles around her and took her magitronic tablet away.

### Interrogation and Hel and Biri Biri's Interference

Now with her opponent incapacitated, Diana interrogated Professor Croix about what she had been doing behind everyone's back, including about monsters and Shiny Rod-like machine in her lab. Instead of answering her questions, Croix asked Diana whether she know that Akko was chosen by Shiny Rod and burdened by the mission to acquire World Reconstruction Magic, and even wondered whether Biri Biri sent both her and Pongo to her lab. Before the young witch could answer it however, Croix quickly dismissed the said question before stated that Akko will eventually failed. The lilac-haired witch then explained that an old friend of hers, Chariot was once chosen by the rod, but failed in her quest to restore magic to the world because of it. Croix expressed her resentments over that fact, stating that she might have done better had the rod chose her instead.

Something in what the lilac-haired woman just said disturbed Diana that made her recalled that she also once jealous toward Akko for being chosen by Shiny Rod and frustated that she might not taking her responsibility as the staff's current bearer seriously. As Diana left in speechless shock that she and Croix might not so different, Croix sneered both her and her familiar that they forgot that she wasn't alone in the building. That's the moment where Diana got an unpleasant surprise: Out of nowhere, an invisible presence suddenly slapped her butt before freed Croix and took her away for safety, much to the young witch's embarassment that she retaliated by angrily firing magic bolts on her invisible attacker. Pongo urged his master to calm herself as the harassment might be some kind of psychological attack against them. The invisible attacker then attempted to attacked Diana again, but this time, Pongo sensed it and exposed its presence by sprayed a gout of oil on it, allowed his master to incinerated it with flames, seemingly killing it.

However, the invisible attacker suddenly rose from the ashes and revealed herself as Disa with her body and clothes regenerated from sand-like matter that coming from nowhere. Disa expressed her annoyance that Diana and Pongo become as troublesome as Akko, Biri Biri, and Bernadette Cavendish. The mention of her mother surprised Diana as Disa further explained that she was once sent an avatar of herself to indirectly held a meeting Croix, but that rendezvous also let to a confrontation where the duo met Bernadette who suspicious towards them for her daughter's crippled magic. To make matter worse, Bernadette even exposed Disa's avatar as a magical construct instead of actual human being and attacked it, forcing it and Croix to retreat, but not before sapped her lifeforce until she was too weak to survive her sickness and died. Enraged that Disa indirectly responsible for Bernadette's death, Diana and Pongo furiously attacked her, only for her revealed herself as another avatar, albeit more powerful one. Angrier than ever, Disa threw a tantrum whilst warped her form into likeness of Akko, Sucy, Lotte, Andrew, and Bernadette, before returned to her Akko's form and warped her appearance into more hideous form by having the left side of her face, her left arm, and her left leg taking dessicated appearance before a stag protured from the left side of her skull. She then gave off intense killing intent that made Diana and Pongo instantly paralyzed in terror before conjuring several tentacles that bursts around her to attack them.

Fortunately, at the last moments, a lightning arrow flew past both Diana and Pongo before skewered the tentacles into nothingness, snapping them from their intense fear. Simultaneously, Biri Biri appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Diana's sleeve and having his elongated tail coiling around Pongo's front leg before three of them suddenly disappeared, warped to somewhere else. Realizing it was Shiny Flash who saved the intruders, Croix was going to sent her sorcery units to after them, but is stopped by Hel who stated that they won't pose much trouble for their plan, stating that had the school learned that Diana and Pongo just infiltrated the forbidden area in the New Moon Tower, it will also brought unwanted suspicion toward them as well.

### Aftermath

As the three arrived near the door to Diana's room, Biri Biri berated Diana and Pongo for their reckless action in breaking into Croix's lab before suddenly fell to the floor, much to their surprise. This prompted Pongo to go for a medkit in his master's room, but Biri Biri stopped him as he don't wanted Akko to learn about his injuries because it will made her worried. The lightning weasel then asked Diana whether she and Pongo learned something unusual in New Moon Tower, and the blonde-haired witch explained that she and Pongo learned that Croix had kept several monsters in her lab and even constructed what appeared to be magitronic replica of Shiny Rod, with Pongo added that Disa, Croix's assistant, was not human and both of them intended no good for any of them. This of course, surprised Biri Biri as, by bringing Diana and Pongo back to Luna Nova, this led the duo become the new allies of Ursula who aware with Croix's true color aside become actual friends for Akko. He then urged Diana and Pongo not to tell anyone about their harrowing experience as they will likely also dealing the very threat that once confronted by Beatrix and other Nine Olde Witches in the past.