Beyond the edge of the universe, close to the boundary of reality, a hooded figure stands on the outside looking in. From here, it can see all. The uncountable number of stars littering the infinite black void, and the uncountable planets surrounding them. It sees the world. It sees the great world tree and the pure energy flowing from its branches.

It waves its hand, and the flowing energy twists and dances with it. The energy forms a door and the barrier between the universe and the beyond is open temporarily. It steps through.

AH… YES.

Months later:

Somewhere in England; well maybe not in England per-se, more like through it or next to it in an ethereal, multi dimensional sort of way, there is an academy. Not any old ordinary academy; as I'm sure you can tell, by not technically existing in any sensible or tangible way.

This is Luna Nova Academy. A special all girls' academy for those gifted with magic. An institute of higher learning; so high that it sometimes breaks a few dimensional barriers along the way. Young girls enroll, learn the ways of magic, become witches, then either become teachers or generally do nothing because the world hadn't had much magic left in it, at least up until recently. In that regard, it's like a communications degree, but with more explosions.

The campus is old, large and houses many dangerous magical objects. It's not that magic in itself is dangerous, which is why this school exists, but it's a lot like electricity; great for powering lightbulbs, microwaves and televisions, but encountering it on its own tends to me a messy affair, the kind of messy that involves missing limbs. The main aim of the school is to prevent young girls using magic to get into all sorts of trouble.

Towards the rear of the school, there in a secluded courtyard, we see a small group of girls gathered around a broomstick, using magic and getting into all sorts of trouble.

'Oh come on. The spell wasn't that hard to find. Just a simple walk into the teacher's section, breaking into the forbidden library, finding the advanced magister's section, getting the book, and getting out without anyone finding me. Easy'

'I didn't really say you couldn't do it, Amanda. I said you shouldn't. Do you know what would happen to us if Miss Finnelan found out? We're not even talking about laundry duty here. They wouldn't even hold us back a year. We could actually be EXPELLED.'

'We do this kinda thing all the time, Diana.'

'Not like this.'

'Fine, we'll let Akko decide. Hey Akko! You still wanna try this?'

'Yeah yeah yeah! I'm ready. Come on! I wanna fly!', Akko replied in her usual overenthusiastic way. The kind of way which most people soon learn to dread.

'Alright then', Amanda said as she removed the book from its black sleeve. She opened the book and began to flick through the pages. About a quarter of the way in, the words began to twist and turn in on themselves. They leapt from the book while one decided to attach itself to Amanda's forehead.

'Oh that's right, I forgot to mention, thanks to the restoration of magic, books are now filled with enough of it to simulate life of their own. And they don't really like to be read." Sucy chimed in, grinning like a shark.

'You could have mentioned this sooner', Amanda replied, turning to Sucy, revealing the word 'The' stuck to her face.

'That wouldn't have nearly been as fun.'

'You see. Even the books agree we shouldn't be doing this. And they don't even have any sapience!', said Lotte. Just before the book collided with her head. 'Ow… Sorry' she said to the book currently flailing about on the floor. The book stopped, quietly grumbled at Lotte, then began to awkwardly roll away.

'You can stop right there!', Amanda yelled, brandishing a broomstick and swinging wildly at the book. With a successful 'THWACK', the book was sent hurtling across the courtyard. Amanda strutted her way across and picked up the now placated book.

'The teachers usually use a calming or sleeping spell, but I guess brute force works too,' Diana added, extruding her usual air of superiority. She had been standing further back, watching the whole ordeal from a safe distance. She walked over to Akko holding a stern expression on her face. 'Listen I know I'm probably not going to change your mind, but Akko, this is one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had. This could get you expelled… This could get you hurt.'

Akko loosened her grip on the broomstick. Her eyes darkened a little, as though a fire began to die out.

'I…I know', stammered from her mouth. "But hey. We've nearly died hundreds of times before. What's another gonna do?". And with that, she gripped her broomstick, lifted her head and her eyes blazed with renewed determination. 'Ready Amanda?'

The thing about Akko is that she is optimistic, determined, stubborn, and completely and inveterately hopeless at magic, so hopeless that even the simple act of flying a broomstick – an act which most magically enabled children can accomplish – is still beyond her grasp (It's not entirely fair to say that Akko is incapable of flying; In fact, she's pretty good at it. She just struggles with other parts such as: turning, balance, stopping, rolling, speed control, control in general, and others not listed). Nevertheless, she will not give up, no matter how many times she needs to headbutt that brick wall, regardless of the possible brain damage. One could say that Akko is the wrong girl, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. You could also say that two wrongs don't make a right, but you should remember that three lefts also make a right.

'Ready!' Amanda responded. With her wand in one hand and book in the other, she began to read off the incantation. Like an ocean of opals, the magic spilled from the wand and engulfed Akko. It swarmed around her in waves, cocooning her in a giant shell of pure magical energy. The energy solidified and simply stood there. A gemstone of every colour imaginable sat in the centre of the courtyard.

'Is it supposed to do that?', Amanda asked.

'I don't know', Diana replied. 'I've never seen it used before. We weren't even supposed to use it. Teacher's aren't even supposed to use it. It's why it was locked in the forbidden section'.

'Wait', said Amanda. 'Even teachers aren't allowed to use it?'

'Yes. Which is why it was locked up tight in the FORBIDDEN section'.

Maxiaxcida is a special subset of magic discovered by the magicians of the University of the Light Fantastic – ULF for short. It was originally designed to grant users short, but powerful bursts of raw magical conduction. Users become a beacon for all surrounding magical particles. They home in on the user, who then proceeds to absorb them, thus boosting the user's magical talents by extreme magnitudes. There's a pretty heavy downside to this procedure though. Users of Maxiaxcida tend to absorb far more energy than their body can handle. Most practicing magicians agree that magical ability is stored in the space between where the soul and the body is. As the soul and body are technically two separate entities, it is basically impossible to gauge how much magic can be stored there. This would require separating body from soul, which, in most circumstances, also means being dead. Most people try to avoid being dead. We do it all our lives. Still that doesn't stop curious wizards from poking at things they shouldn't using big long sticks in the squishy sensitive areas.

To put it simply, typically users explode. It would take a truly important person to not.

The shell of the Maxiacidal cocoon began to fissure and crack. The colour of the universe itself seeped out of every space it could find. With a sudden inhalation of noise, the cocoon opened. The remaining fragments of shell drifted upwards and dissipated into the evening sky. There Akko stood. Radiating with raw magical power.

"See? I knew it would work", her words sparked as they left her mouth. Diana, Lotte, Sucy and Amanda stepped back, watching with feelings of shock, horror, confusion and absolute awe.

"Are you all ready to see some real flying?" she proclaimed, while straddling her broomstick. With a quick tilt of the handle, Akko's magical energy flowed from her body into the base of broomstick. It let out a high pitch wail, as it continued to build up its power. The base of the stick was now glowing with the intensity of a supernova made of rainbows. Like a jockey ready to ride a horse out of its pen, she gave the stick a slight kick, ready to show the laws of the universe that she really didn't care much anymore. She was ready so set the universe alight.

She then exploded.

What happened next was a bit of a blur to Akko. There was a bright light, some falling, probably some screaming maybe. She sat up and looked around. Her classmates were running towards her.

'Oh my god! are you ok?'

'Akko are you alright?'

'Can you hear us?'

'Y-yeah I'm fine', Akko replied in a somewhat confused kind of haze. Everything looked kind of washed out. Everything sounded somewhat echoey. The others finally reached her, but for some reason, continued running.

'Er… I'm fine. I already said. What are you all looking at?' The girls all crouched behind Akko, inspecting something on the floor shouting at something that she couldn't really make out. Akko stood up to investigate the commotion. Looking over Lotte, Sucy, Diana and Amanda, there she saw it. It is herself. Lying motionless on the floor. Lotte tried shaking her awake, Diana checked for a pulse. It didn't do any good.

Akko stood in silence. It took a moment for her mind to process what just happened. She waled towards Diana and tapped her on the shoulder. Her hand went straight through her.

AH. THIS AGAIN. IT'S BEEN A WHILE.

A voice appeared to Akko. A voice like a coffin falling in a mausoleum. She didn't hear it, at least through typical means anyway; as though the words were impatient, skipped the business of forming in the mouth, moving through the air and through her eardrums, they simply just jumped straight to her mind. An icy shard of dread shot through her spine. Akko would shiver, if she could feel cold.

'Erm…'

MAXIACIDA. NO ONE HAS USED IT RECENTLY ON ACCOUNT OF... WELL THIS WHOLE BUSINESS.

Using a bony hand, the figure vaguely gestured to the area containing both Akko and the exploded Akko. It was tall, hooded in a thick robe; a robe so dark that it seemed it was sewn out of the night sky itself, and gave off an atmosphere of finality and inevitability. The sense of dread dissipated quickly though, which is kind of odd; either the being wished to appear semi pleasant or Akko is just that naïve. It walked over to her body and lightly prodded it with the handle of its oversized gardening implement.

A raging torrent of questions circled through Akko's mind. Where am I? Who are you? Am I dead? Is this real? What's with the scythe? Only one managed to fight through the crowd in her brain and work its way towards her mouth.

'Did I explode?'

YES.

Akko paused for a moment to look back at herself.

'Uh… how?'

USING MAGIC YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN.

'Why's my body still intact?'

SOUL MAGIC. YOU ABSORBED SO MUCH MAGIC THAT IT PUSHED YOUR SOUL OUT OF YOUR BODY. SO HERE YOU ARE.

The gravity of the situation started to dawn on her a little.

'Does this mean…' A slight bead of sweat formed on her brow. 'Could I be…' her breath quickened. 'Am I dead?' Her mind raced.

YES.

It felt like a lead weight had dropped in her stomach.

ONLY TECHNICALLY ANYWAY. IT'S A LITTLE COMPLICATED.

A lead weight was suddenly lifted.

'I'm sorry?'

YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN FORCED OUT OF YOUR BODY. YOUR BODY NEEDS TIME TO EXPEL THE ENERGY THAT WAS PUT INTO IT. YOU CAN'T FORCE YOURSELF BACK IN YET. IMAGINE WALKING UP A POWERFUL RIVER. IT'S KIND OF LIKE THAT.

Akko took a moment to take everything in. The most important thing is that she's not dead - at least technically. It's only a matter of time before she can get back to being not dead. Her cheery optimism began resurfacing.

'I'm sorry but… Who are you exactly?'

I HAVE MANY NAMES.

The figure rose its head. The sight took Akko aback. There is no face under the hood, but a skull. Polished, white bone; helmed by a permanent grinning lipless smile. Akko looked into what she assumed are its eyes. Looking through into the hollow of its skull. She saw no eyeballs, no black void or any attempt at recreating eyes. She could see them sparkling. Like blue crystals hanging in the cosmos. She could see the universe.

'But what do you like to go by?'

DEATH.

'Like a Shinigami?'

OH NO, BLEACH ENDED YEARS AGO.

'Huh?'

NEVERMIND. FAREWELL.

Death turned and began walking away. Akko spent a single moment continuing to stare at her friends and her physical half, then gave a quick double take at Death's sudden departure.

'W-wait! You're leaving?'

YES.

'What about me?'

Death stared at her blankly, at least more blankly than possible with no actual face.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

'I can't stay here, can I?'

I DON'T SEE WHY NOT. MOST GHOSTS STAY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. YOU HAVE MUCH LESS OF A WAIT THAN THEM.

'But what if I float off into heaven or something?'

YOU WON'T.

'You don't know that.'

I DO.

'But this doesn't feel right. I don't belong here.' Tears started forming in the corners of Akko's eyes. Not sopping, great globs which flood in tandem with snot, but as light droplets formed out of confusion, panic, and frustration. Death noticed them. The dead cannot cry; they can't be angry either. This is all on account of glands, chemicals, hormones and stuff like that. But Akko does as she is not dead. Death found himself in a unique position.

YOU'RE RIGHT. THE LIVING SHOULD NOT BE AMONG THE DEAD. IT WILL BE NO DIFFERENT IF YOU GO WITH ME, BUT IT SHOULD BE MORE INTERESTING.

Akko wiped away her tears, nodded enthusiastically and ran over to Death. A sudden thought jolted into her mind and she looked back at her friends. It wasn't easy trying to figure out what they were doing. They were in one area on moment, then in another the next, as if they faded in and out of existence. Their voices were both echoed and muffled, but there was a lot of shouting. Akko could tell that much.

'Will they be okay if I go?'

I ASSUME SO. THEY'RE STILL ALIVE. THERE'S NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO. YOU'RE NOT DEAD ENOUGH TO BE A GHOST AND YOU'RE NOT ALIVE ENOUGH FOR IT TO MATTER. THE BLOND ONE IS SMART. SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP THE DAMAGE TO A MINIMUM.

'You know Diana?'

IN A MANNER OF SPEAKING.

Akko and Death walked together through an alcove towards the rear of the courtyard. They turned a corner and Akko was greeted by a large white horse. It was wearing a feed bag.

'Ah…um, is this yours?'

YES

'What's his name?'

BINKY

Death gave the horse a pleasant pat on the neck and removed the feed bag.

YOU SEEM CONFUSED

'I was just expecting something a little darker. And skeletal. And on fire.'

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED RIDING A SKELETAL HORSE? IT'S NOT COMFORTABLE. THEY ALSO HAVE A TENDENCY TO FALL APART UNDER SLIGHT WEIGHT, BECAUSE OF HAVING NO MUSCLES OR SKIN.

Akko was about to try and apply that to Death but thought better of it. Death leapt into riding position with a dramatic flair that he doesn't get to use often. Akko was impressed. He offered his hand to Akko. She seemed hesitant.

'I'm not sure I should. I've heard about the touch of death.'

NOT EVERY MYTH YOU HEAR ABOUT ME IS TRUE.

With some reservation, she reached out and grabbed his cold, calcareous hand.

BUT MOST OF THEM ARE.

Death pulled Akko into the space in front of him, where she sat far more comfortably than expected for being so close to the reaper. With a quick tap of his foot, death pulled the harness and Binky trotted off into the evening sky. The sun settled behind the Earth and the thick blanket of twilight covered the world. The streets of England swelled with the streetlamp's warm, orange glow. All would have been silent aside from three noises: the rushing stratospheric air, the gallop of Binky's hooves against the metaphorical ground, and Akko's barrage of relentless questions.