"So, when do you think you're going shopping for Grom?" Amity asked in Abominations II. They kept their voices as low as possible so Professor Hermonculus wouldn't hear.

"What?" Hunter asked.

"Shopping. For an outfit? You know, you're supposed to dress up for a dance."

"Oh. Of course, I knew that." Hunter waved his hand.

Amity looked at him. "You didn't, did you?"

"Well, the Emperor wasn't that big on dances, believe it or not."

"Just- Titan, Hunter," Amity rolled her eyes. "Ask Darius what you should wear."

"You don't trust me to pick out my own Grom outfit?!"

"Would you be offended if I said no?"

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"Fuck you, Blight."

"Fuck you too, Deamonne."

"What?"

"What?"

"I said what first, what did you say?"

"I said fuck you too, you're lucky you're Luz's brother. Also, tell me what color her tie is going to be so I can match."

"It's purple of course, it reminds her of you."

"Aw!"

"You guys are so cute. It's gross."

"Jealous."

"Am not."

"You so are."

The end of a ruler came down hard on the desk in front of them. Both kids jumped, heads snapping up in unison. "Do the two of you have something to share with the class?" Professor Hermonculus asked.

"No sir, definitely not," Hunter and Amity shook their heads.

"I needed an eraser-" Hunter blurted.

"I was borrowing a pencil," Amity started to explain. They glanced over at each other.

"What they said!" They both pointed. Hunter tried to smile casually but it came out as a gap-toothed grimace.

"This is your last warning, shape up Blight. You too... Golden Guard."

He wanted to get up out of bed, to go knock on Darius's door. He would let him in, Hunter knew. He was allowed to sleep in Darius's bed, it wasn't bad or annoying but he was very stuck.

It felt like beetles crawling up and down his spine, worse and worse. Someone was coming, someone was coming in they were at the door he was at the door and there wasn't any running.

Hunter

The path down the hallway seemed like such a long way. He would get caught.

I see everything, I have eyes everywhere.

That was not true. Was it? He curled up even tighter, his hands clutching fistfuls of his hair.

Hunter buttoned the top button on the shirt and looked in the mirror. He looked different. Formal?

This would probably be good. When Darius bought the shirt, he said it looked elegant. That's what he was going for (he thought). Not some scrawny kid with an annoying voice. Not the Golden Guard. Not the nephew of the emperor, just Hunter. Who wanted to make a good impression or maybe Willow would regret going with him.

Three soft taps on the door told Hunter that Darius was there.

"Come in," he said.

"Hey," Darius said, easing the door open. "how's it going? Oh, that's not a total eyesore."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Wow, thanks. Is it too much? Is it not enough? I've never been to Grom."

"I like the shirt you picked, but I think we need to get you some dress pants."

"I thought dresses and pants were two separate things?"

Darius bit back a huge sigh. "Come here, put some shoes on we're going shopping."

The pants make him feel... cool.

He tried to hold back a smile when he looked in the mirror, but Darius caught him and smiled too. "What do you think? I can fix the bottoms, hem it up a tad higher."

"I- I like them. Do you think they look good?"

Darius nodded. "And you have matching shoes right?"

"I can just wear my boots, right?"

The older man clutched his chest as if personally offended. "Just wear your boots?! You want to impress this girl, right?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"Then you will not be 'just wearing your boots', young man."

Pretty, pretty clothes. Pretty girl, Flapjack chirped.

Hunter hung up the pants carefully as Darius had instructed, so they wouldn't get wrinkled before tomorrow. Titan, Grom was tomorrow!

Luz had been telling him stories about last Grom, the photo booth, the dancing, telling him what he could expect when he got there. She said he didn't have to watch the main event, maybe they could all ditch it early if they didn't feel like watching, and sneak off to the Human Realm to get something called boba tea.

"But not before we get pictures," she said, "and we have to listen to the lineup of songs Gus prepared, he's so excited to play them!"

This was going to be great. He could totally do this. He wiped his sweaty palms on his sweatpants. This would be fine.

He anticipated some staring. The weirdness about him being a grimwalker hadn't gone away, not by a long shot. Maybe people would think Willow was weird for wanting to go with him. Hunter shook his head. It didn't matter. The only person whose opinion on that mattered was Willow, and she wanted to go with him. The other kids wouldn't rattle him.

I may not be entirely welcome, but I will be there.

If the other kids can be there, so can I.

"It feels magical," Luz had told him.

He would feel the magic everyone else felt.

Why not?

Hunter took a deep breath outside of the doors to the gym. He smoothed out the blue shirt and checked his reflection. Should he have done his hair differently? Darius convinced him to take his gloves off, saying the shade of brown didn't match and it was only one night, and Hunter felt fidgety. He hoped he looked nice. It would be worth leaving the gloves at home if Willow liked the outfit.

"Hey Hunter!" he jumped slightly and turned to see Luz in a suit jacket and a tutu. "Ready for this? It's gonna be great!"

"Yeah, I think so. Is Willow here yet?"

"Last I checked, she and Amity are on their way," Luz glanced down at her scroll. "They should be here any minute. Wanna try the punch? I was too nervous last year, but I think we should."

"Sure." Hunter let himself get pulled into the gym. They waved to Gus who was up in the DJ booth. A catchy pop tune was playing, overlaid with auto-tuned whale songs from the human realm. It actually sounded better than it would seem.

Skara found them by the punch bowl, and Hunter was pulled into a few pictures. "I'll send this one to you, it's cute!" Skara said. "Gotta have something to remember tonight by!"

Soon, the door opened again, and Luz and Hunter's jaws both dropped. Amity and Willow came in, one decked out in pink and purple, and the other in an adorable green dress with a golden flower design lining the skirt. "Titan, they're pretty," Luz breathed, starstruck.

Hunter couldn't say anything, so he just nodded, with a matching expression on his face.

Skara reached over and took Hunter's cup from his hand. "Play it cool dude, go over there and tell her what you think of her outfit."

While Luz swept her 'sweet potato' up, Hunter approached Willow.

"Hi."

"Hi, enjoying your first Grom so far?"

"I- yeah. You're stunning."

Willow laughed, turning a little pink. "Thanks, you look nice too."

Hunter wasn't sure what to say next. He glanced down at their shoes.

"Are you sure the sling doesn't throw the whole thing off?" Willow worried.

"No, of course not!"

Amity turned her attention back to the awkward couple. "I mean, it won't stop you from dancing, right?" she asked.

"Nope, I guess not," Willow smiled, looking up at Hunter.

"Then let's get out there!" Luz started to drag her friends onto the dance floor and Hunter tried to awkwardly copy what they were doing and find some kind of beat. His attempts were mostly failures, but they were funny at least. Willow showed him a few simple moves that he stuck to.

"Alright alright," Gus said into the microphone, as the most recent song wound down, "Time for the first slow dance of the night, so find a partner!"

The next thing Hunter knew, Willow took his hand. "Would you like to try this one?"

"Yeah, sure." His heart was pounding so fast and he wanted to throw up. What if he messed this one up, he would ruin the whole night, and she wouldn't like him anymore, and did he ever even learn how to do this? How did-

She placed his hands on her waist and settled her arm around his neck. They stood there, swaying to the music. Oh. This was easy.

"Is this it?" he asked softly, "A slow dance?"

"Yeah, this is one way. Or we could do what Luz and Amity are doing."

Hunter looked up to see Luz spinning her girlfriend and then dipping her low. Hand in hand, they swept across the dance floor, completely stealing the show. When did they work out all that choreography? "I think I'm good with just this."

"Me too."

Hunter felt all his worries dissolve as Willow pressed closer, and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms just a little tighter around her, and they stayed like that. Willow heard his heartbeat start to slow down from its frantic pace and smiled to herself.

Gus caught sight of the two of them and lined up two more slow songs after this one. The Grom royalty announcement could wait a little longer, he thought, glancing at the envelope that he had been so excited to open earlier. This moment should last.

Unfortunately, it was soon time to move on, and Gus stopped the music. "And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for," he began. Excited chatter filled the gym. "The announcement of which candidate was drawn for Grom royalty this year, iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's…." Gus tore open the envelope, and his face fell. "Willow Park!"

All eyes turned to Willow and her arm.

"Willow," Amity said, "we all know that you're a badass fighter, and I don't doubt you could take on Grom, but so soon after an injury like that…? Are you sure you want to push yourself?"

"I…" Willow looked conflicted.

"You can always abstain, as long as someone will take your place," Principal Bump reminded everyone. "By default, the next person in line is your date. Hunter… Last Name Still Not Applicable, are you willing to face Grom?"

"If he can't, the rest of us are," Luz said, and Amity and Skara nodded in agreement. "I did it last year, I can do it again." Luz whispered in Hunter's ear: "If you want to forfeit, don't feel bad about it."

Hunter heard a snort from behind them. "What a pair of candidates! Half a witch and a grimwalker?" Boscha laughed. "Yeah, move on. Neither of them could possibly do it."

"I- I'll do it!" Hunter said, looking directly at Boscha, whose amused expression gave way to surprise. "Whatever Grom is, I'll do it."

"Wait, you don't know?" Boscha grinned. "Oh, this should be good."

"Hunter," Skara gripped his arms and turned him to face her. "Grom turns into your worst fear, and you have to defeat it or it's unleashed on the entire Boiling Isles. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"What's the Golden Guard's worst fear? Oh, is that an A-minus on my report card?"

Hunter felt his ears go red. He would show Boscha, then she might stop bothering him. "I'll do it. I've probably done worse. How realistic can some Grom really make it?"

"Well, we can't stop you," Principal Bump said, looking uneasy.

His friends still wore grave looks on their faces, but they saw that he wasn't giving up. Luz pressed some of her glyphs into his hands. "Good luck. If it gets loose, we'll be ready for it, so don't worry."

"It won't," Hunter promised, tucking the glyphs into his pocket.

"Hunter," Willow grabbed his sleeve, and he turned back to face her. A quick kiss was pressed to his scarred cheek. "Good luck."

He couldn't get it together enough to answer before he was pulled aside by Raine. They looked worried. "Hey, I'm not sure this is a good idea. Your fears might be more dangerous than usual. I'm sure we could get someone else to do it, if I could volunteer I would-"

"I'm doing it. Don't worry. I'll be fine. If the other kids can do it, so can I."

Raine's lips were still pressed together in a thin line, and Hunter could tell they didn't believe him all the way. But they nodded and led him over to the door in the floor that everyone had cleared away from. Hunter looked at all the weapons lined up and thought back to Flapjack who he left at home with Darius. He wished now that he brought the little palisman with him, but didn't let his face betray that as he picked out a sword instead.

Then the floor opened up slowly, and he went down the ramp into the dim cave.

At first, he wasn't sure if there was anything down there. Maybe this was a long, drawn-out joke. His grip on his weapon loosened. Then something deep in the shadows stirred. It resembled abomination goop, but it was a sickly color and it sounded like it whispered right in his ear, worming into his head.

"Oh, just some pile of slush?" Hunter muttered. "Come on out." He readied a fire glyph in the palm of his hand.

The form of the creature changed, and when Grom stepped out of the darkness, Hunter locked eyes with a dead man walking. He didn't look the way he had in his final days, sickly and barely clinging to control over his own form. He looked like the man who would flick the curl in front of Hunter's forehead affectionately and tell him stories of the human realm.

"Uncle?"