Amity had found herself fretting over the last few days, unconsciously avoiding everyone as she moved from class to class on autopilot. She had missed a Lore assignment when she had cut class to help Luz and Willow, and was now trying to make it up with extra studying. She hadn't even noticed the growing number of Grom decorations that were going up throughout the week, the spontaneous proposals to go to the dance between couples, or the gossip about who was going to be selected as Grom royalty that was running rampant through the school. The dance was tomorrow, and she still hadn't asked Luz to go with her.
She had tried, upon returning to school after they had cured Willow of her destroyed memories; but circumstances just kept getting in the way. Her first attempt had been to meet Luz in the hall, but the distraction had Luz nearly get eaten by her locker. Embarrassed, Amity had only walked away while Willow and Gus attempted to rescue their friend. The day after that, she had managed to find Luz alone in the library and went into a lengthy proposal in a single breath that nearly knocked her unconscious, only for Luz to pull her tiny ear buds out that she had been listening to her phone with. Her courage diminished, Amity could only smile and slink away as Luz watched after her before shrugging. Today, Amity had written a note that she planned to sneak into Luz's locker when she wasn't around.
It was simple, concise and clear. 'Luz, Will you go to Grom with me? - Amity' It was nearing the proverbial last minute, and this plan couldn't go wrong, she thought for a moment before colliding with someone in the hall. Her books spilled onto the floor as she was knocked down. "Watch it, nitwit!" she growled, readying her ire for whomever got in her way. Her anger quickly faded though as she met Luz eye to eye. "Oh. Hi Luz…" she said, noticing that Willow and Gus were standing nearby as well. "And co. Sorry about that."
"No problem." Luz replied, handing the spilled books to Amity as she climbed to her feet and brushed herself off. Luz got to her feet as well, picking up a folded piece of purple parchment and holding it out. "Here. Your note." The note disappeared from Luz's hand in an instant as Amity snatched it away in a panic, eyeing the human suspiciously. "Man! You've got some quick grabbers!"
Amity was secretly wishing that Willow and Gus hadn't been there, and she looked away, unable to bring herself to ask Luz to the dance with witnesses about. "It's just… it's private." she explained.
An intercom in the hall squawked to life, attracting the attention of everyone nearby and causing quiet whispers to pervade the hall. "Attention Hexside students!" proclaimed Principal Bump's voice throughout the school. "This is your principal speaking."
"Oh man, this is it!" Gus exclaimed, looking like a bound spring ready to let go.
"He's announcing who'll be this year's Grom royalty." Willow explained to Luz, who was looking about in confusion.
"This year, I have the privilege to bestow our highest Grom honor to… Amity Blight! Our Grom Queen!"
The entire school fell silent for what felt like an eternity as all eyes fell on Amity. Soon, the first hushed whispers began, and then a loud excited shout from Luz made Amity jump. "Wooo! Am-I-Ty!" she cheered, lifting a hand for a high five. "Get it Queen!"
Amity felt her heart grow cold and she tried her best to shrink into herself as she stood stock still with the entire nearby student body staring at her and whispering. She felt like she was about to black out, and she held her arm full of books up to hide behind as she ran down the hall. She could hear Luz shout something, but her mind felt like it was full of fire bees; burning with noise.
Every student and instructor that she passed looked at her with surprise and quiet pity, with whispers about how she had already faced Grom during the pixie infestation and would now have to do it again. Amity continued to run as the whispers seemed to grow louder, and she burst into the gymnasium, looking to and fro for somewhere to be alone. The large room was crowded with the Grom Night Decoration committee. To her right were Sedgewick, a tall boy with a bowl shaped hair cut and skinny physique that had been a detention regular for bullying the younger witchlings; and Poe, a short orange skinned demon with a thick beak between his bird-like eyes, and Sedgewick's best friend that seemed to always have an encouraging word for his fellow students ever since being released from detention. Amity recognized him from last semesters abomination classes. They were tying up clusters of abomination balloons that Mr. Homunculus had produced in his signature light brown color and were floating about head height off of the floor with scowling faces.
To her left, Gourdon and Amelia were high atop the bleachers, creating a banner that streamed down the rows of seats that currently led to the center of the room where the seam leading to Grom's nest was barely noticeable. Standing atop that seam was Principal Bump, who was looking up at a pink scaled, blue shelled demon; a Snaggleback, that held on to a rope, hanging from the ceiling and slowly spinning.
She tried to be as unnoticeable as she could be, quietly climbing the bleachers to the top and sitting, trying to catch her breath. WhyWhyWhyWhy her? She had tried so hard to reach the position of Top Student not long ago in order to be noticed by the Emperor's Coven, but as far as she was concerned, she had been laughed out of that possibility during the Covention. She had already encountered Grom in the basement, so why was she being forced to do it again?
Amity felt sick, and she clutched her abdomen as it rolled. She couldn't show that she was scared of her own magic. Of becoming controlled like an abomination by everyone around her that she would simply fade back into the Titan once they were done with her. She'd probably be kicked out of school, banished from her home. What would Boscha and the Banshees think? How disappointed would her instructors and Principal Bump be? What… what would Luz think?
She was already alone. She couldn't even muster the courage to ask Luz to a stupid dance; how was she supposed to face, let alone defeat Grom? If she cowered again, if she lost her mind again, and Grom escaped, what would she do? Grom hadn't escaped in decades, and she would be the one known as who brought fear back to the Boiling Isles.
New movement caught Amity's eye as Principal Bump left the gymnasium and Luz entered, looking with awe at all of the decorations. Amity's expression flip flopped from admiration at watching the human marvel at seeing the festivities for the first time, to doubt and fear that she would likely never have a chance to make up for how she had acted toward both her and Willow.
Suddenly Amity gasped as Luz pushed a button on a nearby pedestal, wearing a sly grin born of mischief and curiosity. The center of the gymnasium floor began to slide open, causing students that had been working there to shout and complain that they had to quickly move their materials, and the Snaggleback to curl up even tighter onto his rope. Two racks of various weapons slid out of the floor beside Luz, who let out a surprised yelp before inspecting them more closely. "Medieval torture seems like a strange theme for Grom, but hey…" she shrugged.
"They're not for decoration." Amity said. Despite her still roiling insides, she stood and climbed down the bleachers to greet Luz. "This arena is where I'll make my debut as Grom Queen."
"Right." Luz replied, following Amity as she approached. "So why don't you seem excited?"
Amity hefted a long sword off of one of the armory racks and rubbed her thumb across the blade, feeling its sharpness. She knew the theories and rumors surrounding Grom. It was an amorphous being, born of fear and composed entirely of will. Crossbows and flamethrowers could certainly dissuade its advance, but only weapons with the will of their wielders could stop it and force it to retreat back to its nest. "Because this isn't just some dance party." she said, looking down into the pit that had opened. The pit that she had just escaped through a week before.
There were shadows moving and audibly growling where there shouldn't be, and she could feel anxiety begin to flood her body as wisps of Grom's influence wafted out of the pit. It was growing stronger by the day. "That's Grom." she said, pointing at the shadows that crawled along the floor and around the ancient looking pillars in the old school below them. "Short for Grometheus, the Fearbringer. It's a monster that lives under the school." she began. Amity lifted a hand, drawing a simple illusion spell circle that filled with an animated scene, revealing the old school below Hexside, and a student doing battle with a multitude of different monsters bathed in black, gelatinous shadow. "Every year it tries to break out, and a student has to defeat it before it invaded the town. Ever the optimist, Bump holds a party and calls it tradition." she explained, allowing the illusion to fade. "The worst thing is that Grom can read minds and shapeshift into your worst fear." Amity held up the longsword again, glaring at her reflection in the silver blade. "And mine… is very embarrassing." she admitted, returning the weapon to its place on the rack.
"If it worries you so much, then why don't you tell Principal Bump you want out of this deathmatch biz?" Luz suggested. She then gasped as a thought struck her, and she leaned in close. "Unless talking to Bump is your greatest fear?"
Amity laughed, reflexively covering her mouth as she did. "No… but, that's a good idea. Thanks Luz." The idea of simply asking to be removed as Grom royalty honestly hadn't occurred to her. She had been top student. She had saved the school. Even Principal Bump himself said that he owed her a reward. Maybe it was time to call it in.
She left Luz behind in the gym, slowly making her way through the halls toward Principal Bump's office when Boscha called out her name, making her grimace. "Amity! Hey, Amity!" Realizing it was too late to make an escape, she looked up to see both Boscha and Skara moving toward her.
"Amity! You missed my birthday party!" Skara said with a genuine look of disappointment. "The place was pac…"
"Ugh, she doesn't care about your party, Skara." Boscha said. "She's just been named Grom Queen!" she squealed. "So who are you going to go with? Any idea what you plan to fight it with? Spill all the deets!"
Amity frowned, ignoring Boscha's questions for the moment. "Sorry, Skara. I… wasn't feeling well. I, uh… I kinda got caught up in that fire in the photography class."
"Oh yeah? Got pretty hot in there with that ghost, huh?" Boscha asked, narrowing her eyes teasingly. "Now I need even more deets."
"Ghost?" Skara asked, confused and clearly feeling out of the loop.
"Amity saw a ghost in photography class and shut herself in with them." she grinned. "Amelia said a fire was started shortly after and no one saw you for the rest of the day."
It was clear that Boscha was trying to trap her in a lie; exposing Amity's excuse for missing Skara's party. "You skipped out on my party for a ghost?" Skara asked. She had never mastered the indifferent or aggressive masks that Amity or Boscha had; likely why she excelled at Bard magic, and Amity could see that she was hurt.
"No. Skara. It's not…"
"No, I get it." Skara replied quietly. "You're a Blight. You've got more important things to take care of."
"Hey, I heard Toddric asked you out." Amity said, deflecting Skara's guilt inducing look. "You two are really hitting it off, huh?"
Skara's expression brightened again and her pace picked up to keep with the two taller girls. "Oh, it was so sweet! He even gave me this heart for the proposal!" she said, showing off the still beating organ that had the word 'GROM' scarred into its surface.
Amity's eyes widened in surprise. "Where did he get that?"
Boscha wrinkled her nose. "Who cares where wolf-boys get their toys? Give me the juice on Mr. Ghost!"
"There is no juice!" Amity shouted, nearly exploding in anger. "It was… it was just a dumb fire elemental, alright? I don't even know if I'll have a date for Grom now that I'm queen."
"Are you kidding?" Boscha asked, unfazed by Amity's outburst. "You're Grom Queen! You could have anyone!"
Maybe she could have anyone. But she didn't want 'anyone' and she didn't want to face Grom again either. She had seen her fear, and it wasn't something she was eager to see again. "Look, I've gotta go talk to Bump. I'll talk with you guys later." she assured them with a frown.
"See you tomorrow night!" Boscha shouted as Amity walked away, continuing to draw attention despite her attempts to be unnoticed.
Amity reached Principal Bump's office and knocked lightly on the heavy door, receiving a "Come in, Ms. Blight!" She took a deep breath, and swung the door open with a squeak. Principal Bump sat behind his desk, and placed a spine pen into a cup in front of him. "What can I do for Hexside's new hero?" he smiled.
She looked down at her feet, feeling herself blush at the title of 'hero', just like Azura. But she wasn't. She knew that. Bria Bradbury was right. She was just scared. "I'd like to ask to not be Grom Queen, Principal Bump." she said, her voice shaking. "I encountered it last week in the basement, and… and I froze up. I think it would be best for, well, everyone in Bonesborough if I wasn't the one to have to battle it."
Hieronymus Bump didn't look disappointed, or angry, or even impatient. He simply pushed himself away from his desk and stood, stepping over to Amity and he placed a long nailed, craggy hand on her shoulder. "Amity, when I was your age, I conquered our rival school in order to see that Hexside was founded for the Abomination Coven. I was terrified to be selected by our Coven Head to lead the charge. There were others that were more willing, but they wanted me. They said, 'Hieronymus, you are our general until you die, or I find someone better.' and here I still stand."
"Let me guess, you buried your fear and led the charge anyway?" Amity asked, unsure she could do such a thing. Facing her fears herself was one thing, but having them on display for the entire school to see was something else entirely.
Bump let out a chuckle as he turned to look out his office window. "Oh, no! We'd had no idea about Grometheus, and the former school's principal released it as a final curse on Hexside for what we had done." he explained, wiping a tear from his eyes. "Such good times…" he added, and then cleared his throat. "My point is that sometimes there is no one better. We simply have to make ourselves the best option, and now it's up to us to keep that creature at bay."
"But Principal Bump… I can't."
Bump turned with a tired, but understanding face. "Nonsense. Unless you can think of someone… anyone better qualified than someone who has trained under the Emperor's Coven Head Witch, snuck into Hexside after hours, and fought through a pixie infestation to rescue her peers, you're Grom Queen." he stated, returning to his desk. "Besides, your mother insisted, and that woman scares me."
"But…" Amity started. "Wait, you knew it was me in the school that night?" she asked, surprised that he had recognized her in her bulky abomination armor while she was helping Boscha steal Tibbles' ingredients.
"I may be old, Ms. Blight." he replied. "But I'm not stupid. Now, I recommend you start preparing for tomorrow's event."
Amity nodded. She turned on her heel, now seething that her mother, after having failed to convince her just to attend the dance, had actually forced Principal Bump to name her Queen. No wonder she had been so happy to hear Amity now had an interest in taking someone. It was also no wonder Grom played on her fear of being controlled by everyone.
As soon as she left the office, Amity suddenly found herself running. She couldn't remember passing through the halls, or even the doors of Hexside, but she now found herself out of breath, and in the forest. She was angry, and scared, and confused, and… "And I just want to… rrrr!" she shouted, taking a swing at a nearby tree. Before her fist connected, a mound of abomination covered her hand and struck the tree, splintering it. Before she knew what had happened, the heavy fist the size of her body pulled her forward with its weight. "Wha?" she asked, finding herself surprised, but calmed.
She had felt a surge of power again, like when she had worn the power glyphs, but this felt… clean. Like it was all hers. The abomination gauntlet melted away, creating a substantial pool of goo around her feet. She growled, lifting her feet one at a time to look at her sticky boots. "This day can not get any worse." she said before realizing her mistake.