Willow was holding her sides as she breathed deeply, and Luz was seated in the dirt, her shirt and shorts soaked with sweat. "Oh man, I thought I was getting into shape here, but I think I'm gonna throw up." Luz said, shakily getting back to her feet. The score was nine - eight despite the best efforts of Willow's team, and the Banshees were huddled on their side of the centerline, planning their last play.

"I'm definitely going to start working out after this." Willow said, placing her hands on her knees, hunched over trying to catch her breath. "Amity…" she asked hesitantly. "You know Grudgeby. What should we do?"

"We have one minute left, we're down by one, and we're tired. We're going to have to either find the Rusty Smidge, or get creative."

"Luz!" Willow called, gesturing her over for their own huddle. "I'm glad we're all on the same team finally."

Amity held her chin in thought. She was the best player at Hexside, but she had always relied on Amelia to come up with the more interesting plays; at least until she thought she had known better and attempted the Thorn Vault herself. "Okay, I have an idea." she said, throwing an arm around Willow and Luz's shoulders in a huddle as they did the same. "I can get us one but I need some space from Boscha. Cat's still spent from healing her, using her speed spell and Amelia seems to have about had it with Boscha ragging on her plays."

"Why aren't they switching Skara in?" Luz asked. "She's been on that bench looking at her scroll all game."

"Boscha's had Skara under her thumb for a long time. She knows Skara's better than her, and she doesn't want a Bard taking all of her glory. That works in our favor."

Willow eyed Amity with a hint of suspicion, but nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Trust me. I can tie us up. I just need Boscha off me." Luz and Willow nodded, and they broke up their huddle to fall in line. The ball launched and Boscha caught it before it even rose passed anyone's shoulders. As she cried out in surprise as both Willow and Luz piled onto her and the ball flew out of her grip for Amity to scoop up. She drew a quick spell circle to summon a small amount of abomination mud that enveloped her forearm and the ball. She spun, took aim, and a moment before Cat and Amelia tackled her, she sent both her abomiglove and the Grudgeby ball sailing down range in an impressive arc. Everyone stopped to watch as its flight began to wane just short of the goalpost. Just before it lost momentum, the glove squeezed, shooting the ball the extra distance it needed to pass through the goal.

"Foul!" Boscha cried, throwing Luz and Willow off and getting to her feet. Cat and Amelia unwound themselves from Amity and helped her up before everyone diverted their attention to Boscha. "You're only allowed three sentient team members on the field at once! No independent conjurations!"

Amity rolled her eyes. "It wasn't independant, Boscha."

"It acted on its own! We all saw it!" Boscha continued. "You cheated at the Covention, and you just cheated now!"

Fists clenched, Amity stepped forward. She could see Luz grimace at the mention of the Covention, but Amity had given up blaming her for the events of that day. They had both been pawns of their respective mentors. "I know how far of a shot it was to the goal, Boscha. You know full well I could make it without thinking myself, let alone an abomination that thinks for me."

"She's right." Amelia said. "Grudgeby rules are clear. It had no body to move under its own power, and there was no indication that it made its own decision outside of Amity's control."

Boscha's eyes widened at her teammate. "Ugh! Whose side are you on?!"

"The rules are unbiased, otherwise they have no meaning." Amelia replied, flashing a smile at Amity once Boscha's back was turned. She hadn't expected Amelia to stick up for her, but with the way Luz had been encouraging all of the opposing team throughout the game; well, maybe there was something to being nice after all.

Amity looked up and nodded at the scoreboard. They were tied at nine, with thirty seconds left. The three girls gathered into a huddle and smiled confidently at each other. "There's time for one more play."

"And this play could determine whether us underdogs win or lose." Willow added.

Luz pulled out a collection of parchments from her shorts pocket and splayed them out. "Here's what I have to offer."

Willow and Amity looked down at the four glyphs. She could recognize the light glyph that Luz had shown her from the Covention, and the ice glyph from the Knee. The plant glyph she recognized from their dance at Grom, and the fourth must be the fire glyph she had just discovered from Boscha's spell. Willow smiled, reaching out. "I think we should try…" she began, gently pulling on the plant glyph. "This one."

"The Thorn Vault?" Luz asked, surprised. "Are you sure?"

Willow nodded. "I'm ready this time."

"Willow? You know how dangerous that is?" Amity asked. "Not just for you, but…"

Willow placed a hand on Amity's shoulder. "I do. And I'll be depending on you to protect us so we can do this."

Amity tried to protest, but the words caught in her throat and she blushed, looking away and nodding. "Okay. You'll get your opening."

The huddle broke and Gus's illusions cheered, their noise echoing across the field, much to Boscha's annoyance. Amity placed her fist in the dirt, looking straight across into Boscha's three eyed visage. "What are you going to do with all of your free time not bullying Willow, Boscha? You are going to keep your word, aren't you?" Amity asked.

"I won't have to worry about it. Your team has nothing left."

"Oh, we still have some tricks up our sleeve." Amity grinned, then immediately frowned as Boscha's eye line swept across to Luz. The ball launched into the air and she immediately crossed between Cat and Willow, pushing her own teammate out of the way with a feral look that showed that she was ready for murder. Willow backed away as Luz caught the ball excitedly and Amity dived toward her, knocking her out of the way of Boscha's tackle, only to be grappled herself.

"Amity!" Luz called, climbing to her feet as though she was deciding whether to come to her aid or not.

"Luz!" Amity called back, gesturing for her to continue the play as she tried to wrestle away from Boscha. Luz nodded and placed her glyph on the ground, ready to hand the ball off to Willow. A moment later, Amity heard the ground tear open and a thorny vine as thick as she was tall exploded out of the dirt with Willow running along its surface. Her head shook as she took a padded elbow to the cheek and she threw Boscha off of her. "It's over, Boscha! You lost!"

"Not if I…" she began, tumbling a short distance away. As the other players watched the Thorn Vault complete, the tiny clicking of a red-gold insect holding a green gem in its mandibles fluttered its wings after popping out of a burrow under the ground. Amity reached for the Rusty Smidge, but was pushed away by Boscha's open palm on her forehead. "No way, it's mine!" Amity grabbed Boscha by an ankle, dragging her away from her target and diving passed her, stretching as far as she could as the irritating insect began slowly crawling away.

She heard the pop a moment before she felt Boscha's foot slam down on her knee. The padding protected her from the pointed cleats, but the force of the impact was enough to knock the joint out and pain ripped up her leg and into her abdomen before it scraped back into place and she curled herself into a ball. She yelled out, but the cheers from Gus's illusions and Luz and Willow's cheering drowned her out.

"Stay out of my way, Amity. Or you're going to get hurt." Boscha said, scooping up the Rusty Smidge and walking away. She wiped blood away from her upper lip and sniffed, taking a moment to look back at Amity holding her knee before triumphantly approaching the cheering girls at the end of the field.

Amity's eyes were squeezed shut and she was holding her knee in agony. The only thoughts managing to break through were of how much trouble she was going to be in. There was no way that she'd be able to hide that she had been playing Grudgeby after school now, and would expect that her grounding was somehow going to get worse. On top of all that, she was most definitely a social pariah now, especially as she sat there alone…

"Amity!" Luz and Willow shouted. The illusory cheers stopped suddenly and the pair of girls appeared beside her. Luz slid into place, looking concerned.

"I think… I think I hurt my leg." Amity said through gritted teeth, understating immensely the pain she was feeling. "But I'll be okay." she added, managing to open her eyes enough to find Luz hanging over her; sweaty, panting, and worried.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I could help carry you if it really hurts."

Hurts? What hurts? Amity laughed, the pain and shock mixing with embarrassment and desire. "I'm fine!" she insisted, playfully patting her legs with her hands. "Who's Amity?!" she stammered.

"Aaaaannd…" Luz slid her arms under Amity's back and knees and grunted slightly as she lifted Amity into a cradled position. "Scoop!"

Despite the pain that shot through her leg as Luz moved her, Amity felt a growing tightness sweep through her body that wasn't entirely uncomfortable. She wanted to thank her for her kindness, and tell her how she felt about Luz's surprising skill and determination during the game and how she made her feel. "Uh, wow! Sports!" Was all that came out, unfortunately.

"Can we have another montage?!" Gus asked excitedly, running up to join the group.

"What's a montage?" Amity asked, confused. Her leg was still throbbing and her heart was still pounding in her ears so she assumed there was some sort of misunderstanding on her part.

"Sorry, Gus. It works better in a visual medium; not so much a written format." Luz replied. "But that doesn't matter, let's get you to the Nurse's Office." she said to Amity before turning to Willow and Gus. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright?" The pair nodded, Willow looking at Amity with concern. It would be some time before a mutual trust could be formed again, but Amity had really been impressed by Willow today. She'd had her all wrong the last few years. "So what happened?" Luz asked as they began their trek across the field back into the school to the infirmary.

Amity shyly put her arms around Luz's neck to support herself in Luz's trembling arms. She wasn't sure she wanted to tattle on Boscha to Luz. Was Luz the kind to seek revenge on her behalf? The only thing she knew for sure was that Luz was unpredictable, and for once Amity had something that wasn't planned out already. She smiled, pulling herself closer and pressing her cheek against Luz's. "Uhm. I just tripped. When Boscha tackled me. But… thanks, Luz. For the help."

Luz's arms were continuing to tremble with Amity's added weight on her already tired muscles as they reached the edge of the field. "Of course, girl!" she replied with a huff, her breathing becoming more labored. "Thank you for sticking around and helping us, well, almost win. That Rusty Smidge thing is so annoying."

"Yeah. A lot of players have decided to ignore it when they play. Here, let me get the door." Amity drew a small spell circle with just enough power to open the door that lead to the Infirmary, holding it open for Luz to pass through. "The buzzer rang before she announced it though, so officially, it wouldn't count."

"She. Conveniently. Left. That. Part. Out." Luz said, placing Amity carefully on a nearby cot, her legs wobbling and her arms out of strength. "Uhm… you can let go now."

Amity let out a small sigh of disappointment and unlocked her arms from around Luz's neck. "Right. Sorry. Are you okay? One of the nurses should still be around here."

Luz climbed up to sit on the cot beside Amity, letting out a chuckle. "Just some jelly legs from all the running. I'll be sore in the morning, but otherwise nothing I haven't gotten myself into before. How are you doing?"

"My leg still really hurts. I think my knee got dislocated before popping back in place." Amity said with a shrug, wincing as she moved the limb. She felt suddenly awkward being so vulnerable while Luz sat there. "Maybe you could…"

"I'll go find the nurse." Luz nodded, steadying herself as she stood. "I wonder if Eda knows Healing Magic?" she asked herself as she started toward the office.

Amity laid down on the cot, trying not to move her leg as she waited. Through the constant throbbing pain, she couldn't help but wonder about Luz. Was carrying her all the way to the infirmary 'just a friend' behavior in the human realm? Were all humans just that nice? If so, maybe that Planet of the Humans movie got it wrong. But if her short experience of being a human in Jinn's wish was any indication, humans could be as selfish and terrible as any Witch could. She covered her face with her hands and screamed louder than she had intended.

"Amity!" Luz shouted, running back with the Healing Track Homeroom Instructor. "Are you okay? I couldn't find any of the nurses but Professor Tim was grading assignments."

Professor Tim was a tall figure, with a long, grey beard and thick horns that curled out from their temples and down to their chin. Their voice was surprisingly soft for presumably being as old as Principal Bump, but they had a way with putting patients at ease. "Ah, Ms. Blight!" they said, as though taken unaware. "Ms. Noceda tells me you had a bit of an accident?"

Amity sat up again, supporting herself on her elbows until Luz appeared to place a pair of extra pillows under her back and then fidgeting in place. "Did you need anything else, Amity?" she asked before Amity could respond to the professor.

"No, Luz… I'm great. Thanks. You can probably head home if you need to." Amity replied before turning back to the Healing Professor. "It's my knee. I think I felt it pop."

Professor Tim was nodding absently, and drew a glowing blue spell circle around Amity's knee. "It appears you've done significant damage. I'll outfit you with a cast and some healing sigils and we should have you back on your feet within a week."

"A week?!" Amity exclaimed. "I can't miss that much school!"

"I'm sure you can always find someone to deliver homework to you."

"But we're supposed to have a field trip to the Emperor's Castle this week!"

"Not if you ever want to play Grudgeby again." Professor Tim insisted. "Now here…" they continued, drawing a spell circle around her forehead. The pain in her knee finally subsided and she took a breath of relief and laid back. "Now just relax while I construct your cast and call your parents."

Amity frowned as the professor walked away and Luz took a seat on the edge of the cot again. "Don't worry, Amity. I'll stick around until your parents get here. It'd be cool to meet them."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Amity said, trying to hold back a sudden swell of emotion. While the thought of having Luz wait by her side was immensely comforting, she wasn't sure she wanted her to meet her parents. Luz was like a light in the darkness for Amity; a revelation that had come to her in her magic drained state of mind thanks to the basilisk, and Odalia and Alador had a habit of extinguishing such things. "Really. I'll be okay."

"Well, I could bring you your home…"

"Luz, it's fine. I'm sure Ed and Em will be more than happy to bring me homework while I'm stuck in bed."

"Well, as soon as you're feeling up to it, I invite you over to the Owl House for tea." Luz said, forcing a smile. "I'll… I'll leave you alone." she said, standing up. "Oh, and I'll get you your uniform back too, after it gets a good wash."

Amity nodded, unsure what Luz must be thinking. Did she believe that she was trying to get rid of her right now? That she blamed Luz for her injury? She didn't even know how to ask, and she watched Luz quietly exit the school.

After getting an earful from her mother again for not having her oracle gem on, and for playing Grudgeby, Amity lay in bed, looking up at the glowing constellations on the ceiling of her bedroom. Apparently, her brother and sister had told Odalia that the accident had occurred in her Magic Defence Techniques class, but that should the truth come out, they were not liable for any punishments that would be doled out. So, she hadn't pressed the issue, and set about completing any homework she could and wandering around the manor for some semblance of exercise.

It had been less than a day, and the manor already felt stifling. She had something new in her life other than school, or the library, or living up to her mother's expectations, and she wanted more. Setting her mind to it, she swung her legs off of her bed and sat up. The healing sigils were still glowing, working their magic every time she moved. She was told that without them, healing could take months, and may not even result in full use of her leg. "How do humans even live without magic?" she asked herself, drawing a small spell circle to float her crutches from their place in the corner and into her grasp. It was nearing the end of the school day so Ed and Em would be returning soon, and her father would likely be in his workshop.

Amity made her way carefully down the stairs into the foyer, and looked about for anyone or anything that might be watching. She couldn't exactly be stealthy wearing a cast and having to walk with crutches through the large, quiet house, but it didn't seem like anyone was around to notice anyway. She pulled on her single boot while sitting on the stairs, then hoisted herself up to a standing position and opened the door to find the abomibutler standing guard outside. It groaned its disapproval and she reflexively closed the door again and turned with the intent of trying one of the other entrances, only to find Odalia standing before her; arms crossed.

Amity cried out in surprise, and stumbled back against the closed door. "You are supposed to stay in bed, young lady." Odalia said, glaring down at her.

Diverting her eyes to the side in apprehension, Amity tightened her grip on her crutches. "I wasn't going anywhere! I just need out of the house! I'll use an abomination to help!"

Odalia's eyes widened at the outburst. She took hold of the small orb that hung around her neck and Amity felt her confidence drain. "The Healing Professor was quite clear, Amity. Allow the sigils to do their work and you'll be back in school by the end of the week."

Amity growled, but relented. "Can I at least just sit outside on the swing? I'm already going crazy with nothing but the four walls of my room to look at. Without getting to the library, I haven't gotten anything new to read for a week…" she said, and then met her mother's gaze as an idea struck her. "I'm going to have late fees if I don't return what I already have…"

"I'll get your brother and sister to return them for you…"

"Ed and Em hate the library. Plus, I was hoping to be able to start working there after my birthday. But how can I expect to win out over the other applicants if I owe fees?" she asked. "It's like… going back on a deal…"

Odalia continued to glare at her youngest child, and Amity could see her mother's mind working out the loopholes that Amity was exploiting in her grounding and the Blight family creed. "Interesting. You're negotiating alterations to your grounding by applying to my desire to finally see you gain an entrepreneurial spirit." she said, turning away before adding, "You have made this family's future very unclear, Amity. You'll need to make better connections now more than ever, so I suppose gaining work experience outside of Blight Industries may be wise. Very well, you may have your library privileges returned, but you're still grounded until I say otherwise. Is that clear?"

Amity nodded. "Yes, mom." she replied, remaining still. "Can I…"

Odalia let out an exasperated sigh, forcing Amity to wait for her answer. "Yes, you may go. Consider it a… reward for your ingenuity."

If her mother had continued her guilt ridden speech, Amity didn't hear it, as she was already out the door and passed the abomibutler. It would take her until night fall to get to her destination if she tried to walk on her crutches the whole way, so she summoned an abomination below her feet that rose up to adult height with her on its shoulders. It was something that she hadn't done since she was a child, but for now it was a practical mode of transportation. She planted her crutches in the creature's shoulder, and gave it directions as it jogged its way through Bonesborough and past the library. The tireless abomination continued its steady pace throughout the journey, and even provided a comfortable seat with its mud-like body.

Eventually, Amity arrived at the Owl House and was lowered to the ground and handed her crutches. She could hear voices inside as she approached the door, laughing and talking and for a moment, she considered turning back; as though she was intruding on Luz's friend group and family.

"Oh, hey!" squeaked a familiar high pitched voice that made her jump. "Luz said you might be coming by soon! Come on in!" Hooty said, opening the door that he was mounted on. The door swung open, and Amity cautiously entered on her crutches, lifting a hand for a small wave that Luz, Willow, Gus, and even King returned. To her surprise, Hooty extended from the door and tucked himself underneath her to carry her over to the center of the couch between Luz and Willow.

"Wow! You recovered fast!" Luz noted, pouring another cup of tea from the old pot on the coffee table and handing it to her.

Amity felt a warmth in her cheeks, but for once, she decided to ignore it. "Well, the healing sigils help."

"You know what humans use for healing sigils?" Luz grinned. "Cast graffiti!" she exclaimed, placing her tea on the table and digging into the couch cushions to extract a pen with a glowing gem on the top end. She placed a hand on Amity's leg to hold it steady, and proceeded to sign the cast with the colorful pen, as well as add a message reading "Welcome to the Bad Girl Coven!", and adding a quick doodle of Amity standing in her Hexside uniform and sunglasses with her arms crossed.

"Nice." Eda said as she approached the couch full of students. "I'll get you a t-shirt next time I get some printed too." she smiled, eyeing her and Luz with approval as she took a sip from a cup that definitely didn't contain tea.

Luz handed the pen over to Willow, then Gus, and finally King and Hooty, who scribbled an unidentifiable message on the cast with his beak. It might still take some time before everyone were truly friends, but for once, she at least felt accepted.

To Be Continued in Amity's Light…