~Grometheus Rising~
They had discovered it beneath the ground.
Pitch black, with the consistency of oil. An undulating, writhing mass, unhindered by the constraints placed upon it by the most powerful witches. Merely by digging beneath the earth, they had unleashed it upon the Isles. But this fiend was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. In their desperation to destroy it, the witches of old searched through every compendium of demons they could find, but found no mention of this beast. Whatever it was, none before had witnessed it. It was no mere demon. It was something else entirely.
Even more insidious than its unknown origin was the beast's powers. Merely by touching its victim, the coalescence of black plasm could peer through the mind's eye, and pluck out one's deepest fear. The menace would then take the shape of the fear, keeping one terrified as it devoured them. Their mass would be added to its own, causing the aberration to grow in strength and size. It would be given the name 'Grometheus,' a word from old Wiccan meaning, appropriately, 'Fear Eater.'
Nearly all of the Isles were once consumed by this unholy being of ink and shadow. While some were fortunate enough to break free from their terror, and band together to fight the monster, they could not kill it. Not fire nor ice, light nor life could do any more than slow it down. Although the whole could be destroyed temporarily, nothing could stop it. No matter how damaged it was, it would always reform. All that could be done was seal it away.
Grometheus was trapped underneath what would one day become Hexside. Kept in a magical slumber, it rested for a year, before regaining its strength to continue its grisly rampage. To prevent this, one would have to venture into its lair to banish it, and keep the Isles safe for one more year.
It was decided that it would be a child to perform this ritual, selected as the best and brightest by the elders. This reason was because children, bright-eyed and new to this world, tended to fear that which was less dangerous. Snakes and spiders. Bad grades. Trivial things. And as their fears tended to be exaggerated caricatures of the true thing, they would have an easier time vanquishing them. Adults, on the other hand, tended to fear things that were much more real. Missing children. Murderers. Horrible, horrible things, things that Grom was all too happy to take the shape of. The elders were reluctant in their decision, but they stood by it.
One thing that was soon discovered was that everyone, no matter how old or how young, how innocent or how cynical, how brave or how fearful, always had something to be afraid of. Something for Grom to prey upon. Something to send even the mightiest warrior to their knees in terror, hoping and praying to be released from this torment as they were devoured.
Everyone has something to fear.
Willow
"Come on, come on, come on!" Willow frantically waved her finger through the air, desperately trying to cast the needed spell. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't so much as make a circle appear. Why wasn't this working? She had done this spell hundreds of times, why was now any different?
The plants class instructor glowered down at her, his arms crossed. "We're waiting, Miss Park."
She did the only thing she could: she tried again. And again. And again. Each time she grew more and more desperate, but to no avail. Sweat began to drop as she heard her classmates begin to chatter behind her back. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she didn't need to. She had been in this situation before.
"That's quite enough!" her instructor barked, halting her efforts. "I was willing to let you into this track at first, in spite of myself, but I can now see that it was a mistake."
"What?" Willow said, turning to face him. "But, I've done this before, so many times! Doesn't that count for anything?"
"Miss Park, the only thing that counts are your grades," he said coldly. "And given that performance, I can't imagine those will last for long."
Someone snickered in the class. She couldn't tell who.
"B-but-"
"No more protests! Miss Park, it is clear to me now that you have no talent whatsoever for botanical magic! You will be transferred back to the abomination track, effective immediately."
This wasn't possible. How was this happening? Everything was looking up once she had been transferred to the plant track. Now, all of it was coming crashing down around her. "I…" She did her best to fight back the tears.
"I guess Amity was right."
Willow turned around. "Luz!" she exclaimed, seeing her friend standing there. "Luz, I need your help! Something's wrong, I can't use my plant magic-"
"You really are half a witch."
She had grown used to hearing those words. Even now, when she hadn't been called that in weeks, she didn't think hearing them again would hurt so much. And in a way, it wasn't the words that hurt.
It was who said them. And that look on Luz's face-one of sheer disappointment. It was like she was ashamed to have become Willow's friend.
All Willow could do was hold out a hand, in hopes that Luz would come back to her. Instead, the opposite happened. The human girl turned her back, walking off into the darkness. There was no class now. No teacher. No Luz. Willow was alone.
She couldn't help it anymore. She fell to her knees. Try as she might, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer.
Gus
Gus was sure he had it easy. For a moment there, he was certain that Grom would become something truly terrifying. It's form was certainly scary, though: a spider-clown-the deadliest kind of each.
"Ha! Is that the best you could come up with?" said Gus, confident in his abilities to best the monster. "I don't even mind spiders!"
Summoning a multitude of doppelgangers, the Guses charged the beast. The colorful beast struck at the illusions with its forelegs, causing them to vanish. The real one made sure to stay far enough away to avoid its strikes, but close enough that it didn't single him out among his clones.
Illusory magic didn't exactly lend itself to offensive prowess, but Gus figured he'd figure something out. However, he didn't need to. A tangle of vines erupted from the ground, slamming into the side of the clown-spider, and sending it reeling to one side.
Gus turned around to find the source of this attack; both Luz and Amity stood behind him, spells at the ready. "Room for two more?" asked the latter.
"Always!" Gus replied. The three of them stood side-by-side, ready to take Grom down for good.
At first, everything was going well. Grom's spider-clown form was surprisingly clumsy, and all three of them were very skilled at magic. They had him on the ropes, and it seemed like it would be an easy victory.
Gus got careless, he wasn't afraid to admit it. He strayed too close to the beast. A spidery leg was raised, and was brought down where Gus had been mere moments ago. A vine pulled him away from the impact at the last moment.
Willow deposited Gus next to herself. "Careful!" she said. "You could have gotten hurt!"
"Thanks for the save," he said in relief. "What do you say we finish this so we can get to celebrating?"
"We can take it from here," Luz said. Gus realized that something was different about her. She seemed slightly taller. And her voice was ever so slightly deeper. "Ready, Willow?"
"Ready!" She seemed different, too. In the same ways.
"What about me?" asked Gus.
"Stay here," Willow said. "We don't want you to get hurt."
"But-"
It was no use. The two ran off, leaving him behind. He tried to run after them, but they seemed so much faster than him. And the battle was much farther away than it had been.
Gus could see them fighting Grom from far away. Even at this distance, he could tell what was different. Luz and Willow had grown up. They had gone from being young adults to full adults, leaving him behind. He stayed the same age.
"Guys?" he asked quietly. He didn't expect an answer, so he was startled when he did get one.
"What is it, Augustus?" It was Luz, but it wasn't Luz. She was so much taller than she had been, as was Willow beside her. They had grown up. And he hadn't.
Gus wasn't entirely sure what to say. "I...you...what happened?" he managed eventually. "How did you guys get so...big?"
"I wouldn't expect you to understand," Willow said, a glimmer of condescension in her eyes. "You're just a kid."
The two of them walked away, vanishing into the darkness.
But Gus was still there.
Eda
Okay. So, Grom had gotten out. So, she couldn't find Luz. That was no reason to panic. Eda tried to reason with herself as she crept through the darkened hallways of Hexside. Luz is a tough girl. It'd take more than Grom to keep her down. Using a ball of light hovering just above her palm, she illuminated every corner of every room she entered. No sign of anything, let alone Luz.
Where was everyone? Sure Grom hadn't eaten them, right? Speaking of which, where was Grom? She hadn't seen any sign of that old demon, either. She was wondering where it could have been hiding…
Which is when she heard it.
A soft whimper, almost like a sob. A sound that, despite being so quiet, felt so loud to her. It felt like ice running down her back when she heard it. Because she instantly knew who it belonged to.
"Luz!" As soon as she identified where the noise was coming from, she sprinted in its direction. She feared the worst: her charge surrounded by Grom's horrors, paralyzed with terror. About to be drawn into its waiting jaws.
What she would find, however, would be far, far worse.
A fire spell blew the door off its hinges. "LUZ!?" She found the girl in the middle of the room, curled up in a tiny ball. She sprinted over to her, cradling the girl in her arms. "Luz, it's okay, it's okay, I've got you." For a moment, the girl's breathing slowed.
But it only lasted a moment.
Luz looked up at Eda, a sudden flash of realization crossing over her face. This was quickly replaced with a look of terror. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, pushing and kicking and doing everything she could to escape from the clutches of this woman who had watched over her for all this time. She retreated up against the wall, tears in her eyes. This was when Eda noticed something she hadn't earlier.
Luz was hurt. Three large scratches ran down her side, along with a fourth on her leg. They weren't deep enough to be too serious, but they still clearly must have hurt. Eda cursed herself internally for not noticing these immediately.
"Hey, it's okay, it's me!" Eda said, trying to calm her charge. She stood up, slowly walking over to her, but that only made it worse.
"NO! Stay away!" Luz cried, in a tragically real sense. Backed up against the wall now, all she could do was curl up and try not to be seen. "Stay away...stay away…"
It broke Eda's heart to see the girl like this. She wanted to do something, anything, to help her, but she didn't dare get closer, for fear of upsetting her further. She held out a hand to try and reassure her from afar...which is when she saw it.
Claws. And feathers. And wings.
"No…" That was impossible. She had just taken her potion earlier, for this exact reason! But there it was. She was turning-no, she had already turned into the owl beast. Her body was gone. She ran from the room as fast as this new one could carry her, for fear that her mind would follow.
This wasn't happening...this couldn't be happening…
And it wasn't. But it felt like it was. And that was what mattered.
King
"Beat it, you!"
Holding the miniature demon by the scruff of his neck, Eda unceremoniously tossed him out the door. He landed in the dirt, rolling to a stop before jumping back up to his feet.
"Eda, wait!" He ran back towards the door. "You can't just leave me out here!"
"I can, and I will!" Eda replied. She slammed the door shut just before King could reach it.
Banging and scratching at the door, King desperately tried to get it open. "Eda, you can't do this to me!" he yelled. "What about all the good times we had together?"
"I said it already, I don't want you here!" came Eda's voice. "Now scram!"
"But, but…"
He was suddenly struck by an idea. He ran over to a window, leaping up to reach the glass. He started tapping on the pane to get the attention of someone who was sure to let him back in.
"Luz? Luz!" he said. "Eda's lost her mind, you gotta let me in!"
Eda's scowling face appeared in the window, startling King enough that he fell back to the ground. "We've been over this," she groaned. "Luz left, King. She's gone, and she's not coming back. Just like you should." Eda closed the blinds.
King trudged back over to the door. "Hooty? Buddy?" No answer. "Hooty, you'd let me in, right? It's your house. You are the house! Whaddya say, old pal?" Still no answer. Hooty was either asleep, or ignoring him. Either way, King had never heard him this quiet before.
Out of options, King slumped to the ground, his back against the door. Where was he supposed to go now? Where could he go? He had lived with Eda for so long, that…
He just didn't know.
Edric
"Shall we, Ed?"
"Indeed we shall, Em!"
The twins were prepared to face Grom the same way they faced anything: together. For as long as Edric could remember, it had been the two of them against the world. And no monster, no matter how big or how scary, was going to hurt their Mittens!
As Em concealed herself behind an invisibility spell, Ed tried to get the beast's attention. "So, you can turn into anything, then, huh?" he shouted. "How about a walrus? Or a giant butt? I dunno, I'm just spitballing here!"
It seemed to be working. Grom was too focused on Ed, letting Em get behind him. A flash, and then Grom was blown apart.
"Yes! And that is how it's done! You might want to take notes for next time," he said to a piece of Grom that had landed beside him. "Nice work, Em! Up top!"
But Emira wasn't there.
"Uh, Em?" Edric looked around, his hand still held up. "I don't know if you're still invisible or something, but don't just leave me hanging!"
The entire underground chamber seemed empty and, above all, quiet.
"Uh, hello? Boiling Isles to Em?" More silence. He made his way back up to the gymnasium. "Hey, has anyone seen-"
Nobody was there. Not a single soul. Not Em, not any of the other students, not even a trace of Grom. Everything took a turn from weird to eerie.
"Okay, ha-ha, you guys!" Ed said. "Pranking the prankster, never seen that one before! But is now really the time to do it?"
His search for...well, anyone, led him through the school. He passed through hallways, classrooms, even the grudgby court, but found nobody.
He let out a nervous laugh. "You know, this is starting to not be that funny, guys! Not like it was to begin with, but still…"
It was so quiet, quieter than it had ever been.
"Hello?"
…
"Anyone?"
Emira
"Shall we, Ed?"
"Indeed we shall, Em!"
The twins were prepared to face Grom the same way they faced anything: together. For as long as Emira could remember, it had been the two of them against the world. And if there was one thing that drew them closer together, it was when their Mittens was in danger!
First order of business, go invisible while Ed distracted it. Em made her way behind the monster, unseen, preparing to unleash a devastating spell. Ed was able to keep its attention. Em drew the circle, and let the sparks fly.
Right on target. Grom was blown apart, chunks of goop splashing all over the gym. Em made herself visible once more, ready to congratulate herself and her brother on a job well done.
But Edric wasn't there.
"Ed? Where'd you go this time?" She looked around, but saw no sign of her brother. Her search took her back above ground into the gymnasium. "Hey, has anyone seen-"
"Em, help!" "Emira!" Two voices cried out for her at once. Her eyes snapped over to the door, where she saw the telltale tendrils dragging two figures out into the hallway. Grom was still alive. And he had her siblings.
Emira bolted for the double doors, throwing them open and heading into the hallways. A glance to her left saw Edric being dragged away by Grom. However, a glance to her right saw Amity being dragged away as well.
"Em, I need help!" Edric shouted. "I can't b-" He was cut off as he was enveloped by Grom's mass.
"Emira! Please!" Amity fought as hard as she could, but her struggling only seemed to make Grom stronger. "I don't want to die!"
Emira's head whipped back and forth down either corridor. Even by creating a duplicate, she couldn't be in two places at once. She couldn't save them both. She couldn't choose who to save! It would be like…
It would be like choosing who she loved more.
Boscha
When Willow had started becoming more popular than her, it was little more than an annoyance.
When Amity had decided to start hanging out with that human, she figured it would only last a few days.
Even when the human and her friends had shown her up at grudgby, it was nothing earth-shattering.
But this...she wasn't prepared for this.
"And where do you think you're going?" she snapped.
"I'm going to hang out with Luz," said Juniper. She had said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. That was what really riled Boscha up.
"You mean to tell me," Boscha said, "that you would rather hang out with that dumb, talentless human than with me?"
"Well...yeah."
The only saving grace was that the green-haired witch sounded slightly guilty when she said this. But not guilty enough, apparently, not to leave to go over to the human and her posse. Luz, Willow, Gus, and even Amity were all there, welcoming Juniper with open arms, literally in Luz's case.
This was new. For the first time in her life, someone hadn't done what she had told them to. Aside from Amity, of course, but that was to be expected, given how influential and wealthy the Blights were. Bus someone like Juniper?"
"Wh-You-I-" Boscha was at a loss for words. Juniper may have ditched her, but nobody else would...right?
Of course not. One by one, Boscha watched helplessly as every last one of her friends left her behind without so much as a backwards glance. Dahlia, Oswald, Selene-they seemed to think that a human was a more worthy companion than her.
But the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, was Skara. She had always been at Boscha's side, as long as the both of them could remember. Even she seemed ready to join the human's new group.
"Skrara?" said Boscha, not nearly as forcefully as had been intended. "...You too?"
"Yeah," Skara answered. "I mean...it's not like we're scared of you anymore." And that was it. She strolled over to the human with a smile on her face, leaving Boscha alone.
Not content with being quiet anymore, Boscha let loose, screaming insults at the human and her friends, demanding-no, ordering-that her friends return to her. But the louder she got, the louder their conversation seemed to get, until she grew hoarse. She couldn't keep this up any longer.
Being forced to watch everyone she had grown up with leave her for a human was bad enough, but what made it worse was Amity herself. There was something about her eyes. They held a kind of warmness, an expression that Boscha had never seen before. It seemed to come in flickers, being the most visible when she was looking at the human. The way Amity looked at her…
She's supposed to look at me that way...
Bump
Amity was supposed to be the one. She was supposed to be the perfect choice.
When Luz had offered to take her place, he had almost turned her down. He felt her lack of magical ability would only put her in danger, and Amity had shown herself to be more than capable. But as young Miss Blight had already spoken to him earlier about the same matter, he felt this would be for the best.
It wasn't that Bump hated being wrong. It was just that more often than not, this is what happened when he was.
All around him, all he could hear was screaming. The screaming of the students, his students, witnessing their worst fear. This was supposed to be a celebration of triumph over fear, not descent into it!
Bump had never hated admitting he was wrong. But this...he would give anything to have been right in this scenario.
Drawing spell circle after spell circle, Principle Bump destroyed every trace of the fear demon he came across. And yet, he could find none of his students, no matter how close to the screaming he seemed to get.
Finally, he found one. A girl, seemingly half-cocooned to the wall by Grom's body. He hurried over, his spells tearing at the murk while leaving her unharmed. Once freed, she fell to the floor. "Are you alright?" he asked, sitting her up. "Did you see any others?"
She looked around, dazed. It only made sense, given what she had no doubt been through. "P-Principal Bump…?"
"Yes, child, you're safe now," he assured her. He stood up to continue his search for the missing children, when…
"W-why couldn't...why didn't you stop this?"
He froze. He should have expected this. He tried to leave, but she kept asking.
"You were s-supposed to protect us," she said. "But Grom got out, and now…" She stood up. "You couldn't."
Bump knew this wasn't real. But that didn't make it any easier.
In spite of himself, he turned around, looking into her helpless eyes. One flicker of red was all he needed to confirm his suspicions. Another spell circle was drawn, and the fragment of Grom was blown apart.
The black mass conglomerate with more of itself, swirling around him. Bump fired more spells into the shapeless form, to no effect. Once it took a shape, it made it so much harder to keep firing.
Copies of the children crawled out from the main mass, as though escaping from within Grom itself. Some took the form of students he recognized, while others seemed to be creations of the monster. Many appeared to be injured in some way, but all of them looked terrified beyond belief.
"Please...why can't you help us?"
"Principal Bump, I'm scared!"
"You could have prevented this!"
Bump didn't dare try and destroy these illusions. Although he knew they were only projections made by Grom, he wasn't willing to take that risk. He wasn't willing to hurt any more of his students.
He knew this wasn't real.
That didn't make it any easier.
Lilith
Lilith stood, poised, beside the Emperor's throne. Though silent and stalwart, she clearly reveled in her triumph.
Eda sat, chained, in the center of the room. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, refusing to meet those of her sister.
A voice familiar to both of them broke the silence. "The elusive Owl Lady, brought before me at long last. You have done well, Miss Clawthorne."
Lilith spoke without meaning to. "Thank you, Emperor Belos." She wanted to say more, but for some reason, couldn't bring herself to.
"Now then," the Emperor continued, "shall we begin?"
Members of the Emperor's Coven lined the room, standing at attention as two additional figures entered the room. They wore the same garb as the other members, with the added benefit of their masks being black rather than white. Lilith knew immediately what they were here for. She had expected them to come, but she didn't know why.
"Edalyn Clawthorne." She still refused to look up at any of her captors. "For your numerous crimes against the Boiling Isles, and against the authority of Emperor Belos, you have been sentenced to death. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Eda said nothing. That was bad enough.
But what was worse was that Lilith herself said nothing.
She stood there and calmly watched, despite every fiber of her being screaming to stop this. This wasn't what was supposed to happen! Eda was supposed to join the Emperor's Coven, not be killed! But in spite of herself, and how much she wanted to intervene, she couldn't.
The executioners stood on either side of Eda, preparing to cast their spells.
The Emperor spoke again. "I must congratulate you on bringing this criminal to justice, Miss Clawthorne. You should be proud."
That was the worst part, really. She was. As she could only stare helplessly at the display before her, a sickening feeling of pride was bubbling up inside her. Something inside of her, that wasn't her, was telling her You wanted this.
Part of her wondered if she really did.
"Thank you, Emperor Belos."
Such is the power of the demon Grometheus. Everyone, no matter how old or how young, how innocent or how cynical, how brave or how fearful, always has something to be afraid of. Even, no, perhaps especially the strongest among us can fall victim to Grom's power.
This story can still have a happy ending. After all, fear drags us down, but with help from those around us, we can overcome. There is yet still hope for Grom's victims.
You are not stronger than Grom.
But, with companions by your side, you can be stronger than your fears.
AN: Gonna be honest, this got a bit darker in some places than I intended...
So, one day, I thought to myself 'You know what? We only saw what Luz and Amity feared. What about everyone else?' And one thing lead to another, and here we are! A lot of these are based on evidence from the show with a healthy dose of headcanon mixed in. I might explore other characters in the future, once we get more development, but who knows? For now, enjoy!
Also, I haven't decided whether or not this is in the same canon as my other Owl House story(s). Only time will tell...