"So let me get this straight," Amity griped to the crystal ball in front of her. The incredulous tone in her voice nearly brought a laugh from me. "You met a guy at the cemetery at titan-awful early in the morning, and you let him walk you home".
"I did more than let him walk me home," her older sister purred. "Guess who has a date to grom".
"You asked him to GROM?!".
"Grom?" I asked a little more calmly. "I didn't know you guys had a weird version of prom here?".
"It starts at seven tonight" Emira explained despite not having any idea what prom was. "They should be announcing who the grom royalty is this morning at school'.
"You know, I was kicked out of my last school dance for dressing like an otter. But here, I could be your queen".
"Absolutely not!" Amity yowled while Eda cackled from the stove. Emira joined in with the laughter, though it wasn't nearly as loud as the older witches.
"Why not? You think I'm not cool enough, is that it?".
"It's not about being cool, kid" Eda chuckled. "It's about fighting a horrible monster that can read your mind".
"Say what now?".
"Grom isn't just some school dance" Amity went on. "Grom, short for Grometheus the Fear Bringer, is a horrific monster that lives under the school. It can see your worst fear and shape-shift. Every year a student is forced to fight it so it doesn't escape and terrorize the whole town. To distract from that, Bump holds a dance every year and treats fighting the monster like a tradition".
"Ah. Of course, there has to be a terrifying twist" I hmmed. "So being grom queen is a bad thing".
"Yep" Eda answered, popping the p at the end. "But it sure is fun to watch. I wonder who the victim will be this year".
"I guess we'll find out this morning". The younger spirit turned back towards her sister, a strangely nervous shine in her golden eyes. "We need to get going. See you later, Em".
"See you later, Mittens". With that, Emira faded from the crystal ball.
For a moment, Amity sat there searching through her own thoughts. What she was looking for, nobody on the outside could tell. But if I hazard a guess, it had something to do with grometheus.
"Hoot hoot!" a grinding voice hollered from the door. It was followed by a disgusting hacking sound, as if someone was choking something in their throat back up. "Time to fill up that darling little head of yours with delicious knowledge!".
"Willow and Gus are here" the spirit said after sighing out her worry. She went to grab her books on the counter, but I stopped her with my arm.
"Are you doing okay?".
"I'm fine" she quickly replied as she straightened her posture. "We better not keep them waiting".
Like Amity had said, Willow and Gus were both impatiently waiting at the door. Both their eyes as wide as the morning sun, they silently begged for us to hurry so they could get as far away from our house demon as we could.
"Bye guys!" I shouted before joining my two friends. "Try not to cause any trouble while I'm gone!".
"How dare you try to command me, peasant!".
"How 'bout you bite me?".
With a roll of my eyes and a smile on my face, I bounded up to Willow and Gus. "Hey guys".
"Heya, Luz" Gus greeted, before simply waving to Amity. Saying hello to the former bully was still something both witchings struggled to do.
"Morning, Luz" Willow stated while flicking her ear in acknowledgement. "And Amity".
"Morning, Willow. Gus". The ghost's nerves made her polite confidence falter. You could feel the shame covering her like an itchy sweater. "You excited for grom?".
The whole thing hurt to see every morning. While Willow was grateful that her old bff saved her life, that just made the last seven years even more convoluted and the pain from them even more sour. She knew Amity was trying to make amends, yet it was hard to throw all the insults and cold shoulders to the side and say it was alright. It wasn't alright for Willow, not yet. The sting was still way too fresh.
But Willow was trying just as hard as Amity, partially as a thank you and partially in hopes that her wounds could heal enough for her to call Amity a friend again. All I could do was watch as the two found their footing, and that was just killing me!
"You know it," Gus responded excitedly. "I'll be hosting this year".
"Really?" I prodded. "That sounds exciting!".
"And I'll be making corsages with the plant track. I can't wait!".
"At least you guys are excited," Amity murmured under her breath. She then looked towards us and flinched. Our eyes were all on her. "I said that out loud, didn't I?".
"Amity. Are you sure you're alright? You're acting really weird this morning".
"Isn't being weird our thing?".
"Amity, what's wrong?".
Amity took a moment of preparation, the weight of what she had to say making her feel heavy. When she spoke, she had to force the words from her throat.
"I got a vision from the spirit realm. I know who this year's grom queen will be".
"Who?".
"It's me".
Within an instant, Amity's fear had made its way to me. Hadn't my friend gone through enough? She had finally gotten a break when her evil mother died, but now she had to fight some nightmare monster?!
"Maybe you saw wrong" Gus suggested, his pity making him frown.
"No. It was me fighting grom, and when it turned into my worst fear… everything just…everything went wrong!".
I hadn't seen my friend so scared since the day she begged us to take her in. What could her worst fear have possibly been? Was it her mother? But she didn't need to be scared of her mother anymore. Maybe it was the writhe command, but Grom couldn't do that unless it had the amulet.
"Went wrong?" Willow repeated with a flick of her ear.
"Let's just say, I… hurt someone I really care about".
"Then…Then you CAN'T be grom queen!" I stammered.
"I have no choice," Amity growled. "I'm who Bump picked".
"Can't you just tell him to pick someone else?!".
"The whole point of fighting grom is to face your fears head on. He won't let me chicken out".
Dammit! She had a point. It sounded like Bump treated being grom royalty like a huge teaching opportunity. Letting his top student opt out would mean she failed to learn the lesson. But we had to do something! If Amity's worst fear was revealed, someone was going to get really hurt!
"What if someone wanted to take your place?" I asked, an idea growing in my head.
"Yeah right" Amity chuckled humorlessly. "Who would want to switch with me?".
"I would".
"What?".
"I will! I will be your fearless champion, and fight grom in your place!".
"Are you sure" Willow butt in. "Being grom queen means you'll have to face your worst fear in front of everyone".
"It could scar you for life" Gus added.
"Hah! You mean more than the Bat Queen did, more than ODALIA did? If I can take them on, I can handle one nightmare monster".
"What part of worst fear aren't you getting?" Amity snapped, her fear making her gnash her fangs together. "It will literally be the thing you are most afraid of".
With a sigh, I locked eyes with the ghost. My gaze made her freeze in place, left gaping in dismay.
"Amity? I made a promise on the day we took you in that I would protect you. Don't make me break my promise".
She stayed still for a moment as her thoughts waged war against each other. But eventually she took a deep breath out and gave in.
"Okay" she murmured. "But you'll need to train as hard as you can for it. Grom is a much tougher foe than you realize".
…
"Alright, Luz". Amity's voice rang through the clearing in front of the owl house. She dauntingly paced back and forth above the dusty ground like a war hardened sergeant.
"Right now, your greatest weakness is your greatest fear. What are you afraid of?".
"In preparation, I made a list". I handed the spirit a folded piece of paper. As she read over the list, her older sister peered over her shoulder and began to laugh.
"No!" Amity snarled as she crumpled the paper into a little ball and tossed it to the ground. "This is about more than just stuff that weirds you out. What is your WORST fear".
"I don't know!". I beggingly looked over at Emira. "What's your worst fear?".
"Having my mother's blood run through me" she answered with a shrug.
"Wanna hear my worst fear?" an annoyingly shrill voice asked from behind. Unfortunately for the house demon, all of Amity's frustration was now pointed towards him.
"Is it me?".
"No".
"It should be!".
"Look, Luz" Emira called while closing the space between us. The witch comfortingly placed her hand on my shoulder. "Right now, off the top of your head, what is the awfulest thing you can think of".
"Well, someone trying to murder me is pretty scary".
"Dig deeper" the older Blight pushed.
"I think I have an idea," Amity suggested before I could answer. She whispered something into her sister's pointed ear.
Emira drew a large spell circle into the air, and from a puff of smoke and a giant illusion of Eda rose. Despite the amused smile on the gray maned witch's face, her golden eyes were full of ridicule. She crossed her arms and shifted all her wait to one foot.
"You? A witch?" she scoffed. "You'll never be a real witch, kid. You'll just be some dumb human running around playing pretend".
"But…I know magic…I go to Hexide and–".
"Stop" Amity ordered while holding her arm in front of me. "You're giving her the response she wants instead of the one you want. Don't argue with her, just tell her you're a witch".
"I am a witch".
"Louder".
"I am a witch!".
"Again!".
"I AM A WITCH!".
"Mija?".
Out went one fear, in came another. The familiar voice made my breath hitch and my mouth gape open. It felt like I had just been caught stealing a cookie or saying something I wasn't supposed to.
"Hola mamá. What are you doing here?".
"I should be asking you". Though she sounded more confused than anything it still sent a nervous tingle up my spine. "Is this a part of your witch training?".
"No, it's not. This is training for grom". From beside my mother Eda slid her way out the door. "You can't be grom queen, Luz! You're just not ready for it".
"Groom queen? ¡Dios mio! (My god) you don't mean the one who has to fight the nightmare monster, do you?".
"Mom, it's okay".
"No, it's not," Eda snapped. Just like her illusion she crossed her arms impatiently. "Luz, once again you're getting in over your head, and I'll have to bail you out at the end. Let someone else get mauled this year".
"But that someone will have to be Amity!" I argued with a step forward.
"That's great, then. Grom can't hurt her if she's already dead".
"But Amity had a vision where she was a grom queen. She said someone she cares about gets really hurt!".
"Then she should use that vision to make sure that doesn't happen while she's grom queen. It's her turn to face her fears, not yours to prematurely jump into them".
I opened my mouth to fight back some more but the sad look in my mother's eyes made the words stick to my throat. I'd seen that look before at school, way too many times. It was usually shared by the principal while whatever teacher involved tiredly glared at me.
"Eda is right, cariño (sweetie). I know you want to help your friend but throwing yourself into danger isn't the way to do it".
"You don't believe I can do it, don't you". Both my voice and heart cracked. It hurt enough that my mentor didn't believe in me but mami… after everything that's happened, I guess it was foolish to think she'd ever believe in me again.
"Thanks for trying, Luz" Amity defeatingly sighed. "But they have a point. I need to face my own fears. I'll take care of this".
"But if you do, that person you saw—".
"I know. But I have a feeling that, no matter what happens, that someone is going to get hurt anyways. It's like what Eda says. What's going to happen is going to happen".
The witchling floated up to Eda and my mother with her head bowed. "Excuse me. I…I need some alone time".
The two older women stepped aside and let Amity through. All I could do was watch her leave, helpless like a newborn baby.
"I suppose I should go" Emira spoke up after a small moment of silence. "I need to get ready".
"Bye, Emira," I said dejectedly. "Thanks for your help".
"Don't worry about Mittens" she responded while softly slugging me on the arm. "Every time she thinks somethings the end of the world, the world keeps on going".
"What are you doing here?" I asked my mother after Emira was behind the tree line.
"Well Bump and I did some talking," Eda answered for her. "And he wants us both to chaperone".
"Really? Both of you?".
"He originally just asked me, but when I told him about your mom, he wanted me to invite her. He thinks having a human chaperone would be interesting".
"Which means we have to go get ready" my mother roused.
Even if I tried, I couldn't catch her excitement. The last couple minutes had soured my good mood. Just like every other time I tried to help her, I had let Amity down! I'd gotten her killed. I'd gotten her discovered by Katif, which led to her brother being poisoned. I'd gotten myself captured by her mother, putting her father and sister in danger.
And now she was forced to face grom, because everyone thought I would mess it up!
"I'll do that later". It took everything I had to keep my boiling frustration from showing. "I need some alone time too".
Before anyone could argue, I ducked into the red pines. The dirt underneath me crunched as I stomped through the woods, my footsteps slowly growing faster the more my anger stirred. I had beaten many monsters and witches alike! I had learned magic when everyone said it was impossible! I could handle facing gr– What was that?!
The bushes in front of me were rustling like crazy. There had to be something big behind them, something that could catch and eat me no problem!
No! No backing down! I was brave! I was a real witch! I would take whatever monster was hunting me down! Maybe then Eda and mami would see how tough I really was!
With a war cry, I plucked a branch from a nearby tree and crashed through the brush in front of me…only for a massive claw filled hand to throw me onto the ground! I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the terrible beast to tear me apart, but its attack never came.
"I'm sorry". I opened my eyes to see two golden eyes staring back. A young demon with red scales and fins let go of his hold of me and backed away bashfully. "I thought you were a monster".
"Same" I admitted while rising to my feet and dusting myself off. "Sorry for jumping at you".
"That's alright. I would've thought I was a monster too". As he spoke, the demon fidgeted with his long black claws. There were a few seconds of silence that felt like they lasted an eternity. We both sort of just stood there awkwardly waiting for what the other would do next.
"So…" I drawled. "Whatcha doing in the woods".
"I…um…I was looking for help actually…Would you mind helping me out a little?".
"With what?".
"I'm supposed to go to some sort of dance tonight, but I don't have anything nice to wear…or any currency to buy something nice to wear".
"A dance? Do you mean grom?".
"Yes! That's it. A nice witch invited me to go with her, but somebody told me I couldn't go in just this, so I need to find something else…something like a suit or…something".
"Are you a Hexide student?" I question after a moment. Something didn't seem right here.
"N…no" he stuttered. "B…but Emira said I could still go".
"Oh! You're the guy she met at the cemetery".
"I am. Do you know Emira?".
"Uh huh. I live with her little sister, Amity". That made the demon semi-relax. He enthusiastically smiled, showing off two long fangs.
"Ah. You know her assassin sister".
"Assassin?".
"Her mom wanted her to be an assassin, but then Emira and her brother hid her".
"It seems Emira's filled you in on some stuff". I took a few steps forwards, then paused to see if the demon would follow me. When he did, the two of us began to walk back to the owl house. "Did she tell you about a "Luz" by chance?".
"No. She only told me about her siblings, her assassin sister and her poisoned brother".
"Well, I'm Luz".
"Hi. I'm Puff Adder". There was another moment of silence before Puff Adder asked, "What are you doing in the woods?".
"Me?". All the irritation that had driven me into the woods came flooding back. I probably shouldn't have vented to poor Puff Adder, but it all came out. "I needed a break from my mom and my mentor. They don't think I'm strong enough to fight grom, but I totally am!".
"How do you fight grom? Is grom not a dance party?".
"No. Well yes, but grom is both a dance and a nightmare monster you fight at the dance".
"We'll be fighting a monster?!" Puff Adder exclaimed while his fins shuttered.
"Just Amity will. She was chosen by the principal to do it. But if she does, someone she cares about will get really hurt".
"Why does she need to fight it alone?".
"I don't know, because she's grom queen?".
"So there's no good reason?". He sounded completely baffled. "You're friend's worth much more than a stupid rule, right?".
"Of course!".
"Then if you want to help her, you fight the monster too. I'll help".
"Are you sure?". It was my turn to be baffled. "Grom can read your mind and turn into your worst nightmare".
"All monsters are your worst nightmare. They hurt you and the people you care about".
His last sentence threw me into my thoughts. Within that moment I realized that Puff Adder was right. My worst fear wasn't never being a real witch, or mami and Eda not believing in me. My worst fear was Amity getting hurt!
Instead of the anger and shame that was welling in me earlier, a fiery eagerness raged inside of me all the way back to the owl house. After a few hours of getting ready, I arrived at the doors of Hexide. Donned in a nice black suit and tutu combo, I proudly strode into the gymnasium. Amity was right beside me in a black lace dress. Of course, it wasn't an actual dress,she just shapeshifted into one she saw in a magazine, but she looked…stunning to say the least!
Both Eda and Puff Adder were in suits while my mother chose a nice blazer and shorter dress. All three of them split when they walked through the entrance, mom heading to the bleachers, Eda heading to the side wall, and Puff Adder heading towards Emira. The oldest Blight was standing in the corner of the dance floor, also wearing black in honor of her twin.
Amity hesitated near the doorway, overwhelmed by her rising fear. I stopped with her despite not sharing it. I delicately placed my hand on her shoulder, turning her gaze towards me.
"You got this".
My encouragement only doubled her fear. She closed her eyes and let out her worry with a deep breath out. Saying nothing, she floated to the top of the bleachers and sat down.
"Don't worry, Amity," I silently promised. "You won't have to fight grom alone".
It wasn't long until Gus took the stage and began to rally the crowd. He started by telling everyone to take a seat on the bleachers then gave principle Bump a quick shout out. I took my seat in the first row, as did Puff Adder. He gave me a quick glance and a nod.
"Are you sure you want to sit here?" Emira asked. "This is the splash zone".
"This will be a good place to see your sister and the monster".
"Now introducing our grom queen! You know her! You love her…or maybe hate her I don't know…Amity Blight!".
With gallant strides, the ghostly witch made her way down to the center, where grom was going to be unleashed. For the crowd she bravely hid her nerves, keeping her back straight and her chin high.
I joined in with the chanting proudly, "Blight! Blight! Blight!".
The floor in the center split away revealing a pit. At the bottom chunks of black gunk began to morph into a tall goopy beast. Amity walked straight past the weapons and down to where grom was. Her eyes burned like fire as she gritted her fangs together in a daring sneer.
Now was my time to attack!
Pulling a few glyphs from my pocket, I leapt at the beast and landed right in front of Amity. In the meanwhile, I slammed an ice glyph onto the ground. Frost began to crawl up grom as it incased it into a frozen prison, but the top bit of sludge was faster than the spell. It broke away from the rest of the muck and shot right towards me. Before I could move, it wrapped itself around me like a large killer snake.
My gawk went back to the bleachers. Puff Adder struggled in Emira's grip while she held the reptile back.
"What are you doing?" he hollered. "We need to fight the monster!".
"No!" Emira yelled back. "You need to stay out of the way!".
A black tendril latched onto my forehead like a leach. My eyes went white while a tingly feeling scuttled around in my brain. The part of grom that wasn't frozen slunk across the ground and began to transform into something. It was a person, around my height, with straight minty hair and golden eyes. It was Amity!
But she didn't look like the Amity that was standing behind me. She wasn't a spirit. She was alive, and she was profusely bleeding! Blood gushed past a jagged dagger in her abdomen. She pushed her hands into the wound as if she was trying to grab as much of it as she could, but it all ran through her fingers and down to the floor.
"Luz!". Her words had to push past the blood clogging her throat. "Why?! What did I…*koff* *koff* do to des…erve this?!".
"NO!" I yowled as my mind wrestled with itself. I knew it wasn't the real Amity, yet she looked way too real not to be. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident! I–".
Pushing past her weakness, the witch lurched forwards! My instincts kicked-started, and my legs shoved me into a run. I raced out of the gymnasium and through the hallway as fear took control of my entire body. The only thing I could think about at that moment was getting as far away from grom as possible.
"COWARD!" the fake Amity cried from behind me. "STOP RUNNING!".
The chase brought me out of the school and into the nearby woods. My feet kicked up the dirt and leaves below as I scrambled through the brush. I didn't dare look back to see how close the fake Amity was. I kept my eyes to the ground in search of anything I could trip—AH!
The woods suddenly opened into a steep cliff. I was pushed to the very edge of it, cowering as the fake Amity crawled forwards.
"You took EV…*koff* *koff*...RYTHING FROM ME! My life, my home, my…brother…*koff* *koff* *koff* EVERYTHING!".
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll do anything! PLEASE!".
"The only thi…ing you can do is… DIE! So you never EVER hurt…me…AGAIN!".
"Stay away from her!" someone howled as they exploded from the leaves and slid in front of me. The bright moonlight shone right through her making her glow like the inside of a jack-o'-lantern.
"Amity! No! Your fear!".
"That doesn't matter!".
"Of course, it does! What about that person you care about!".
"Titandammit, Luz! You're the person I care about!".
It felt like the entire demon realm froze. The calls of wild pixies, the crickets' chirping, grom Amity's coughing, everything grew quiet. At that moment, all I was able to see was the real Amity staring back at me. Her glowing golden eyes were much louder than anything in those woods.
"Me?".
"Yes, Luz. I saw you. When grom turned into my greatest fear, you ran off in tears".
"Why would I run from your fear?". Amity said nothing. The answer to that question was the very thing she was desperate to hide. "You can tell me. I can take it".
"It's not like that" the spirit rushed. She had to push the rest of her response out of her throat. "I just don't want you to hate me".
"Hate you? Amity, I'm your friend. Whatever your worst fear is isn't going to change that".
As we spoke, grom shifted back into its monstrous form. It let out a roar while it paced back and forth, waiting for the right moment to strike. Like a snapping chord, its patience finally broke and it reached towards Amity. Before the beast captured her in its grasp she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"I'm in love with you!".
Her eyes went white as grom read her mind, but when it dropped her back to the ground it didn't turn into anything. Instead, the monster just stared at her in intrigue with dozens of eyes. It didn't know what to do. Amity was already facing her fear before it even got a chance to turn into it.
Seeing as she had been momentarily spared, Amity continued.
"After everything I've done, after every mistake I've made, you still care about me. You saved me from my mother, and you saved me from myself. You're brave and funny and…I adore you! You're more than just a friend to me. You mean everything to me!
I understand if you think that's weird, and that this ruins our friendship".
"No!" I exclaimed, breaking free from my shock. My heart pounded against my chest. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach. I felt like jumping around in joy and shouting out as loud as I possibly could, but I contained myself. I had to play it cool. "I…um…I really like you too! You're just…so amazing!".
"You feel the same way?".
"Yeah…yeah I do".
"Then, Luz, do you wanna go out with me?".
"Really? With me? You want to go out with me?". My nervous stammering made Amity laugh.
"Just say yes, you dope".
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!". Suddenly, I grabbed Amity's hand and yanked her into my arms. Her entire face flushed red. I'm sure mine was just as bad.
"Now, if that's settled" Amity said with a smirk. "May I have this dance?".
I answered with a simple smile. The spirit bowed and elegantly offered her hand. I politely took it and gave a bow of my own, barely noticing the chill her ghostly grasp gave me. Amity placed her other hand on my back, and we began to glide across the red grass. Though there was no music, both of us moved to the same beat: one, two, three, one, two, three.
Amity left a trail of fire, crafting a blazing maze for our foe to traverse. Meanwhile I left a trail of plant glyphs, each of them touching one another. We circled around grom, who also circled around us, over and over again. The fire licked at him as it grew higher, the bits of grom melting off adding fuel to it like firewood.
Once us and grom were as far apart as we could get, I spun Amity around, her dress unfolding like flower petals, then hoisted her into the air. Like a cat hunting a fluttering bird, grom stretched as high as it could, but it just couldn't reach her. It collapsed into our trap.
When Amity landed into my arms, I dipped her towards the ground. She lightly poked the nearest plant glyph near her which triggered them all to activate. With a big flash, roots climbed out of the ground and coiled around the beast, squeezing the monster until it burst into a thousand bits. And from where the powerful creature once lumbered, a strong tree with beautiful pink petals sprouted from the ground.
It took us a few minutes to realize it, but we were now the only ones standing. The fight was over. Grom had been defeated.
Two tiaras with pink crystals that blossomed like a lily in the middle appeared on both of our heads. With the defeat of the monster, us two grom queens could finally be crowned.
"And there you have it folks, a happy ending for this year's grom". Oh yeah. I'd nearly forgotten that King was helping Gus host the fight. "Let's hear it for the two grom queens, Luz and Amity!".
From the woods, a crowd of students stuck their heads out and began to cheer. Eda and my mom both looked on at the scene in pride, the latter with tears welling in her eyes. As they all began to gather around us, they hoisted me up into the air (their hands kept phasing through Amity) and began to carry me back to the school.
I offered to hoist the spirit up with my hand. Only then was she able to float above the entourage. As soon as she was next to me, she scooted closer and pressed her head against my chest. I didn't have time to think about what I was doing. I just automatically gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
It took Amity a moment to recover from it, making my stomach squirm. But she then returned the gesture with a kiss of her own. My relief made me relax and sink deep into the moment. It couldn't have been more perfect.