Loyalty & Light

by BlehBluhBlah

"You and me, hermana... always." Ever since the Noceda sisters were kids, Lealtad had one thing in mind, and one thing only: protect her little sister's smile. Follow through a journey of The Owl House, as canon events unfold with Luz's big sister watching over her. Can Lealtad keep her sister grounded in her true home? Or will she lose her to this new world's fantastical themes?

17. Enchanting Grom Fright

A/N: I think my favourite thing about a highly anticipated chapter like this, is that everyone is waiting for it… but it doesn't go the route anyone was expecting! Also, another long A/N at the end!

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Chapter Summary: With Hexside's biggest social event taking stage tonight, Leal tries to do Viney a solid by inviting the Blight twins to a double date to Grom! But with the implications, Leal can't help but confront her own dilemma: her asexuality.

Word Count: 23,987

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Enchanting Grom Fright

Some liked hearing the birds chirp in the early morning, while others it was the quiet echoing crickets. Some preferred the faint sound of wind blowing and others would rather listen to the eery quietness of the morning atmosphere. For Leal? It was the sound of camera flashes and photos printing. The whirring noises of her Canon Ivy Mini printing photos was really relaxing to hear, like a smooth brown noise. Having an early start on the morning, after Leal helped Eda fix up breakfast she retreated to her and Luz's room and decided now would be as good a time as any to print out some photos in her camera. Her gallery had gotten even closer to full after her hangout session with the dual-track squad and the Blight twins. It had been three days since then, and Leal found herself taking many more photos with her friends in and outside of class.

But it wasn't just that—there were still many other things she had in her gallery that she had yet to print. At the start it was just things of significance that she or others at the Owl House found sentimental value in, then mischievous things like silly photos or prank aftermaths, to just random mundane moments. Of course there was still many from their adventures; some of the shots of them during their Hooty joyride, that random day back during their first few weeks here where Luz entered an eating competition, her and Luz with the Blight twins at the library, to even their time at The Knee.

Many memories in over several weeks.

And today was a good day to start putting them up.

One thing she liked about being tucked into the corner of her and Luz's bedroom, was that she had a domain to two walls, meaning plenty of room to tack on her pictures. Against the window side, where her head was laid near, she had a collection of lifestyle and landscape photos. While on the left side, she had photos of just… everyone and everything. A photo of Luz inside Willow's Abomination pot back during her first trip into Hexside, along with the one she took later that day with Gus and Willow. There were their Pride Day photos, as well as a few of her and Hooty playing catch and even her selfie with Venny. Then more recently: her first two potions with Barcus, her group photo with the gang as well as a few of them during their spars, and the one of Edric's profile.

She had nearly covered the bottom half of the wall next to her bedroll. She chuckled. "Can't even imagine how full it's gonna get later on," she muttered to herself. Deciding that was enough for now, Leal began to put away her printer and printer paper. She couldn't exactly put everything back into her bag now as she had been filling it with potions and ingredients these days, as well as her notes and books. But as she readied her messenger bag for school, her phone chimed.

Leal's heart spiked a bit as she turned to her device resting on her luggage. She immediately grabbed it, checking the message. It was from her mom. With a gulp, she swiped and read it.

Mami [7:53 AM]: So how's everything been, ¿cariño?

Shit.

Leal scrolled up and held her hand to her forehead in worry. It had been just two weeks since she last messaged her! And that was back when she was in charge of the Owl House when Eda went off looking for that stupid scam staff! She didn't even realize it was there! All it said was:

Mamí [4:48 PM]: Glad to see she's having fun!

Lealtad put her phone down and took a deep breath, bringing her beanie off her head to run her hand through her hair. What was she doing? How did it get this bad? Back in June she hadn't gone too long without messaging and it only warranted her mom checking in once. This time, she wasn't even explicitly saying it! But the timeframe was much longer without updates!

Her eyes widened in fear. Why was her mom okay with that then? From daily updates to missing out on two weeks, and she isn't concerned? Did… Did she know? Leal swallowed hard as she stared at the offending device. Was this her trying to give Leal an out? Just to fess up right here and now? Or… Or was this just genuine concern? Her mother could be trying to be casual and not too nosy, but maybe deep down she was freaking out because neither of her daughters were saying anything?

Leal shook her head. She needed to calm down. Her mother's words echoed back to her:

"Count to five, mi pequeña niña, and just breathe."

Lealtad let her breathing even out for a few seconds, before sliding her beanie back on. Alright, she could do this.

Fave Bebé [7:55 AM]: Morning, Mamá! Camp's been great!

She let the truth go free.

Fave Bebé [7:55 AM]: Sorry about the radio silence, I've been real busy with a lot of stuff here.

Fave Bebé [7:55 AM]: but also made a ton of friends too!

She nervously waited and watched as the read receipt passed. What was the response? Was this enough?

Mami [7:56 AM]: That's great mija!

Mami [7:56 AM]: I'm glad you're enjoying yourself too!

Was she gonna ask? Would she be curious about why the radio silence?

Mami [7:57 AM]: How about Luz?

Okay, honestly, that was worse. Leal took another breath. But she could do this. She lied about this all the time these past two months, it'd be easy to cover and just move on. Without any thought, she just typed a simple response.

Fave Bebé [7:58 AM]: Why don't you ask her?

Leal's eyes widened.

What.

Was.

She.

Doing?

::TITLE OPENING::

So, she just accidentally panicked and threw her sister under the bus.

Leal quickly backpedaled and tried to smooth it out a bit, stating that it might be nice to chat with Luz directly for a change. Her mom did state she found it a tad weird that only Leal decided to text her, but Leal countered it by saying Luz is also just so wrapped up in camp shenanigans and it's hard for campers to have screen time (utilizing her excuse that she was a counselor and therefore, an exception). To her surprise, her mom accepted this logic and said she'd text Luz in a bit. Hurrying what was left of her school prepping, Lealtad rushed down the stairs and into the living room, where she found Luz sitting on the floor in front of the couch with several glyph notes around and King on the couch, running a cord through the portal door. Luz locked eyes with Leal in a frantic motion as she launched up to her feet, looking stiff.

Was she too late?

"Oh, Sunshine, just thought I'd let ya know Mamá is going to send you a text," she addressed in a calm manner, "she's been also kinda wondering why you haven't just texted her."

Luz's eyes widened. "O-Oh, uh, nope! Not yet!" She shook her head.

King glanced up from Luz's phone. "But I thought—"

"Cat video!" Luz shouted, tapping the screen and causing a cry of meows to begin. Leal furrowed a brow at her sister, who quickly dove to the floor. "Check this out, Leal! My glyph skills are… blossoming!" she announced, tapping a new glyph and causing a plant to emerge.

Leal's jaw dropped as she rushed toward the paper. "¡No me diga! You discovered a new glyph?" She hurriedly took a photo of the new symbol with her camera. She was definitely going to practice with this during her next sparring session with her friends! "You never cease to amaze me, hermana."

Luz proudly turned her chin up. "I try," she smugly said.

"Hey!" Eda's voice came shouting through. "Where's the fire?" Eda amusedly said as she stepped out from the kitchen. She had a brown bag tucked into her hand as she smirked at Leal. "You seem like you're in a hurry? Stomping down the stairs and all that."

Her ears flushed. "Oh, I, just wanted to get to school on time?"

The witch cocked a brow. "It's barely past eight—y'all are beyond early."

Any response she would've had was forgotten as Hooty whipped the door open. "Hoot hoot, Luz!" He proceeded to extend himself out and into the room. "Time to fill up that darling little head of yours with—" he tiled this head back and began to regurgitate a couple of books out onto the floor. "Mm-hmm. Delicious knowledge!" he announced.

Lealtad cringed a bit as she let out a laugh. "Whose books were those?"

"Ugh, probably mine," Eda groaned.

Willow and Gus suddenly popped their heads in, their eyes filled with fear.

"Please hurry!" Gus pleaded.

"The more I look at him, the more uncomfortable I get," Willow stated in hurried manner.

"Hoot hoot!"

Luz chuckled as he shot her friends a pair of finger guns. Rising up to her feet, she pecked King's skull. "Don't spend all day watching YouTube, 'kay?"

"I forge my own path!" King shouted back.

Lealtad smiled fondly at the demon, who tilted his head toward her expectantly. She chuckled a bit. "Sorry, Scruffy, I don't do kissing." She offered a quick and gentle hug. She then turned back to Eda, who already had her lunch bag extended out to her.

"It's the usual. With maybe extra griffin eggs this time." She winked at her.

Leal welcomed the smile on her face. In one swift motion, she gratefully accepted it and tucked into her bag, but not without giving Eda a quick hug. She pulled away and waved, rushing out the door as she shouted, "Love you, bye!"

For some reason, the witch seemed a bit shocked just before the door closed, but Leal just shrugged it off. Eda didn't seem too used to physical affection. Leal could relate to that honestly, though she figured with all the hugs Luz gave it wouldn't have been weird. Regardless, Leal wasn't going to hang up on it. If Eda had a problem, she trusted the witch would say something given her blunt track record. Lealtad rushed ahead, catching up to Luz and her friends as they entered the forest. "Park, Porter," she greeted with a nod.

"Hey Leal!" Gus waved.

"It's been a bit since we've really seen you," Willow addressed. "Last time was when I slept over, right?"

She nodded. "Well, I've been busy in school. I'm honestly thinking I'm close to coming up with a new potion!"

Luz's eyes widened. "Really? Already?"

"You're on a roll!" Gus cheered.

Lealtad chuckled. "Well, nothing's set in stone yet. I'll have to work on it more during one of my study periods or in Potions in Motion," she explained. After sparring with her friends a bit and seeing the combos of magic, Leal got to thinking about mixing her own two tracks. It was difficult, given she couldn't actually do Healing magic. But she was hoping that this new potion of hers would rectify that.

"Whoa!" Gus exclaimed. He pointed to Leal's bat. "You put glyphs on your bat?"

She proudly smirked at that, twirling her bat and resting it on her shoulder. Now, near the end of the barrel, she had several ice glyphs placed on it. It did mean she'd have to be careful whenever she rested it on her shoulder, but she could manage. "Cool huh? I tried it out a couples day ago when I was hanging out with the dual-track squad and the Blight twins." She tilted her shoulder toward the three, showing of the glyphs a bit more. "I recently learned you can pre-place glyphs onto things! Luz's already figured out some awesome combos with it. Me?" Leal twirled her bat again, pointing the barrel toward the path ahead of them. "I just like having the option of being prepared."

"Wow, you're sure combat ready, huh Leal?" Willow mused.

"That's my sister for ya!" Luz teased. "And to think you wanted nothing to do with magic at first!"

Leal rolled her eyes as she shouldered her bat once again. "Alright, so I saw its benefits—so sue me." She couldn't fight her smile as she saw the tall tower of Hexide in the coming distance. So magic was cool, she could admit that. If anything, she was more excited each day for the next to come. There was still so much for her to learn! She couldn't help but think about what she was going to do in class today, leaving her to silently walk alongside Luz and her friends as her sister told them about the new glyph.

By the time they arrived at Hexside, Leal knew they had at least fifteen or so minutes until class, so she bid her sister and her friends a goodbye and rushed off to her locker. Though Leal couldn't help but notice the amount of banners, balloons, and flyers decorating the halls. She hadn't even seen them set this stuff up yesterday! The one recurring word she did notice was "Grom". She was willing to hedge a bit on it being some sort of Boiling Isles equivalent of prom, but she also learned not to make such assumptions because it could easily be something crazier in a heartbeat.

The second she arrived at her locker, Leal scratched her sentient storage and began storing her Potions books since she had Healing first thing today. Just as she pulled away, she noticed her friends approaching her down the hall. "Ah, hey guys!"

"Morning Leal!" Jerbo greeted.

"And how are you this fine morning?" Viney inquired.

Leal shrugged. "Alright. More excited for class than anything else."

Viney grinned. "Same here!" She wrapped an arm around Leal and pumped her other fist excitedly. "We get our tests back today!" Leal's nervous frown only lasted for a second before her friend poked her side, causing her to yelp. "No negativity! You did fine, Leal!"

"Yeah, honestly, it might be time to focus on other things," Barcus addressed, nodding his head over to the banner nearby. Jerbo snorted, giving the dog a playful push while Viney laughed.

Sensing some sort of inside joke, Leal just raised a confused brow. "Oh, yeah, what is the deal with 'Grom'? This some kinda event?"

Viney pulled away as her eyes widened. "Ahh, right! Totally forgot you wouldn't know!"

Barcus tilted his head. "Hm, it's strange Miss Clawthorne never said anything."

Leal snorted. "Eda hardly got around to explaining important information the first week we were here," she amusedly replied, "honestly doubt she'd explain something like this." She gestured half-heartedly toward the walls.

Her friends lightly laughed at her remark.

"Anyways, Grom is a—"

The speaker intercom chirped to life, cutting Jerbo off. "Attention Hexside students. This is your principal speaking."

Leal looked around and noticed everyone, including her friends, were wearing worried looks as they stared up at the speakers.

"Oh Titan, it's happening," Viney nervously said.

"The Grom royalty!" Jerbo shouted.

Confusion struck Leal as she desperately looked around for any semblance of context, but everyone seemed too busy being stressed about the announcement.

"This year, I have the privilege to bestow our highest Grom honor to... Amity Blight! Our Grom Queen!"

A collective gasp swarmed throughout the halls, and from the looks of things, everyone was shocked. Was being Grom… Queen a big deal? Was everyone jealous? She turned back to her friends, and was surprised to see sympathetic expressions all over their faces. "What's the big deal?" she asked.

The three exchanged troubled glances for a moment, before turning to her. "Okay, so every year," Viney said, "we have this sort of tradition where this monster called Grometheus, the Fear Bringer, tries to break out from underneath the school—"

Lealtad nearly caught whiplash from that loaded sentence.

She could not have anticipated where this was going.

"—And as per tradition, Bump elects one of the best students of Hexside to defeat it before it gets loose and wreaks chaos all over town." Viney crossed her arms across her chest and frowned. "And to make matters worse, Grom has the ability to read minds and shape-shift; which basically means facing your literal fears to the death."

Leal blew out a whistle. "Mierda," she muttered. "And… this is a viewing party or…"

"It's a dance," Barcus answered. "Basically, Bump's confident that each student will get the job done so we celebrate and party."

"Yeesh, no pressure or anything," she mused. Her eyes then widened as the realization sunk in. "Shit. That means Amity—"

"Yeah," Jerbo nodded. "It's a lot of pressure. But, she is top of our class in Abominations, so she should be fine."

Leal half-heartedly nodded, biting her lip. Though, with what she knew of the Blight—and even after what Luz and Willow filled her in on after the memory incident—she wagered the girl had a lot to be afraid of. If this was as much of a spectacle as she assumed it was, Leal could only imagine the amount of embarrassment Amity might feel having her fears out on display. It also didn't help with this last minute announcement with zero prep time. "I don't get it," she said as she pointed to the nearest poster, "You only promote this thing the day of Grom Night? Kinda last minute ain't it?"

"Well, everyone knows when it is so why bother wasting the time?" Viney answered, shrugging.

Leal blinked. "Hmm, never thought of it like that." She grimaced as she noticed the murmurs stirring around them, some wondering how Amity would fair against such a creature. "Still, it'd be great to give the Grom royalty a heads up to train, ¿no?"

"That's what being the best student calls for," Barcus sadly said, "Sometimes it means being prepared to fight Grom."

She shuddered as she shook her head. Maybe it was a good thing she wasn't a top student after all. Leal did not like the sound of fighting a fear monster. Chances were, it'd turn into a giant spider or worse: Other Mother from Coraline. At that point, Leal would probably just concede and subject the town to torment if it meant not having to fight it. She clenched her bat and thought of her sister for a moment. But if were Luz on the line, she might have to make that call. Thank the Titan that neither of them were selected then!

"C'mon Leal," Viney waved, walking ahead, "we'll be late for Healing for Beginners!"

Leal gasped as she chased after the witch. "Shit, you're right!" She turned and waved at the boys. "See you guys at lunch!"

::::

So Grom was definitely a highlight of the school social life, considering everyone was talking about it.

From Healing for Beginners to Healing and Dealing, all the chatter she could hear was about Grom and dates. That alone made Leal cringe a bit. She was grateful that within her little friend group, nobody had any interest in her. Getting asked to a dance was the last thing she wanted these days. Viney seemed to be in the same boat as her, annoyed a bit at everyone talking about the dance and dates. They were the only ones excited about their test returns (yes, she got an A, and yes, everyone was right) but it felt like they couldn't even celebrate the moment as the entire class was more eager for tonight's event.

Lealtad could understand the excitement for a party, but they were still in class! It was more shocking to her that Mister Rowan didn't mind. If anything, he seemed to welcome their chit-chat. They still managed to get through some course material, but Leal got the sense Rowan was pulling back. No doubt because he didn't want anyone working on Healing homework tonight. She appreciated the thought, though Leal was just about done with hearing all this Grom talk. As the bell rang out, she and Viney exited the room and began their trek to Healing (Again), which was way further down the hall.

"Ugh," Leal groaned, "I cannot get what's the deal with everyone being all… lovesick and shit." She rolled her eyes. "There's a monster being released at this thing! What's romantic about that?" she incredulously proclaimed.

Viney snorted. "This is the Boiling Isles, Leal. We might have some different moods for romance compared to you Humans."

She sighed. "Yeah, fair." She shook her head. "I guess that means to some, near-death scenarios is the perfect chance to go steady," she quipped.

"I take it that means you're not attending tonight?"

Leal scoffed. "Unlikely. Luz will definitely want to go, so I'll probably get roped into going with her." No matter the social event, Luz did her damndest to get Leal to tag along. Of course back then, Lealtad obliged her little sister for two reasons: she could hardly say no to her sometimes and Luz never had anyone to go with. Even if things were different this time around, she knew Luz would still try. "Dances, parties—that's kinda my sister's scene. She always wants to go in full swing. She got kicked out of her last school dance for dressing up like an otter," she amusedly recalled.

Viney giggled. "Wasn't part of the theme?"

"Surprisingly, no," she chuckled.

"So she really likes parties then, huh?"

"Yup," Leal nodded. "I'm not a big fan of them myself, but when Luz goes I usually go if I can. But more often than not it's just her trying to get me to go."

"What about birthdays?" Viney asked. "No big parties?"

Leal shook her head. "Nah, never been a huge fan. I preferred to keep it to just family." A fond memory graced her thoughts, making her smile a bit. "Actually, for my fifteenth birthday, mi mamá wanted to have this… classic tradition thing my culture has. It's kinda a big thing for Latinas, celebrating their fifteenth," she awkwardly explained. "I-I wasn't really all 'bout it, but I knew Luz would love the spectacle so I ended up saying yes." She laughed, shaking her head. "The first and last time I ever wore a dress."

Viney's brows raised. "Lealtad Noceda in a dress?" She cupped her chin thoughtfully. "I can't see it without the beanie and bat."

The two shared a laugh. "What about you?" Leal asked, nodding toward her friend. "You fancy tonight's whole shindig?"

Her cheeks coloured a bit, which surprised Leal. "A-Ah, well, I-I've been… interested. But I've never really gone." She shyly shrugged, keeping her gaze to the floor. Leal looked at her friend skeptically, trying to read between the lines. The only way she could see it was that no one had ever asked her to Grom. "I-I know you don't need to like, have a date or whatever, but I wouldn't wanna go without one. I hear it's better with."

Leal frowned. "I mean, that's subjective as heck. Who's to say that enjoying some dance is more or less fun based on a romantic partner?"

"Tons of people," Edric's voice suddenly appeared.

The two stopped and startled, turning the corner to see the Blight twins smiling at them.

"Hey Leal!"

She nodded at the Blight, smiling. "Sup Ed."

"Hi Viney!" Emira greeted, waving her fingers.

Her Healing partner blinked, awkwardly mirroring the Blight as she said, "Hi."

Leal furrowed a brow. What was that? She looked to Edric, noticing his smug grin, and smirked. "So, who are these 'tons' of people you're referring to Ed? Illusionary sources?"

He chuckled, leaning up against the wall. "But of course! My sources are very legitimate." He drew up a spell and suddenly a piece of paper was floating in front of her and Viney. It read, Citation: Trust me.

She cackled, shaking her head in amusement. "So I guess that means you two are going?"

"How could we not? Best time for pranks!" Emira pointed out as though it were obvious.

She rolled her eyes. "But of course," she dryly remarked.

"Besides, even without our pranks, it's a fun night," Edric defended. "Music, good snacks, and great vibes all around!"

Leal shrugged. "Sounds like any other old dance to me. 'Cept with a fear monster being released." She cupped her chin thoughtfully, pretending to ponder for a moment. "Ah, all I'm hearing is reasons not to go!" she joked. If only she could convince her sister, though she knew it'd be non-negotiable.

"That's basically live entertainment!" Emira waved off.

Leal raised a brow. "You two seem pretty chill about having your little sister as Grom Queen."

The two glanced at each other with a knowing smile, then turned back.

"She's got this," Emira confidently stated.

"Yup," Edric nodded, "We've got full faith in her."

"It basically means we get to watch our little sis kick butt!"

"Which is honestly ten times cooler than every Grom so far." Edric shrugged. "That's just a guarantee!"

She smiled a bit at their sincerity. That was actually really sweet of them. They really believed in her. "Well, if you two have that much confidence, then I guess I'm inclined to believe you," she admitted.

"Then what about the other stuff?" Edric lightly teased, waggling his brows.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "All of my high school experience so far has been avoiding these type of events." She placed her free hand on her hip and shrugged. "Sorry Ed, but I doubt you and your sister'll convince me now." She glanced to Viney, attempting to gauge her reaction for sympathy but froze. The witch was just… silently staring.

It was only then Leal realized she hadn't said anything except "Hi"! She furrowed a brow at her friend, concern seeping in, but then noticed who Viney was staring at. She was tight lipped and a bit flushed, but definitely focusing on Emira. While the Blights were going off on some tangents about the event's atmosphere and fun to be had, Leal observed her friend in shock. There was no way right? Surely, Lealtad of all people, couldn't pick up on something like this… right?

She turned back to the Blights, and raised a finger, halting their defence of Grom Night. They looked to her expectantly. "So, I assume this means you're going together? No dates?"

The twins' faces blushed a bit, likely out of embarrassment, but Leal quickly glanced to Viney. The girl's face coloured with hope for the briefest of moments before reddening.

Whaaaaat.

Lealtad excitedly grinned. Okay, so she was definitely getting a Luz thought. If she really thought about it: she was going to end up going to this thing anyways. It would be nice to have more people she knew around and Viney did want to go. Judging by the Blights' reactions, they didn't seem opposed to having dates either. Without anymore thinking, Leal wrapped her arm around Viney and said, "So why don't we all go together?"

"What?" came the simultaneous replies.

She chuckled. "Y'know, as a double date!" she casually said, throwing a brief look to Viney. The mortification that graced her face honestly made Leal feel bad a bit yet it was also hilarious to see.

"R-Really?" Edric asked, his eyes were as hopeful as a puppy's. Adorable! He must really like Grom, huh?

She shrugged. "Why not?" She turned to Viney with a big smile. "Sounds fun, right Vi?"

The girl shyly nodded. "I… uh," she looked at Emira. "If you want to?"

The Blight smiled back, her cheeks a bit red. "Yeah! Totally!" She looked to Edric and the two beamed big smiles. Leal was feeling confident the feelings was mutual given Edric's reaction to his sister. "So, uh, what are the deets?"

"We can meet at Grom if you'd like?" Edric offered.

Lealtad nodded, winking at the Blight. "Sounds like a plan!" She tugged on Viney, pulling her around the Blights. "Better hope tonight lives up to your hype!"

"It will now!" Edric shouted as he and Emira walked away.

She shook her head with a chuckle. This was perfect! Viney and Emira get to go to the dance together, and Edric wouldn't feel left out or all alone since Lealtad would be with him! Plus, she'd have someone to hang with all night! A win all around. Then a sharp pain to her side caused her to step away, making her wince. "Ah, ¡mierda!" she cursed, rubbing her ribs as she looked at Viney.

The witch was glaring at her, furiously. "Leal, why did you do that!"

Oh shit.

Leal apologetically smiled. "I'm sorry! I-I really didn't mean to go all Luz there, I swear. B-But it was the most natural way to bring it up!" The girl maintained her glare, making Leal sigh. "C'mon, it'll be fun! And it's so obvious you like her that even I can tell," she pointed out.

Viney's cheeks reddened once again. "Oh my Titan, you think she knows?"

Leal shrugged. "That? I can't tell. I'm still blown away that I even noticed you liking her," she amusedly pointed out. The witch just sighed, scowling as she walked ahead. The two of them entered Healing (Again) and found their seats in silence.

The first ten minutes of class was filled with tense silence, and she could tell the witch was still pouting. She tried to focus on her mixed Healing and Potion project, but it was hard knowing her friend was sulking beside her. Lealtad couldn't handle this. She leaned over and tapped the witch, making her turn and glare once again. "Vi, I'm sorry," she softly said.

Her glare lessened. "Did you really have to do it that way?"

Leal sighed, putting her pencil down. "The way I see it, you wanted to go to Grom, you like Em, they wanted us to go: simple solution, right?" she said with nonchalance.

Viney snorted and a smile finally returned to her lips. "Wow, you really are bad at this."

She gasped. "What? C'mon. I set you up with a date, didn't I?"

"Both of us, technically," Viney countered.

"Eh, Ed and I are fine," Leal brushed off. Her friend furrowed a confused brow. "That was more me making sure he wasn't third wheeled or something. 'Sides, it's a nice excuse to hang with Ed while you and Emira have fun."

Her friend flushed once again at the mention of Emira, but still held her confusion. "So it's not really a double date?"

"'Date' is just a label," Lealtad argued. "It's a date depending on the people involved. You and Emira see it as a date, so it's a date. Me and Ed? We're hanging out!"

Viney seemed like she had more to say, but held her tongue, turning back to her notes. Her mood was a bit better, but Leal decided not to push. Regardless of how Luz-like her movies and execution were, Lealtad honestly thought her plan was sound.

It made sense!

::::

Barcus and Jerbo were already seated at their table, by the time Lealtad got to the cafeteria. She caught Luz and friends on the other end of the hall, giving them a quick greeting before making her way over to the dual-track squad. Jerbo had his notes out beside his lunch while Leal sat next to Barcus, who was filling her in about how most of the Oracle Track students were obsessed with seeing if they got kissed tonight or anything else along those lines. That kind of talk made Leal shiver uncomfortably. Right, some saw nights like these as a way to get lucky… in ways worse than others.

Thankfully, she had a Bitter Biter Bread griffon egg sandwich to wash away the bitterness of those thoughts. And after two bites, Viney finally joined them, slamming her lunch tray beside Jerbo. The group jumped, looking toward the witch who wore an irritated expression.

Was she still upset?

"You two will not believe what Lealtad did," Viney gritted out, stabbing her mashed mincers.

Okay, she was.

"Lemme guess, nail an A on your guys' test?" Jerbo smugly teased, shooting her a finger gun.

"Actually, she did—we both did!" Viney happily addressed. Barcus and Jerbo offered a round of applause for the two. "But no," she hastily added, cutting their celebration short as her glare returned. "We were on our way to Healing (Again), talking about Grom, until we ran into the Blights!" She took an angry bite out of her mashed mincers, making Leal sigh.

"Basically, I invited the two on a double date with us," Lealtad flatly interjected.

The boys' brows raised.

"Oh, so you do like Edric!" the dog exclaimed with a smile. "I was wondering about that…"

Leal turned to Barcus with a shocked look. "What? No I don't!" She laughed, shaking her head. Where'd Barcus get that idea from? "I just did it 'cause I know Viney likes Emira, so I thought I'd do her a solid! A double date is less stressful, plus Ed and I can pull away whenever if the two want some alone time."

Jerbo and Barcus looked to Viney, who was blushing. "O-Okay, yes, I like Emira," she quietly admitted.

"Oh wow!" Jerbo grinned. "Then this is perfect!"

Barcus nodded. "Yeah, having more people around will also be more comfortable too!"

Viney sighed. "I guess, b-but, I dunno…" she muttered, looking down at her food.

Leal frowned, setting down her sandwich. "Hey, Vi, I am really sorry about the way I ambushed ya back there. I just, I really think you two might have a shot tonight!" She let out a sigh. "But if you want, I can find them and tell them we cancelled—that something came or whatever."

Viney lifted her head with a grateful smile, then shook it. "N-No. Honestly? I'm kinda grateful you did that. I don't think I would've ever asked Emira to Grom."

"So what's the problem?" Jerbo inquired, tilting his head.

The girl let out another sigh, shrugging. "I'm just… me. Grom… it's nearly everyone there out in the open an-and I'll be there with her—" she stopped herself and looked down at her food once again. "I-I don't know."

Leal furrowed a brow. She wasn't sure what exactly had Viney so nervous, but she did gather that it had something to do with the date being scary. It was obvious enough for Lealtad at least. Still, she wasn't sure what exactly she could do to help ease her friend. "H-Hey, I'll be there. And so will Ed! So, you're not totally by yourself," she awkwardly pointed out. Turning to Barcus, she pointed at the dog, "What about you ¿Perro Guía? You tagging along?"

He shook his head with a sad smile.

Leal's brows raised. "Bo-Man?"

"I've got an Abominations project I wanna work on," Jerbo admitted with a frown.

"And I'd rather do Oracle homework," Barcus supplied with a shrug. "Not much of a dancer anyways."

"Hmm, that's fair." Whelp, then she supposed it really was just up to her, huh? She turned to Viney with a smirk. "Looks like it'll just be us, eh Vi?" She winked. "I've got your back."

At that, Viney finally smiled. "Thanks Leal." She took a deep breath. "Really, I mean it. I-I don't I would have even thought about asking Emira out the way you did it."

She snorted. "Technically, it was Em and Ed," she corrected. "And don't sweat it! At the end of the day, it's a night meant to be about fun, so let's have it!"

"Do you wanna go looking for clothes after school?" Viney offered. A tint of red graced her cheeks as she added, "I wasn't planning on going but I'd rather check out some stores beforehand to get something nice to wear."

Leal blinked. "Oh wow, I guess I'll have to dig into my luggage for something nice too—or maybe Eda's got something." She shrugged. "But no, sorry, I was actually kinda planning on staying a bit after school today to work on my healing potion."

"Oh, yeah!" Viney recalled, "I saw you with your Potions notes today."

"Oh, so that's why you gathered so many different ingredients the other day in Potions 'Till You Die," Barcus concluded.

She excitedly nodded. "I think I'm close to making something that can be a real help!"

"If you can, that'll be worth a lot of extra credit and snails!" Jerbo commended. "Healing is quite a valuable business, but mixing it with Potions makes it more universal."

She winked. "That's the idea, 'Bo!" If she did pull this off, it'd be super helpful to all the shenanigans her sister gets wrapped up in. But also in other scenarios where King or Hooty roughhouse a little too much with whatever they find in the forest. Or… maybe even Eda's curse—

She shook her head.

It was just wishful thinking.

It was supposed to be a reset potion, just something to return the body to its original state.

The rest of lunch progressed smoothly toward studies and other events. Grudgby playoff season was apparently coming up after Grom and Jerbo warned her and Barcus about Boscha's Queen Fire Bee status. So Boscha could be even more annoying in class, that was great to hear. Leal also got some more advice about track mixing, as her friends with more experience on the matter knew where to work in terms of processes to lessen… incidents. When everyone was finished with their meals, the conversation had flowed back to Grom but more specifically previous years and events.

"Sometimes Gromposals are just pure insanity," Jerbo mused. "Like, one time a Beast Keeping student made a swarm of octobeetles spell out a full love letter to their crush!"

"Ay, guau," Leal laughed. "Jeez, and I thought Promposals were bad." She shook her head, chuckling. "I'm only in my third year back in the Human Realm, but I've seen some crazy shit. One time, this dude raided a classroom mid-presentation to ask a girl out with a huge amount of balloons. Idiot couldn't even get them through the door, they all popped, and it was like the second loudest thing I've ever heard. Startled the shit outta me."

The group laughed, while Barcus tilted his head. "What was the first?"

"Hearing a Slitherbeast roar point blank," she easily answered.

Another round of laughter, which made her smile.

"At the end of the day, I cannot get all those public gestures and stuff. I mean, I get that other people like them, but they're a bit… much for me," Lealtad admitted, waving her hand about.

Viney snorted. "That's amusing coming from the gal who asked out the Blight twins in the smoothest way I've seen."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, that was just a question. Everyone else did the rest of the work!" Sure, she posed the question, but everyone else filled in their answers and it fit together like a puzzle. Simple as that.

Barcus furrowed a brow at Leal. "Still, I'm surprised you don't actually like Edric."

"What? Of course I do?" Her friends all stared at her in shock. "What?"

"So you do wanna go out with him?" Viney gaped in shock.

Leal gasped. "Ay dios—no I don't!" She groaned. "You asked if I like him—I do!"

"Not like that," Jerbo said. "He meant, like-like him."

She grimaced. "What? No!"

"Well, the feeling isn't mutual," Viney mused.

She turned to her with a confused look. "Whattya mean?"

Viney blinked. "I mean, I know I was flustered and all, but he seemed really excited too!"

Leal scoffed, shaking her head. "That's how Ed is! Dude gets excited about food at carnival, of course he'd get excited 'cause he thought he convinced us to go to Grom." She shrugged. "It's not anything like that."

"Really? You don't see the way he looks at you?" Barcus asked, looking at her in surprise.

The genuineness of his tone threw her for a second. Where was this even coming from? "He's a dork, Barky," she simply said, "he has many looks."

Barcus smirked. "And you'd know, huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's not like that. Edric is a nice dude but he's also just excitable." She looked back to Viney. "You just confused his excitement is all."

Viney snorted, nodding slowly. "Oh yeah sure, I'm confused."

Leal bit back her remark as she glanced at the clock. Thank Titan, lunch was almost over. "Whatever, I need to go talk to my sister before class starts." She rose out of her seat and looked to Barcus. "Wait for me?"

He nodded—not wiping off his smug grin—as he began cleaning up his lunch too. While the rest of the squad did the same, Leal rushed over to the other end of the cafeteria, disposing of her garbage and making her way over to Luz's table. She looked like she was doing fine, like she was really happy with Willow and Gus. It was a good choice to leave her be then.

"Hey, Sunshine!" she shouted, waving as she approached.

Luz lifted her head up from her meal, turning to Leal. "Oh, what's up ¿hermana?"

Leal held back her frown. Lunch was almost over and she still wasn't done eating yet? She ignored the thought and smiled. "Just thought I'd let ya know I'm gonna be staying a bit late to work on my personal project, so you can head home without me," she quickly explained.

"Oh, okay." Luz tilted her head with a smile. "Sooo, have you heard about Grom?"

She blinked at her sister. "Kinda hard to miss it, hermana," she flatly said.

Her smile still remained.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going, don't worry," she waved off, turning away as she saw her sister's eyes widen with joy. Unable to help herself, Leal quickly added, "You should finish your lunch quick! Class is starting soon!" As she rushed to the cafeteria doors, Leal was surprised to see Viney still there with Barcus. "Aren't you heading to Beast Keeping?" she asked the girl.

Viney nodded. "I am, I just wanted to ask… is it okay if we at least meet up beforehand?" She rubbed her neck, smiling at her nervously. "I think I'd prefer it if I didn't show up to Grom by myself—I-I wouldn't want to run into her all alone."

She could understand that. Lealtad smiled at her friend, offering a nod. "Sure! We can meet at our usual sparring spot! It'll be a bit of a walk to school, so we should meet up early."

"Grom starts at seven, so we can meet at six thirty?" Viney suggested.

Leal clicked her teeth and shot a finger gun. "See ya then, Vi!" She turned and nodded at Barcus. "C'mon, B-Dog, let's get going!"

Barcus chuckled, shaking his head good naturedly at her teasing nickname. As they exited the cafeteria, Barcus looked at her with his usual inquisitive stare. At this point, she knew him well enough that he had something on his mind. She let out a sigh and fixed him with a look. "Alright, what is it now oh so Wise Teacher?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. I'm just surprised you're really excited about Grom."

She scoffed. "I'm not. It's just fun to hang out with friends."

"Ah, well I hope you have fun 'hanging out' with Edric all night," he teased.

Lealtad opened her mouth to rebuke her friend, but paused.

Well, if she was making sure Viney and Emira could actually be on a date, then she would have to pull Edric aside for a good portion of the evening. That meant being alone with him. At a dance. An event where everyone else made spectacles of asking people to, and where couples were foaming at the mouth to be at together. Her smile fell a bit.

There was no way this was a big deal…

Right?

::::

She had been here for nearly half an hour and barely made any progress. School was already finished and most of the students pulled out. Apparently, it wasn't at all like Prom where the kids would plan and organize most of the event. Bump was managing most of it along with some of the faculty, but she got permission from Miss Ayla to work in the Potions Room for an extra hour and half. And nearly a third of that time was wasted with her not furthering her progress on her project at all. It wasn't even because her trial and error wasn't going well. And it wasn't that she didn't know where to start.

It was because of Grom.

Did… Did she really just ask Edric Blight out… by accident? She shook her head, sighing deeply. She believed what she said to Viney earlier, that the labels only matter to those involved. If she didn't see it as a date, then it wasn't. But Edric on the other hand…

"Really? You don't see the way he looks at you?"

Yeah, she was definitely going to hit Barcus tomorrow.

"Why did he have to put that in my mind," Lealtad groaned, thumping her head against the table. Tonight was a whole different event for her now. She wasn't even looking forward to it that much to begin with, knowing Luz would drag her along, but then this double date sprung on a new fun twist. She just didn't think it'd be that big of a deal. But with her friends bringing it up she couldn't help but think about it.

After a minute of silence, she did something that probably worsened her predicament—that wasn't really a predicament! She pulled out her camera and flipped through her gallery. It wasn't long until she landed on that photo of Edric. The profile shot of him laughing.

Why did she take it?

Her ears flushed as she remembered her rambling after that. Holy shit, she said he looked photogenic! Leal's face began to heat up. Why did she say that! "¡Dios mío, soy jodidamente estúpido!" she hissed, bonking her head against the table. That was the cringiest thing she'd ever said! Who just says that to a person after taking their photo without consent? Leal dropped her camera on the table and slumped her face in her hands. "Oh holy Titan, please Sunshine, find a time travel glyph and erase my cringe," she whispered to herself.

She had his photo up next to her bed!

Lealtad couldn't handle this embarrassment. She pulled her face from her hands with a strained noise and moved to power off her camera—then stopped. She caught Edric's face once again, and stared. He just… he looked like he was really enjoying himself. Well, she knew he was enjoying himself the entire time but that moment…

"I just wanted to capture it," she softly said, shutting her camera off. She slung it around her neck and nodded confidently. That was it. Nothing else. She was a photographer. And while that wasn't how she'd usually go about doing that, capturing that photo was something worth doing. She knew that for certain. And there was nothing weird about that.

She slammed her forehead again.

"That sounds sooo stalkery," she muttered.

The door creaked open and Leal shot her head up. She was surprised to find Mister Rowan poking his head in, and judging by his reaction, so was he. "Oh, Miss Noceda? I thought I heard something." He tilted his head curiously at her. "What are you doing here after school?"

"Hi Mister Rowan," she shyly greeted. She straightened herself up and gestured to her cauldron and laid out ingredients. "I'm, um, working on a personal project."

He stepped in and crossed his arms, frowning at her work. "And working too much it seems." She furrowed a brow. "I'm all for diligent and hard work, but maintaining health is also crucial to the matter! You should know this, what with being one of my best students and all!"

She flushed a bit at his blatant complement. Was being just overly nice a Boiling Isles thing? "I-I wasn't gonna stay long," she weakly defended.

"Hmph, you've stayed long enough!" her Healing teacher objected. "You should take a break! Grom is tonight after all! You should enjoy yourself! Along with that fancy A you earned!" he tacked on, with a wink. He then stepped aside, pointing out the door, "Go on! I'll clean up your station!"

Leal blinked. "Oh um." She looked back at her work. Who was she kidding? She was getting nothing done. "Okay." She hastily gathered her ingredients back into her bag and scurried away from her desk. "Thank you, Mister Rowan."

"Don't sweat it, Miss Noceda! Just promise me you'll enjoy yourself tonight!"

She mustered a small smile. "I'll try."

Walking throughout the near empty halls of Hexside, seeing the Grom preparations go about, it wasn't helping sway her attention away from tonight's dilemma. Lealtad definitely regretted telling her sister to go on ahead, because walking home alone was also not great for her thoughts. She usually would find something to take a photo of, but bringing up her camera reminded her of Edric. Photogenic was such a stupid thing to say. But she just… said it.

Leal frowned at the thought as she walked on. Why was that the case all of a sudden? Their group had hung out a couple more times since then, with a few more sparring practices in between but nothing else came up like that. She had and Edric got along well, yet it felt no different than the way she did with Barcus, Viney, Jerbo, or Emira! They were all friends! She gripped at her bat as she dropped it to her side, letting it sway next to her. But they weren't all the same, of course.

And despite their relationship, Edric and Emira were also not the same person.

She understood it well, the kind of differences the two had.

While Emira wasn't someone she had spent a lot of one-on-one with, Leal had come to learn the witch was very nurturing (despite the library past incident). She was a very self-assured and confident person. While she and her brother had similar levels of antics and humour, Leal had come to learn Edric was easily the funnier one. And he had a very earnest side. He may come off as the more dim-witted of the pair, but Leal found him to be charming and sincere. She was aware of his insecurities of course—something she had promised to keep to herself—and knew deep down, he was an incredibly caring witch.

Leal could see what made Viney fall for Emira. But Ed? He had many positive traits. Lealtad just wasn't sure if she would go out with him.

"He's just a big goofball," she said with a laugh. How could she not like that about him? But… did that mean she liked him? Her ears flushed at the thought as she gripped harder on her bat, resting it back on her shoulder. She'd never really considered asking anyone out before. She had technically gone out with boys before, though she wasn't even sure if they counted.

Lealtad just didn't get relationships. Evan Walters took her out on two dates, but at the time she just thought they were hanging out. Johnathan Campbell said they were "boyfriend and girlfriend" after he confessed, but they hadn't even gone out on one date yet. Quentin Brown and her only lasted three days.

But… what about Edric?

What did he think of her?

"Really? You don't see the way he looks at you?"

Leal groaned, throwing her head back. How was she supposed to know! She powered up her camera and immediately went straight to his photo, attempting to frown at it. But she couldn't find it in herself. His smile, his scrunched up cheeks, and the way his face just… elated so easily. "Is this how he looks at me?" she muttered. She scoffed, shaking her head as she looked back up.

"Hi Leal!" came Hooty's voice. He had been waving his body at her for what she assumed was quite some time as she came into view of the Owl House. She smiled at the sight as she approached home.

Maybe she should ask for Luz's advice?

Luz was wise beyond her years at times. She wasn't sure if Eda would be good to go to. Or maybe, she was just too embarrassed to go to Eda. Leal felt her neck prickle at the thought. She was positive the witch wouldn't tease her about it—not extensively—but she felt too nervous to bring it up regardless. Would Eda be even comfortable with such a topic? She seemed a bit uncomfortable with intimacy at times, or rather physical intimacy.

"You're back late, hoot, hoot!"

She nodded. "Yeah, was trying to work on something, but I'm too bothered at the moment." She tilted her head. "Where's everyone else?"

"Oh, well, Eda and King are in her room getting ready, and Luz just got back! I think she went to look for them!" Hooty happily reported.

Leal furrowed her brows. Getting ready for what? And Luz? "Wait, Sunshine just got back?" she clarified.

Hooty nodded. "She said something about checking out Grom," he explained.

Leal raised a brow. She must've stayed a bit too then. Maybe even checked out the gym? She chuckled as she opened the door. Of course she would be too eager to wait to see everything. "Well, thanks for update, casa del búho," she smiled, digging into her bag. She pulled out a jar of dead octobeetles and placed it on the ground, giggling at the way Hooty's eyes lit up. "I don't think I need these for my project so, have it buddy!" she sidestepped out of the way as he dove the far, twisting it open with his beak.

"Ohh, thank you Leal!" he sing-songingly shouted.

She just winked and turned inside. She made her way to her and Luz's room first, putting away all her stuff—minus her camera of course—before making her way to Eda's room. She did everything she could to avoid looking at her recently put up photo of a certain Blight next to her bedroll. Though her mind couldn't help but sway back to that photo. Edric was a nice person. And… Hooty did say Queerness was a more accepted thing here.

But…

Would Edric be okay with going out with someone who was ace?

She sheepishly rubbed her hands together as she progressed toward the room echoing with laughter throughout the house. Great, now she wasn't even sure if he would like her! How did her mind spiral like this? She just hoped Luz would help her think this through before this evening. As she stepped into Eda's room, she shouted, "Howdy Owl fam!"

And she was immediately greeted with an angry and defensive looking Luz sitting on Eda's nest, an Eda dressed in some tacky brown suit, and King wearing a green apron tending to Eda's outfit at her mirror.

Typical Owl House.

"Uhhh, what's happening?"

"Oh, well, I am chaperoning tonight, King is MCing with Gus, and Luz thinks she can take on Grom!" Eda quickly recapped, smirking as she leaned up against her vanity table.

Lealtad furrowed a confused brow. "Oookay, that somehow explains and doesn't explain things," she dryly remarked as she stepped aside and leaned up against the wall near the doors.

Eda shrugged while her sister pouted. "I just said that I wish I could take Amity's place!"

"Wait, why?"

Luz sighed. "She seemed kinda… stressed about Grom Queen. We were with her when it got announced," she explained, "and I also talked to her a bit after school when I went to check out the gym." Her pout deepened, which made Leal smile a bit. Her sister was such a caring and empathetic person sometimes. "I told her to tell Bump that she doesn't want to do it, and she went off to try, but that was the last I saw of her."

Leal nodded thoughtfully. "Well, her siblings seem to think she can do it," she pointed out. "Vi and I talked to them earlier." Her ears flushed as her mind wandered to what happened a bit after that talking point. She straightened up and shrugged, trying to ignore the thought. "And, uh, yeah. I-I just think she needs a confidence boost from them is all."

Her sister hummed, as though she were considering her point, but Leal averted her gaze and caught Eda's inquisitive look. Titan, was this woman just always attentive or what! Leal just drew her eyes back to Luz. "Yeah, but, if she doesn't want to do it, isn't it fair if it's someone who does?" her sister asked.

Lealtad pursed her lips and nodded once again. "Yeah, you're right hermana."

"That's what I'm saying!" Luz happily grinned, pointing to Leal vindictively.

Eda sighed, shaking her head. "Grometheus is an entire step above your usual hi-jinx, Luz," she flatly said, "Frankly, you'd be putting yourself out in waaay deeper waters.

Though Leal rolled her eyes at the witch's wording, she didn't entirely disagree. From what she heard from Viney, having a shape-shifting literal fear monster wasn't something even Lealtad was ready for. While Leal had faith in her sister, Luz was just not ready for something that intense. Leal couldn't even imagine what would happen with type of chaos that would ensue with her sister in the pit.

"But it's not!" her sister argued. She spun back to Leal. "Leal, tell Eda she's wrong!"

She sheepishly winced at the sudden attention. "Luz… she might be onto something." Her sister's eyes widened with shock. Shit. "I-I mean, I don't agree with how she said it," she hurriedly amended, "but Grom is a whole 'nother level of monster than something like the Slitherbeast. I mean, it can turn into your fears!"

Luz frowned, crossing her arms at her. "Fears can be overcome, dear sister!" she shot back.

Leal frowned back, blinking at her. "Sunshine, be honest, can you really handle seeing a human soul trapped in a cat's body?"

Her sister shuddered, nearly paling at the thought.

Lealtad gestured at her. "See what I mean?" Eda and King looked at her confusedly, but Leal shook her head. "Long story," she brushed off. Honestly, she wasn't even sure why Luz had nightmares about them as a kid, but she did and Leal often had to console her that they weren't real. She looked back to Luz with a gentle expression. "Point is, we still don't know much about the demons and monsters of the Isles. And there's only so much Eda and I can do to protect you." Her sister's face reddened as she scowled and Leal bit her lip, realizing her blunder. "No, wait, I mean—"

"Well, I don't need either of your protection!" Luz declared, raising her head high and proud as she rose up from Eda's nest. "I've learned new spells and new techniques. I can handle myself!" she said with a slight waver in her voice.

Leal let out a small sigh. Dammit, she already got to her sister. "Sunshine, I didn't mean it that way."

Luz clicked her teeth. "It doesn't matter!" she replied as she turned away, making her way to the exit. "I am very capable!"

"There's a horrifying spider in your hair," Eda amusedly stated, making Leal tilt her head in confusion.

"Nope. I'm not as fragile as you think, Eda," her sister said as she neared the door, "And I can't be so easily fooled either." With that, she made her leave, slamming the door behind her.

Leal was ready to go after her but froze the second she saw that Eda wasn't messing with her. A chirper spider was crawling around the back of Luz's head. Leal's hand froze as her jaw dropped. "L-Luz," she strained out.

"Nooope!" her sister cheekily shouted from the halls.

Lealtad sighed, pulling her hand back as she shuddered. Her sister could handle a chirper spider—they were harmless unless provoked after all. She closed her eyes and gave herself a moment to relax. She was grateful that so far none of her potions required spider ingredients. Seeing it chirp was just… unsettling.

"Uh, maybe you were too hard on her," King regrettably said. He looked to Eda. "She's saved you from multiple monsters, remember?"

"Hey, I am well aware of how much of a badass mi hermana is," Leal defended, crossing her arms. "I just think sometimes it's worth not getting involved with life threatening peril."

"Yeah, and facing Grom means facing your worst fear, King," Eda added as she turned toward her mirror, glaring at herself. "And I don't think Luz knows what that means yet." As she looked herself in the mirror, Leal stared at the witch in fascination. When it came down to it, Eda's experience was well beyond her and Luz's collective years.

"Do you think I could pull off red eyeshadow?"

Okay, maybe not experienced in everything…

"Girl, you can pull off anything!" King replied. "Up top!" he shouted, raising his small paw. They exchanged a high five and he pointed proudly to the ceiling. "We're style geniuses!"

Leal rolled her eyes. "I'd say the suit does not do you or your hair any favours, but you make it work enough," Leal noted with an amused tone. King sulked a bit and Leal smiled apologetically. "Don't worry, you did your best, Scruffy. I'm sure you're the certain King of Fashion."

At that, the demon pumped his fists and cheered, "Heck yeah!" He hopped down and rushed toward the doors. "I'm gonna style up Francois before I finish prepping my cue cards!" he announced as he exited the room.

After the door shut behind him, Eda frowned at Leal. "Is it really not that good?" she asked, looking down at her attire.

She shrugged. "I mean, it's kinda tacky. And it's not really fitting your form very well," she commented. The witch hummed thoughtfully as she turned back to the mirror, observing her outfit once more. "Also, why're we just now hearing about Grom? How come you didn't tell us it was today? Or that you're chaperoning and King's MC'ing for it?"

She turned back with a smirk. "Eh, figured you already knew about it! Being Hexside students and all." She leaned against the vanity once again, crossing her arms as well. "What about you? How come you ain't chasing after your sister?"

"Ah, well, the chirper spider in her hair is as good a ward charm as any when it comes to me," Leal mused. Eda didn't seem convinced, so Leal sighed. "She needs space. And well, I've learned to not push so quickly. We can talk later."

"Still, I thought you'd offer to fight on her behalf when she brought it up," the witch pointed out.

Leal snorted. "Noo way. Worse case scenario for me is that fear monster turning into Other Mother," she said with a shiver.

"'Other Mother'?" Eda echoed.

"From this movie I watched as a kid," she explained, "The main bad guy was this scary Bedlam creature that takes the form of kids' mothers to lure them into her dimension so she can feast on their souls."

"Wow, that's sooo 18th century," the witch dryly replied.

Lealtad smirked. "So what, Demons and Witches graduated from eating babies to eating kids in what, the span of a decade?"

Eda winked as she clicked her teeth. "Tastes change, Bean Head."

"In any case," Leal continued, "If it really came down to it… yeah I'd step in for her. But, from how things sound it'll also have to be consented. If Luz wouldn't want me to then I can't." She shrugged. "Simple as that."

"Wow, that's a mature take, Bean Head."

"Well, I try," she quipped, winking. It was a moot point anyways at the end of the day. "Regardless, we should just be thankful Luz isn't Grom Queen," she pointed out. Eda nodded her agreement. "I've already got enough on my mind as is," she muttered under her breath. But then the feeling of scrutinization flowed against her and she realized Eda was raising her brows at her.

She really needed to watch her mouth.

To her surprise, the witch shot a gentle smile. "You, uh, wanna talk?" Eda offered as she pulled her chair next to her vanity and gestured toward it. For herself, Eda moved over to her treasure chest and sat on it.

Leal stared as the offer fell toward her. Well, she supposed that answered whether or not she should go to Eda for advice. Releasing a sigh, she decided it was worth a shot and took a seat in the chair in front of the mirror. She turned herself to face Eda but kept her head down, bringing her hanging camera into her view. "So… I'm… going on a double date."

"Oh. Wow!" Eda exclaimed. Leal glanced up and caught the woman's surprise. "Didn't think you'd be for that kinda thing."

She chuckled. "I'm not. Or…" she stopped herself. She needed to get her thoughts out properly first. "It was kind of an 'in the moment' thing."

"And I'm assuming this 'moment' wasn't by any means romantic?" Eda guessed.

Hearing her just blatantly say it like that made Leal's ears flush a bit. Maybe talking to her was a bad idea. "Um… sorta?" The witch's brows rose and she immediately backtracked. "N-No! I mean, you're right!"

"Alright, alright, let's take a breath, Leal," Eda advised. Together the two took one big breath and released. "Now think 'bout what ya wanna say."

Lealtad chuckled. "I don't even know what I wanna say." Though she supposed the beginning was the best place to start. "Viney and I ran into the Blight twins when we were talking about whether or not we'd go to Grom and then they started to hype it up and stuff. I wasn't all too convinced, but I figured I was gonna get dragged along with Luz anyways so I didn't really care. At least until I kinda picked up on Viney having a crush on Emira, then I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and invite the two along a double date!"

"And to clarify, this Viney girl is paired with Emira?"

"Yes." She paused, furrowing a brow as she recalled their conversation. It definitely seemed clear that Viney wanted to go with Emira. Hopefully. "I mean… at least her and Em are," she amended, frowning. She could sense Eda's confusion and sighed. "But… that's not the issue though."

"It's you going on this date with the Blight brother," Eda guessed.

"His name is Edric," Leal asserted.

The witch raised her hands in innocence as she laughed. "Alright, read ya loud and clear, Bean Head."

She felt her face heat a bit because of her sudden defensiveness. "But yeah, you're not wrong," Leal reluctantly said. "I didn't think much of it at first, I mean, I just figured a double date would be a cool excuse to have people to hang with since I knew Sunshine would drag me along. But then, when I was with my friends at lunch, Barcus kinda… implied that I had feelings for Edric." She let her words hang for a second, gauging Eda's reaction.

The witch stared, still confused. "So… do you?"

Lealtad groaned, throwing her head back. "I don't know! I-I like him! I think he's cool! But… not the way he's thinking."

"Who? Barcus? Or Edric?"

She opened her mouth but paused. "I… both?"

"Both?" Eda echoed confusedly.

Leal groaned again, clenching her teeth and her hands. "Okay so, Barcus thinks Edric likes me. And well, I think he's crazy. But… I… thought on it a bit…"

"And you're kinda seeing he has a point?"

"Maybe he has a point that Edric might like me," Leal stressed.

"Throwing a lotta trust on those probabilities, kiddo."

She sighed, slumping her shoulders. "Well I don't fucking know," she grumbled as she dropped her hands in her lap. "I-I've never been in this kinda situation before! I barely even wanted to go to Grom and now I'm worried I might hurt Ed's feelings or…" she stopped herself, frowning deeply. She looked up at Eda hesitantly. "Or he might not be comfortable being with me."

Eda's brows furrowed as she pursed her lips. "What? Why wouldn't he like you?" The sincerity in her tone was honestly sweet, but Leal could hardly care about that. "Wait, is this 'bout you being ace?"

Leal lifted her head shyly. "Yeah?"

"I thought you were all 'Out and Proud' 'bout that?" the woman remarked.

"I am," she defended. "But this is different. I've… I don't know if Ed would be comfortable being with me."

"And… is that something you want?"

Leal looked at the woman bewilderedly. "For him to be comfortable? Uhh, yeah?"

"No, for him to be with you?" Eda asked.

Leal scrunched her face as she felt her ears flush. This conversation was getting way too embarrassing. She shied away from Eda's inquisitive look for a few seconds before returning to her gaze. Actually, the witch was genuinely being curious right now. And if anything, really patient. Lealtad needed to swallow her pride and just… talk. If Eda was willing, then she needed to be up front too. "I-I don't know," she admitted.

That alone felt like a huge weight lifted.

Eda stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh. She place her hands on her knees and smiled at Leal. "Lealtad, if you're doing this for that Viney girl and her little crush, that's fine. It's sweet even, to help a friend like that," she commended, tilting her head. Her face shifted into a serious look. "But if you actually have some interest or curiosity in that Blight boy that's beyond some semblance of friendship: you should give it a chance."

The severity of her tone made Leal straighten up a bit. The look in Eda's eyes, the way she spoke—this was advice coming from somewhere. Leal felt all the pressure and understood that these were words to heed from the older woman. She nodded slowly. "I-I get it. I do," she replied. "But… this isn't as simple as just… giving it a shot. I… I don't know what to expect o-or what I'd be comfortable with," she softly said as she clasped her hands together. Her thumbs twiddled around each other as she continued, "I… I've never been in this position before." Her eyes raised to Eda as she said, "I'm kinda… scared."

The woman smiled at her and suddenly all of Leal's worries lessened, if only by a bit. There was such reassurance by her face and warm smile. Eda scooted closer to the edge of her chest, lessening the gap between the two as she placed one of her hands on Leal's. Lealtad smiled at her, unapologetically displaying her gratitude. There was so much behind the way this woman looked at her. She couldn't even process the emotions or words of how to describe it. But Leal knew, right now, she was telling her it was okay. What she was feeling was okay.

And honestly?

Leal felt okay.

Even by just a little bit, her nerves began to settle.

"I've never really dated anyone who was ace, but I've had some friends who were," Eda said, looking away as though she were recollecting. "Some have it different, I know. One of them was actually aroace, but another still didn't like the dating scene even though they didn't consider themselves aromantic. It's a pretty wide spectrum, eh?" She looked at her, raising a brow. Leal chuckled, nodding slightly. "So… where do you fall there?"

She blinked. "Uh, come again?"

Eda laughed, shaking her head as she pulled her hand back. Resting her chin on the back of her hand, she waggled her brows. "Have you ever… dated anyone?"

Lealtad sighed, throwing her head back. "I dunno."

"You don't know?"

She met the woman's gaze with an irritable frown. "I mean, dating is such a weird concept!" she shouted. "Does it count as dating if you've gone on two dates? Does it count if someone says you're now boyfriend and girlfriend but you've never actually gone out on a date together? Does it count when you only 'go out' for three days?"

Eda furrowed a brow at her, clearly confused.

"S-Sorry," she said with a wince. "I didn't mean to shout."

"Relax, it's fine," the witch waved off. "But, uh, I assume that means you haven't had the best experience in the dating department?"

She snorted. "I have no idea," she hollowly answered. She rolled her tongue around in her cheek for a couple seconds, thinking on her high school experience so far. "I've… 'dated' boys before," she concluded. "But… they hardly ever lasted more than a week," she added. At Eda's raised brows, Leal sighed. "This one boy and I 'went out' for about a week, but really the two dates were just us hanging out."

"Or you mean you thought it was just hanging out?" Eda clarified.

Lealtad moaned through her teeth, closing her eyes shut in frustration. "Okay, how was I supposed to know!" she said exhaustively.

"Kid, it's okay," Eda chuckled. "I'm just tryin' to get at what you're thinking." She held her palm out to her. "Go on: tell me 'bout these boys."

She had never even told her sister or her mom about them.

But for some reason, Leal felt okay telling Eda.

"So, Evan Walters was this guy on the boy's softball team at my school. This was in our first year of high school," she explained, "He was a benchwarmer, so he wanted practice to really show himself for the games. Our school's softball team is well known… but more so for the girl's. The boy's league was kinda shit," she admitted with a small chuckle. "Anyways, I was already batting in my first year and he heard what I could do because we had some classes together. So, he asked for some pointers and I practiced with him after school once. Then we went to the batting cages together the day after."

"And then you started dating?"

Leal's ears heated. "Well… he pulled me aside after class the day after our batting cage session and asked if we could go out. He said 'Since we've been on two dates already' and I didn't know what to do." She shrugged with a pout. "I said yes, because… well, I honestly don't know why. I figured that was just something I should do." She closed her eyes and shook her head, the thoughts of the ending of that week hitting her. "When Friday came, he had an Away game and wanted good luck before he left. So he asked for a kiss."

Eda's brows raised. "Hang on, and you've been only 'dating' for a couple days?" she asked with finger quotes.

The incredulousness in her voice told Leal all she needed to know about how unconventional it was. "Y-Yeah," she sheepishly admitted. "And well, I-I did train with him a bit. And, I'm kind of a sucker for an underdog story. So, I kissed him." Eda's brows raised further, which made Leal flush once more. "O-On the cheek," she tacked on.

"Aaaaaand?"

Leal shivered. "It felt weird. I've only ever had mi mamá o papá do that to me. Or, sometimes Luz. The only times I've ever kissed something was when Luz wanted me to kiss her stuffed toys!" She scoffed, dropping her elbows onto her lap and letting her cheeks land on her fists. "It felt weird. I-I felt so… uncomfortable with my face afterward."

Eda stared at her with a small smile. "You broke up with him later that day."

She sighed, nodding. "He got to play at least. But man did I feel like a real cabrón for taking him off his high," she said in a low tone. She bounced her leg as she dropped her hands back to her lap, intertwining her fingers together. "Then there was Johnathan Campbell," she said with a sigh.

Eda chuckled. "Uh oh, this one doesn't sound so good," she mused.

"Well, it's weird, for certain. It was way later in the year, but um, he was my lab partner for my chemistry classes. We had fun—I helped him, he helped me—and honestly, we studied here and there and that kinda saved my ass. But when the school year was wrapping up, he confessed that he had this huge crush on me." Leal frowned a bit as she brought her hand to her neck, rubbing it as the memory of that day seeped in. "I-I was real surprised. 'Cause, I hadn't noticed anything over the semester. But, I thought, he was a nice dude and I-I felt bad saying no. I mean, Walters was different but I kinda just said yes on instinct with this one.

"He was like, over the moon happy after that. But, I also think he didn't know what to do after that? He kinda just kept texting me but never really said much after that. I-I kinda shrugged it off and thought he'd let me know what happens next. But then a few days later he introduced me to his friend group after school and said we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I was surprised!" She looked at Eda and found sympathy in the woman's bewilderment. "I just, straight up said that we haven't gone on a date yet." Eda's face cringed and Leal bit her lip, nodding. "I know, I know… he… avoided me after that."

And honestly, she didn't blame him: she would avoid herself too.

"Yeaah, okay, that's not dating," Eda interjected, shaking her head.

That was surprising. Her eyes widened as she looked at the woman. "It's not?" Leal raised a brow.

"Well, did ya like him?" she asked, tilting her head at her.

"W-Well, yeah—"

"Leal, I mean did you like-like him," she corrected.

Lealtad frowned. "No?" Hearing it out loud felt more right to say, and so she said it again more assuredly, "No. Not like that."

"Then there ya go!" the witch clapped. "Hardly seems fair when this Campy boy barely put in any work after asking ya out," she said with an amused smile. "The embarrassment sucks, sure, but that's more on him for not communicating sooner." Her smile shifted into a gentler one. "That's not your fault Leal."

She swallowed hard as she clenched her hands.

Titan, why did she feel like crying?

"You know that, right?" Eda asked in a soft pitch.

She quietly nodded.

Okay, this was not where she thought this conversation was gonna go.

Saving face, Leal swallowed and cleared her throat. "A-Anyways," she continued, "Quentin Brown was this dude I hardly knew—he was only in my gym class."

"This is the three day one?" Eda guessed.

"Yup," she nodded. "I just knew he was a popular kid in my grade. I-I was in tenth at this point, but it was still early in the school year. I know everyone else thought he was cool, I just thought he was alright. But he, uh, often kept talking up how cool I was and stuff in class. I just thought he was a weird kiss up or something." She shrugged, clenching her hands together. "But… one day after class finished he waited 'till everyone was gone and told me he really liked me. And… kissed me."

"Whoa, whoa, how?"

Leal blushed brightly. "D-Does it matter?" Did she really need to share this? It was mortifying enough to think about.

Eda's eyes were serious. "It does."

"I… he just leaned forward," she blinked rapidly as she looked away from Eda's observant gaze. "A-After he said that he liked me. He… did it. On my lips," she muttered. "I-It was just a peck."

"But he just did it?" The witch scoffed. "That's it? No asking, no lead up, no permission he just… does it?"

Leal slightly nodded, biting her lip. There was disgust in the woman's voice. And… it was weird hearing such a feeling come from someone else. That it wasn't just her that felt this way. That day was so strange in and of itself, and felt weird, but she always thought that was her problem. But Eda? She honestly looked enraged. Lealtad summoned her strength and lifted her head. "Th-That was it though. He just did that and… said we should go out. I'd never been kissed before so I just… said yeah." She grimaced as she looked down at her hands. "Looking back, I think it was more so 'cause I was so confused from the kiss I didn't know what to say."

"But then you broke up with him three days later," Eda recalled.

"Yuuup." Lealtad looked up and smiled. "He was honestly my start, what really hammered the final nail in my deck of cards," she joked, winking. Eda rolled her eyes but still laughed at her pun. "I kinda started thinking about asexuality after that. Well, searching it up and stuff. But with Brown, on the third day he came up to me with an idea for a date but I told him I didn't like him like that. I sat on that kiss for three days—"

"And realized it was complete shit?" Eda wagered, smirking.

Leal laughed and nodded. "Yes, but also that I didn't like kissing." She clicked her tongue and thought on her next choice of words. "I like affection. I mean, I'm pretty up in mi hermana's space sometimes. But kissing?" She shuddered at the thought. "It's just… weird. It's not like with mi mamá. She doesn't do it often with me 'cause she knows how I feel 'bout it—well after I came out to her—but… I know it's different. The same way I know Luz kissing my cheek or forehead is different too. The idea of literally anyone else putting their lips on me is just… ugh. I dunno." She shook her head, cringing.

"What about doing it yourself?" Eda offered.

Leal scrunched up her face. She couldn't really place the right word there, but "meh" was as close as she could muster. But even that didn't feel right. Doing that to someone just felt… strange. "I think Walters was the first and last time I'd ever consider it," she flatly said. She shrugged. "Aside from that, pretending to kiss Sunshine's stuffed toys isn't exactly a big deal."

Eda just laughed, nodding her head. "Fair enough. To each their own, of course," she casually replied. She straightened up as she folded her right leg over her left, smirking. "So, what is the extent of your affection then?"

Leal raised a brow, surprised by the question. "Um, I mean, hugs are nice. And… hand holding… well, th-that's different," she sheepishly said. Though she could sense Eda's prompting and sighed. "It's like… something else from hugs. When I hold hands with people—who aren't family—it feels almost… voyeuristic." The witch's eyes widened at that. "N-Not in that way, but I mean… like, exposed, taboo. I… I didn't like the way any of those boys I dated held my hand. There's just… a lot that comes with holding hands so I-I try not to do it if I can. A wrist or arm I'll grab but when it gets down to the palm—"

"I hear ya," Eda nodded. "But hugs?"

Leal snorted, smiling. "What better way to express anything? Love, gratitude, appreciation, safety—it's a hug. Does all that and more, and fills a presence with yourself," she happily listed.

For some reason, Eda stared at her with a sentimental smile, one that looked like she was moved. She just chuckled and nodded her head.

Leal wasn't sure why, but she felt happy that Eda just… accepted and understood her. Okay, well, she could understand it, but the significance was something else. It just… meant a lot knowing Eda just got her. "Thanks for listening to me," she suddenly said.

Eda snorted. "With our chats, it's always a pleasure, Bean Head."

She took a breath and looked toward the mirror. Seeing her face, Leal just felt like the nerves still linger. But even still, talking about all this made her feel a bit better. Hearing someone else's take on her previous experiences, knowing the validation was vindicated felt… nice. She turned back to Eda and gestured at her. "Sooo… you want my help styling you up?" King did his best, but honestly Leal felt like this look was not doing the witch any favours.

Eda rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, alright, show me your youthful ways," she conceded, standing up. "But don't think we're done talking 'bout you and that Blight of yours," she tacked on.

Leal flushed at the possessiveness of Eda's implication as she stood up. "Fine. But as long as you help me find some spare clothes for tonight too," she addressed. "I've got a dress shirt I packed but that's 'bout it." Eda furrowed a brow at her. "Hey, ya never know when ya need formal wear!"

"Ah yes, I'm sure the beanie would pair lovely with it."

"Beanies pair well with lots of things, Clawthorne."

The next hour was summed up with lots of wardrobe digging. Leal agreed with King in that Eda could pull off red eyeshadow, but also decided that the overuse of brown could be reworked. She got the witch to ditch the brown jacket, exposing her long sleeved red dress shirt underneath. The slacks were traded for a pair with a similar colour, though instead it was actually properly hemmed and fit Eda's legs more rather than the baggy loose pair from before. Eda fought desperately for her yellow bow tie, but Leal kept telling it would just clash with the rest of the outfit. She successfully managed to get her to change it to a brown bow tie, thus completing her whole look.

It was honestly kind of fun picking and choosing with the witch, as Leal couldn't even recall a time she ever stood around and looked at outfits. Eda certainly had a wide variety of clothes from ranging to things that made sense but also were just completely random (she assumed it was a fault of her Human hoarding over the years). In their process, Leal did manage to find some spare clothes from Eda that were too small for the witch. Eventually, she managed to pick out some eggplant slacks and a matching vest. She received a bunch of ties and a pair of black boots and Leal made off with the assortment, deciding to piece together her outfit on her own.

"I think you'll pull off purple real well, Bean Head!" the witch had told her before Leal left. The last she saw of the woman, she was busy being mesmerized by her reflection.

Leal took the compliment in stride and carried that confidence to her room. Even if her mind wasn't resolved yet, she felt better enough to talk with her sister about what happened earlier.

But when she entered her and Luz's room, she found a scatter of Hooty's feathers all over the floor and some outfits lying around. Most notably: no Luz. The only evidence her sister was here was the otter costume laid on the floor. Leal smiled at the sight as relief flooded in her—at least her sister was feeling better as well. She followed her little sister's example and spent the next thirty minutes or so prepping her outfit, trying it on and taking it off, all while keeping her back to the corner of the room. Eyes away from that photo. Though it was unsettling knowing it was still there. Leal just focused on the present: get ready for Grom.

She had her clothes prepped and folded on top of her luggage, with her boots off to the side. "Alright, guess it's 'bout time I get Luz." She was missing for quite some time. Or at least, wasn't in their room for quite some time. She was a bit worried Luz was actively trying to avoid her, though Leal couldn't blame her either. Her sister had a right to want space. Lealtad's gaze flew over to the photos next to her bedroll, unable to help herself as she looked at the few she had of Luz.

After everything they've been through these past few weeks, Lealtad knew for certain her sister was very capable. She hoped Luz knew that she knew that. Grom was just… something they didn't need to concern themselves about. Sure, part of Leal was worried about Amity but in the end she had faith in the witch. Sometimes it was just nice to pull away from the big spotlight and just watch. Lealtad laughed at the thought as she neared the photo wall, hovering her hand next to the one of Luz's eating competition. "Though you wouldn't be my sister if you didn't want to jump in and try, huh?" she quietly mused.

"Nooooooooooooooo!"

Leal jumped. That was Luz. And she was still moaning for a very long period of time. She hurriedly exited the room and out the halls, just in time to see Eda making her way down the stairs. And for some reason, still wearing the yellow bow tie. She furrowed a brow at the witch as she chased after her. As they descended into the living room, she asked, "Why're you still wearing it?"

"Ugh, I just wanted to try it again!" Eda whined. She placed her hand on the door and turned back to Leal, catching her disapproval. She scoffed as she whipped the door open. "I get it. Ditch the yellow." The two stepped out and gasped as they were greeted with a gigantic Eda. "Is that supposed to be me?"

Leal blinked bewilderedly at the witch. "As opposed to who else? Your sister?" she remarked.

The witch rolled her eyes and looked up at herself. The giant Eda looked down at her and smirked. "Dang, I look good." Eda chuckled.

Leal glanced down from the giant and to her feet, finding her sister in a baby chair and a bib? Next to her was also a cat with a human head, begging for help. Before she could open her mouth to ask what was going on, she realized the other presence nearby… or rather presences. Her eyes widened as the three Blights standing beside Eda turned toward them. So these were illusions, Leal concluded, courtesy of Amity's siblings.

Seeing Edric's excited face was putting way too much context into Leal's mind right now. There was no way this was like Willow… she was just making herself see connections. Her eyes shifted away from the boy and toward his sister, who had a smile of her own. Still, the two smiled and waved at her. "Hey Leal!" they greeted together.

"Oh, hey." Leal awkwardly waved back. "Um, what're you guys doing here?" she stiffly asked. Did that sound rude?

"Helping our sister train Luz," Edric answered.

"What? What for—"

"Wait a sec." Eda glared at Luz. "You're training to be Grom Queen!" she accused.

Leal blinked. "What?"

"So what if I am?" her sister shot back as she flailed, falling over in her chair.

"¿Qué?" Leal exclaimed, her eyes widening.

The illusions all disappeared at once, leaving a slumped over Luz on the ground. Eda had made her way over and stood before the girl, looking down at her.

"You think training will help against Grom? Luz, you always go overboard and Leal and I end up bailing you out." Eda crossed her arms with a frown. "Now, what's the fun in watching a kid get eaten by a monster if it's my kid?"

Leal stepped forward, gladly putting herself ahead of the Blights as she focused on Luz. "Exactly. Maybe, just this once? You back out before your foot gets out any further, Sunshine," she gently pleaded.

Her sister scowled as she sat up on her bump, looking at Eda. "You wouldn't be like this if it was Leal who was training against Grom!" she accused.

Lealtad raised her brows at the remark. Where was that coming from?

"I would!" Eda argued. "'Cept Leal knows not to put herself too far out there 'cause she knows her limits. But even if she did I'd still tell her no as well! Seeing any of my kids in a fight again Grom ain't somethin' I wanna see!"

Leal proudly smiled at Eda's reply. It was nice knowing the woman not only had faith in her as well, but also held true to her stance regardless of who was pitted in this scenario. She simply wished Luz would just understand what they meant. Though seeing Luz's pout, Leal gathered that wasn't the case and decided to chime in once again. "Plus, I wouldn't even want to do it!" She let out a sigh and looked at her sister pleadingly. "Luz, everything you've been through has either been a result of your hi-jinx or someone else's—this is different. You don't have to do this!"

Luz's brows narrowed as she shook her head. "But I do! If Amity doesn't want to and nobody else will ride to the occasion then I will!" she declared, rising to her feet with her hand high. And it was times like this Leal was conflicted with annoyance and pride, with how her sister could be stubbornly brave and passionate. Luz looked to Eda. "You may think there's nothing fun about this, but maybe you'll have fun watching me defeat Grom! Hyah!" she shouted as she karate chopped a cat with a human head, causing it to poof.

Leal glanced at Eda, who turned to share a worried look with her.

Amity approached Luz with slightly red cheeks as she placed her hand on her shoulder. "Luz, I don't think you're ready but we're literally out of time," the witch happily declared.

"I'll take it!" her sister proudly announced as she placed her hands on her hips. She smirked at her older sister and Eda. "Excuse me as I have a Grom to get ready for!" she said as she walked away. Bidding one last wave to Amity, Luz marched into the Owl House tall and proud.

Leal let out a groan and turned to Amity, who had her twins next to her now. Her gaze glanced to Edric's smile before shirking over to the younger Blight, who wore a sheepish look. "I-I'm sorry about this," she softly said. "I just… Luz said she would and—"

Leal shook her head, smiling, "It's fine, Amity. It's not your fault. And it's not Luz's either," she added. She rolled her eyes with a frown. "This whole Grom business is just the problem."

"Yup," Eda agreed, turning away. "Now I gotta prepare myself to get ready and jump in the pit!"

"I'll jump with you?" Leal offered.

The witch stopped and glared at her. "One kid is enough," she flatly stated, "You be a good girl and have fun. I'll watch after your sister."

She blushed a bit at the woman's blunt orders but also because of the sentiment behind them. She did trust Eda in the end, as much as she trusted Luz. Leal sighed as she watched the witch enter the house. "And tonight was supposedly gonna be fun," she muttered.

"Aw, don't worry Leal!" Edric spoke up.

She jumped a bit as she turned back around, meeting the boy's bright smile. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment before she moved up to his happy eyes. Goodness, was he always this cheerful? What was she thinking—of course he was! He's Edric! She desperately looked toward the other sibling to bounce her gaze off of but realized Emira and Amity had already begun walking away, leaving the two to themselves. Which would imply that Emira was intentionally helping her brother out—nope, nope, nope, Leal wouldn't think like that.

She cleared her throat and raised a brow at the boy. "How can I not worry?"

"Well, we can still have fun tonight!" he reminded her.

Leal sheepishly chuckled. "Y-Yeah, well, I-I don't know if I'm as laid back as you and your sister are when it comes to having my little sister in the ring."

Edric blew a raspberry and waved his hand. "C'mon! If we have faith Amity could take on Grom, there's no doubt that you do too," he shot back, smirking at her.

"Yeah, but faith doesn't mean I want it to happen either," Leal countered.

"Nobody wants it to happen. It's just something that does happen. I still think Amity can take Grom, but if she wants out then that's her business." He shrugged with pursed lips. "And now your sister wants in. I know it's not something you want, but I recently learned something about, 'respecting your siblings'?" He wiggled his brow at her with a knowing look. Having her own words thrown back at her—with Ed's smug face—was a bit needed levity.

And he had a good point.

She giggled, smiling as she bid a nod. "Fair enough, Ed. Fair enough." She rolled her tongue around in her cheek and shrugged. "I know Luz can kick ass with or without my help." She chuckled. "I just wish she'd stop doing it so voluntarily."

"Maybe she takes after you more than you'd like?" Edric teased.

She rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Ed! C'mon, we gotta get ready!" Emira shouted.

The boy jumped. "Ah, right." He turned away and ran off. "See you at Grom!"

And just like that, her smile nearly wiped off. Leal waved at the Blights as they ran off, but she felt so stiff as she did so. How could just one interaction with Edric Blight be both normal, terrifying, and awkward? What was that about! And now she had to see him at Grom? Wait, that was always the plan. "¡Santa mierda!" she exclaimed, turning toward the house. "What am I going to do!" she shouted as she rushed in.

Hooty turned his head in with her, only now giving her the chance to notice his battered face with an eye patch. "Ooooh, do you need help?" he asked. "I can give a hooty hoot hand!" he said with a smirk.

Leal blinked at the door as she stopped midway in the living room. "I… what happened to your face?"

Hooty's one eye perked up. "Oh, Amity—"

"Ah, nevermind," she chuckled, shaking her head. She figured there'd be a day Hooty would get on someone's last straw. It was unfortunate it had to be the girl who was stressed about being Grom Queen.

Creaks from the stairs drew her attention back in time to see Eda enter the living room. "Yeesh, now why are you yelling?" Leal frowned sadly at the witch, making her brows raise. "Whoa, Bean Head. Don't worry. I promise I got Luz covered."

She shook her head violently. "No, no, not that. Though, thanks," she quickly added. "It's Edric."

Eda's brows lowered as her mouth hung ajar. "Ahhhhh. Right, forgot the Blights were there for a sec."

Leal cocked her head at the witch for a moment before returning to her topic. "I just… I don't know what I'm feeling, Eda," she said as she began to pace around the room, "I-I literally just spoke to him for a couple minutes and I felt nervous, but then I felt happy, an-and he made feel a bit better about Luz too! But then he brought up Grom and… and… I dunno!" She startled as she felt Eda's hands fall on her shoulders.

The witch held her still as she smiled. "Leal, do you like him?"

"I—"

She shook her head, clicking her teeth. "I'm not asking about love, or marriage, or like-like, just simply put—in your own definition: do you like Edric?" she softly rephrased.

Lealtad closed her eyes and took a breath. He was her friend. How could she not? "I… I do," she answered.

Eda's smile grew into a big grin. "Then that's all that matters, kiddo. Tons of kids go to Grom together as friends, heck one time I went with my sister!" the woman amusedly recalled. "If it's friendly, that's great! But for you, if it turns out to be more, that might be good too! And if you're not comfortable with that, then you can and should say that," Eda seriously said. "All I know is, you decided to do this for your friend, so you don't have to worry much about what's going on in your head and heart as long as you go with the flow—'cause you started it that way too."

"I-I know," Leal replied. "But—"

"But nothing! You wanted to enjoy tonight with your friends and you still can. I told you, let me worry 'bout your sister," she lightly stressed as she shook her shoulders a bit. "Just enjoy yourself. And who knows, if you take the leap, ya might find yourself with more answers than you realize!" She shifted into a soft expression as she said, "Chances are worth it, kiddo. The biggest difference between now and all those other twerps you 'dated' is that you get to decide now. Is it a date or not?"

Staring into the woman's eyes, Leal let out a sigh and nodded.

She was right.

It was her turn to pitch now… and it was time to play ball.

::::

Looking at herself in the mirror, Lealtad felt very comfortable in her outfit. She had on her eggplant slacks, which were just a tad loose but surprisingly well hemmed for her height, at least enough to tuck into her black boots. Her white dress shirt was tucked into her pants and sleeves up to her elbows, accented by the matching eggplant vest she had held together by one button. She eventually settled on a dark purple tie to tie it all together, and of course, as her usual red-orange beanie—she wasn't one to style up her hair, and she wasn't going to start now.

She smiled at herself and turned toward her sister, who had just finished dressing herself up. An albeit strange outfit, but very Luz-conventional. Brown boots with purple leggings and a bright pink tutu, contrasted with a black tux with coattails and a white dress shirt underneath. She had taken to gelling up and slicking her hair back, which Leal thought was kinda cute. In the end, the two shared a look at each other and smirked.

"You look… awesome," Luz said.

Leal chuckled. "And you, look like a Grom Queen," she softly replied, winking. Her sister flushed a bit and Leal took her chance. She picked up her camera and bag, slinging them all on as she picked up her bat.

"You're bringing all of that?"

"One, camera's for memories, duh." She shook her bat with an amused look. She cleared even more space in her gallery for this night! "And two, fear monster?" she reminded her sister.

Her sister laughed as she shot a toothy grin. "So you're saying you're… covering your bases?"

Leal snorted, lifting up her camera as she powered it on. "Lemme take a photo."

"But what about you?"

"I'll manage," she replied. "Say 'Grom'!"

Luz straightened up and held her hands together in front of her, beaming at the camera. "Grom!"

A photo snapped, and the first of many predicted photos tonight was taken. Leal looked at her sister proudly and nodded, then the two made their way downstairs. There, they caught Eda and King—who was wearing a bow tie as his collar—waiting for them. It was awkward how silent everything was, but Leal could sense neither of the two wanted to do more or less against Luz and her nerves. Eda simply just walked outside and readied her staff, lecturing Hooty about behaving as the two entered the living room.

This was where they parted ways, actually.

Leal still had to meet Viney at their meetup spot, and she preferred going by herself rather than making them detour, even if it wasn't much of a hassle. Seizing her opportunity, Leal caught her sister by the shoulder just before they exited the door, leaving them to share a look with one another. Lealtad could see it. The nerves, the fear, the worry; her sister was quaking with anxiety as zero hour became closer and closer. She could tell her right now, to back out. That maybe, even she would take her place. She could tell her to go and apologize to Amity, but evidently let the girl retake her spot as Grom Queen.

And she knew her sister would listen, especially at this moment.

But instead, Leal smiled at her, letting her reassurance and faith swarm the girl. "Hermana, you know I love you right?"

Luz blinked at her, then let a smile take her face. "I know, Lealtad," she nodded. "I love you too," she softly said. With a small wave, she turned away and walked. "See you at Grom."

"¡Qué te vaya bien! Sunshine," she waved back as the girl got on the staff. One nod to Eda, and a nod back in response, and Leal smiled. She had faith. She was terrified as well, but… she had faith.

And with that, the three took to the skies as Leal bid Hooty a goodbye and headed out on her own.

Getting to their hangout spot wasn't all that hard or long, but Leal checked the time and found herself right five minutes late. Viney wasn't there yet, so Leal leaned up against a tree and waited. Twenty-five minutes 'till Grom, she had figured the girl was working over her own nerves and taking a bit. In that time, Leal took deep breaths and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.

Her sister was going to fight a fear monster.

She was going on a maybe date with a boy who maybe liked her and she kind of, sorta, possibly… didn't know what to feel about that.

Her antsy tapping of her bat's grip, the occasional pop of her lips, or even just her bouncing her leg, the silence was filled with her nerves. "C'mon, Viney," she muttered, "any minute now." She checked the time and sighed. It was 6:46. What was she doing? Leal had no idea when Grom was actually released, but now she was worried she'd just miss the whole thing! She nearly had the temptation to message the girl before realizing she had a phone, not a scroll. "Vi, where are you?"

It was ten minutes to seven, and she was a no show.

"Screw it," Leal grumbled, pushing off the tree. She'd start looking for her for a few minutes. Expanding out into the forest, Leal wandered, thinking that maybe Viney got lost. Or even, just possibly was on the way and figured she found a different clearing. She was searching for over twenty minutes now, and Leal was honestly getting worried. Grom had already started and the girl was nowhere in sight. Maybe she should just go to the school and hopefully find her there? Or get some help to check on her at her home?

It was time to cut her losses and head on over.

And then she saw it. A head of brown hair in the faint glow of the moonlight, along with a beige colour. Leal stepped toward the glimpse she saw and pulled out a light glyph, tapping it to illuminate her surroundings. Viney was sitting on a large rock, wearing a beige dress with black trims and dark fishnets with matching heels. Her mood seemed downtrodden, as she had her hands fiddling together as her head was low.

"Vi?" she called out from behind some knee length bushes.

The girl startled, looking at her. "L-Leal!" she exclaimed, wincing a bit from the bright light. Leal responded in kind by popping her glyph and stepping out from the bushes. "I… sorry, I just—" Viney stopped herself as Lealtad took a seat next to the girl, setting her bat down against the rock and placing her bag between them. She chuckled. "You brought your potions and your bat?"

Leal rolled her eyes. "There's a literal monster being released at this thing. I'm not taking chances," she simply said.

Viney nodded. "Fair enough," she quietly replied.

Lealtad let the moment breathe. It was like, one moment she was stressed about almost everything but now, Leal just sensed this was right. She didn't want to press the girl yet, but she could tell something was on her mind. But… sitting here was a good way of just letting herself calm down a bit, taking the edge off. She tilted her head up, the clearing barely expose any of the night sky or stars above. With a smile, Leal brought up her camera and snapped a pic. She looked down at her photo, checking its quality. And then eventually, a sigh emerged from her left.

"I'm… nervous."

She chuckled. "Hmm, would've never guessed," she sarcastically quipped.

Viney rolled her eyes, smiling at her. "This is your fault, y'know?" she lightly teased back.

"Vi, I did give you an out. I'm sure they would've understood."

The girl shook her head. "No… I didn't want an out. But… I'm scared of going in too."

"I hear ya," Leal laughed.

"I just… if you asked me a week ago how I felt about Emira Blight—"

"You wouldn't even bother humouring the question?" Leal joked.

Viney snorted, nodding. "Yeah, probably wouldn't. But… I-I dunno. Getting to know her, knowing how cool she is and how… sweet and funny and smart and—" the girl's face coloured bright red as she shut her mouth, turning her gaze back to her twiddling fingers. "S-Sorry."

Leal smiled at her. It was honestly kind of adorable seeing Viney be so flustered about this. The girl was usually cheerful and upbeat about almost… anything. In some ways, Leal could see what made her and Emira get along so well. "Hey," she chuckled. "Ain't nothin' wrong with you being excited about this."

"But it's not just excitement," Viney argued. "I… I just… for the longest time I had Emira pegged as some delinquent, who skimps out on classes because she's so above it all. But now I just… she's actually really into school as well. The same way I am. And she knows what she wants to do and knows how to do it because she's just so good at Illusions!" She let out a sigh. "Before, I thought, 'Ugh, she's a Blight' but now it's, 'Uh-oh, she's a Blight!'"

Leal furrowed a brow at her. "You think her status and name puts her above you?"

"I-I don't know," Viney admitted with a shrug. "I just… I-I get it, they have to work hard, but she's practically a genius and she's funny, and even her pranks can make people laugh and—" she stopped as Leal placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, soothing her rambling. She just gave her a small smile, prompting her to slow down, and Viney sighed, nodding. "I'm… I'm just me," she quietly said. "I-I barely could make it in Healing, then I get shipped off to Detention Track and… I-I'm not cool or confident like Emira is."

"What?" Leal scoffed. "You helped fight against a Basilisk last week!"

Viney rolled her eyes. "Th-That was mainly you guys—"

"But it still took a lot of confidence to stand with us," she pointed out. "You're plenty confident in our Healing classes when you talk and answer Mister Rowan's questions. And you're confident in yourself to pass his tests—"

"Leal, you know that's different."

"Why though? You guys are constantly on my case about self-confidence but I happen to think y'all are pretty damn cool." She narrowed her eyes at Viney. "That includes you, Vi."

The girl's cheeks were slightly flushed out of embarrassment. She let out a chuckle as she shook her head. "Well, contrary to popular belief, I am not cool at all," Viney muttered.

"Really?" Leal dryly remarked. "And here I thought your baby names for your pet Griffin was a facet of super cool jock behaviour," she teased.

"Ha, ha, you're hilarious."

"No, you are. It's one of the many things I like 'bout you." Leal bumped her shoulder against the girl. "No one's just cool, Vi."

"But Emira is," she softly replied. And honestly, with her tone, Leal would've rolled her eyes and gagged if the situation wasn't what it was currently. "And… And I'm just some dual-track nerd with too much nerding on her hands. I just don't think she'd ever be interested in me. And… if I go? I'm scared I might be right and it'll be in public." She frowned as she sunk her head once again. "I've dealt with nearly the entire school thinking I'm a delinquent kid, I don't think I can handle a rejection on top of that."

Lealtad shook her head. "Vi, she agreed to go on a date with you—us," she corrected as she saw the girl's mouth open. "You've seen that she gets along with you. And, news flash, no one in Hexside thinks you're a delinquent anymore. Heck, people look at us with sympathy simply 'cause we're running two tracks at the same time!" she exclaimed, gesturing her hands about. "But regardless, what those knuckleheads think of you doesn't matter. It's the same thing I tell mi hermana. All that matters at the end of the day, is the people who are closest to you. I get it, i-it's hard not to think about it, but… you wanna go to Grom with her, right?"

Viney silently nodded.

"Then that's all that matters," Leal smiled. The girl seemed taken aback by that, as though she were really considering her words. Leal bit her lip and looked away, as she herself realized the hypocrisy of her words. She nearly asked what it was that Viney had to fear or lose, but the same could be said for Leal. Of course, Viney's situation wasn't entirely like Leal's, but the fear was similar. She understood the girl's plight and could even relate to it a bit. Maybe… Maybe it was worth talking about it too. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Viney with a small frown. "I-I know that, earlier, I said that Ed and I were just hanging out so you two could be on a date-date, but now…" she shrugged. "I dunno. I guess… I'm worried Ed likes me."

Her friend stared at her bewilderedly. "I'm sorry… what? You're worried if your date likes you?"

Lealtad snorted. "When you say it that way it sounds ridiculous," she remarked. She sighed. "I'm asexual."

Viney's brows raised. "Ohhhhh," the girl slowly nodded.

"Yeah. And I… haven't had the best experience with relationships in the past. I've… realized my sexuality because of those past relationships, but I've always marked it off as something I'd maybe get around to or whatever." Leal's hand found her bat's grip, leaving her to tap it rhythmically. "But… I don't know. Edric makes me confused. And scared. I like him, as a friend. I-I don't know if he likes me in that way, but it's not something that… I'm entirely terrified by. But it's still scary to me."

"But… you still planned on going with him tonight?"

Leal chuckled. "Well, Eda gave me some advice about it. And, in the end, I did set out to do this for you and Em. I just wanted to have fun tonight. So, I still can. With Ed, you, Emira, and my sister and her friends too! Whatever happens…" she took a shaky breath, clenching onto her bat. "It'll happen regardless. But I get to make the decision too. And so do you," she threw back, smiling at her friend. "I'm like, the worst person when it comes to romantic advice but… even I know that pining like yours—"

"I'm not pining!"

"Shush!" Leal hissed, waving her friend to quiet down. "It can't solve itself with what if's." She gestured at the rock they were sitting on. "It's either we stay here, never finding out if she really does like you, or…" she stood up and held her hand out to her, "We take a leap."

Viney glanced down at her hand, then to her eyes. Taking a deep breath, the girl nodded, accepting her hand as she stood up. "Then we better hurry to Grom."

Lealtad laughed. "Yeah, because we're like super late now." She began picking up her things, asking, "What time is it anyway?"

"Uhh," Viney said as she fiddled with her scroll, "it's—"

"I don't wanna be Grom Queen anymore! I give up the throne!"

Leal's eyes widened as her heart stopped.

Luz.

Without hesitation, the girl raced away from Viney, following the source of her sister's screaming and the aggressive sounds of sloshing and stomping. She eventually found the path, and watched in horror as she could see a giant black goopy creature with multiple legs, chasing after her sister. "¡hermana!" she shouted as she chased after them. Leal ran with all she could, catching up in time to see Grom cornering her sister on the edge of a cliff.

Her sister cowered with her head in her hands. "You're not really my mom!" she shouted as she turned her head away.

Leal's stomach churned a bit as she pushed out from the bushes. She was seeing their mother? Why? Leal shook her head and refocused herself, readying her bat as she pulled out a strength potion. She bit off the stopper and chugged the brew, feeling the effects take place. She brought the barrel of the bat to her right hand and flicked her finger against two glyphs, sending sharp icicles at the monster's back.

A piercing yowl erupted but the beast didn't turn.

"Hey, ¡portador del miedo!" she shouted, "Come at me!" She gripped at her bat.

Her sister gasped as she turned away. "L-Leal?"

It still didn't budge. If anything, it advanced closer to Luz, crying out more and more to her.

Leal narrowed her eyes at the creature, as her grip tightened. "I said turn!"

It seemed to—partially—work, as the monster spun one of its heads and several eyes to face her. She gulped as she held her stance. This was it. Time to face her fears.

She took one step forward, but then shadow flew overhead of Leal, causing her to glance up and catch Eda on her staff, conjuring a spell. "Spicy toss!" she shouted as she cast a fireball at Grom. Another scream roared out, and the monster turned its attention back to Luz. Eda landed in front of Lealtad and readied Owlbert. "Hands off my humans, you misshapen excuse for a monster!" She turned to Leal and nodded. "I got this, Bean Head."

Lealtad let out a small sigh and nodded, taking a step back.

"Eda!" Luz shouted, her voice shaking, "You're right! I'm not ready!"

Eda drew up a spell and softly said, "That's okay, I got this one."

A series of rustling leaves occurred overhead, and the two looked up in time to see Amity burst out from above, landing in front of them. The girl dashed forward, circling past Grom and placing herself between Luz and the Fear Bringer. Leal's jaw dropped as she girl held her arms out wide. "Stay away from her!" she declared.

Grom growled at the young girl and sent forward a tendril, entrapping her and lifting up high.

"I-I'm sorry Luz," Amity struggled against her restraints, "I should've fought my own battle! I—" Suddenly, Grom's eyes shone bright blue along with Amity's. Grom began to shift and morph, its black blobby shape twisting and turning in on itself.

Was this the mind reading thing?

"Amity!" Luz exclaimed as she got up on her feet. "No! Your fear!"

Leal braced herself, wondering what else could happen next. And then, Grom shrunk down, setting Amity gently as its height nearly matched hers. It had an arm-like limb on Amity's shoulder as it maintained its size.

"Who is that?" her sister asked.

Amity's eyes stopped glowing as Grom pulled its arm away, but brought another to Amity's dress, pulling out a pink note? Leal watched in horror as she could see Amity's face contort with surprise and fear—what was the girl seeing right now? Should any of them do something? Grom didn't seem to hasten itself either, as it slowly tore the paper in half and crumpled it, dropping it to the ground. Amity clutched at her dress with her eyes closed, and Leal knew the girl was fighting back the hurt of whatever she was seeing.

It was then that Grom shrunk down to a smaller slush and slithered away from the girl. Luz rushed to her friend's aid, and Eda and Leal prepared themselves as Grom maintained its space between the girls and her and Eda. It was at this moment that a crowd was beginning to clamor behind them, as Leal could hear it in the distance. Viney finally caught up next to her, panting relentlessly. "I guess… you were right to bring your stuff," the girl mused.

Eda clicked her teeth. "Don't say that yet," she warned as she held her staff defensively, "I ain't letting you fight this thing."

Leal chuckled, still holding her bat aggressively. "Well, I just took a strength potion so I'm ready regardless, Dama Búho."

"It ain't coming to that," her guardian declared.

Grom's form began to grow back into its giant size, releasing a loud roar with a huge mouth opening to the sky. Regardless of the women's words, Leal and Viney still prepared themselves as the observed the creature warily.

"Well then," Amity spoke up. Leal glanced at her and found the witch to be standing tall and proud with Luz beside her. What just happened? "If that's settled, may I have this dance?" she asked, holding her hand out to Luz.

Leal's eyes widened.

Okay, scratch that, what did she miss?

Her sister smiled at the girl, and immediately Leal dropped her guard. "She's got this," she whispered. "They've got this."

Luz happily accepted Amity's hand, and the two pulled together close. Their faces were barely just apart from each other. Amity had the lead as the two smirked and turned toward Grom. Together, the two twirled and danced. Yes, danced, as they advanced on Grom, who seemed just as confused maybe? Luz carried Amity over with a spin and the girl landed with a near split, casting a spell circle on the ground with her feet! She spun around and completed her circle as Luz twisted her back up, and a massive abomination began to emerge from beneath their feet.

It seemed the girl was getting much better with her Abomination magic judging by its size and bulk.

The two spun once again, and Luz had several glyphs in her hands, folding them out like a deck of cards as she covered her smile. One more spin, and Amity dipped Luz in front of her abomination, letting the girl place a glyph on its forehead. With that, Amity's abomination pounced forward as the two hopped off. It launched straight toward Grom as the monster roared and charged back. Landing in its mouth, Grom swallowed and a series of green flashes began to occur as its stomach began to convulse and rumble.

Leal gasped. It was a plant glyph!

Her sister landed and caught Amity, spinning the girl around once more before ending with a flourish, just in time as Grom exploded.

A flash of bright green, and Leal winced, then a massive tree with pink leaves sprouted where Grom once stood. Leaves began to fall as the two pulled their hands away, taking in their accomplishment. And then a pair of crowns with pink gems appeared atop their heads. Lealtad's jaw dropped.

Her sister did it.

Her and Amity did it.

She nearly shouted at her sister, ready to profess her pride and happiness, but paused as the leaves began to trickle around them and the two locked eyes with each other. Unable to help herself, Leal tucked her bat and powered on her camera, bringing it up to her face as she locked onto the two. And she snapped the picture: Luz's eyes mischievously darting to the side, Amity's blush as she looked at Luz, their big dopey smiles…

"Well that was the gayest thing I've ever seen," Lealtad mused as she looked down at her photo.

Whatever they were saying, resulted in Amity tossing away her other half of the note. Before anything else could happen, King appeared beside the two with a microphone. "And there you have it, folks. A happy ending for this year's Grom." He began waving his paw up and down as he said, "Let's give a big hand to our Grom Queens, Luz and Amity!"

Leal turned around and nearly yelped as she realized there was a crowd of people hiding about in the bushes and trees, only now surfacing. The uproar began and everyone rushed toward the two. Leal stood back in awe as she watched her sister and her friend get surrounded by their fellow peers, praising and chanting for the two. They were lifted up above, and carried back to the path. Eda began a round of small applause, and Leal smiled at the woman's proud look.

King proclaimed something about being the King of Demons and never having stage fright before getting carried up along with the Grom Queens, creating a round of laughter for the girls.

Leal just watched in awe as she, Viney, and Eda began to follow the crowd back.

::::

By the time they arrived at the gym, everyone settled into party mode and immediately began crowding the Grom Queens. Leal was determined to find her sister, however, as she had an apology to make and photos to take! She began wading through the crowd, but was stopped. She furrowed a brow and turned toward whoever had her arm and blinked as she saw Viney. The girl was pointing toward the exit and Leal froze as she saw the Blight twins slowly making their way over.

Edric was wearing a pair of tan slacks with a yellow dress shirt with rolled up sleeves. His outfit was completed with brown suspenders and a yellow bow tie. But for all its flair, he had his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slumped as he walked. His sister was wearing his matching coat around her shoulders, hiding her matching yellow dress. They… They looked upset.

Leal's eyes widened as her heart began to pound. She looked at the time. It was eight. Between her talk with Viney, the chase after Grom, the fight, then the walk back…

"Mierda," she muttered as she felt herself getting bumped around by the partygoers.

Viney seemed just as guilty in her expression as she nervously looked at them. "I… I'm gonna say something." Leal's eyes widened further as she watched the girl determinedly walk over.

"Emira!" she called out as the two reached the doorway, causing them to stop.

Edric was right between the hall and the gym.

He was right there.

The two turned toward Viney with looks of surprise and definite anger. Leal shrunk a bit at the sight. She watched as Viney tried to call out to the Blight, and winced as Emira turned away. But then Viney grabbed the girl's hand, rooting her as she continued talking. Leal wasn't sure what was being said exactly, except when the second Emira turned around, their hand holding became a firmer embrace, with their fingers interlacing and Leal felt like she was intruding on a private moment. She tore her eyes away—immediately locking eyes with Edric.

She froze.

He was looking at her.

They were probably ten metres away, give or take. She could see his eyes. The look of pain, hope, and… awe? It was then Leal realized the people bumping into her, had shifted around her and her whole body was exposed. Like the paths parted and she was right in his sightlines. She felt herself heat up all over as she could see Edric observe her outfit and look at her with such... astonishment. She knew that was what it was. The way his eyes lit up, how his mouth slightly dropped, how his lips just threatened nearly smile. He, despite it all, was enamoured with what he was looking at.

Lealtad had taken enough lifestyle photos to see people in everyday life, living it to their fullest. She had seen families love and laugh, and grown envious and wistful. She'd witnessed friend groups run around and cheer, pondering her youth and her years left of it. But she'd also seen a lot of love. She'd seen it here on the Isles too. Evan Walters, Jonathan Campbell, Quentin Brown—none of them had the same look that Edric had right now. It was something she'd seen so many times in so many instances of people living their lives.

But Leal knew, from not a photo, an instance where she'd seen such fascination in someone's face. Mother's Day, over a decade ago, her father came home and presented her mom a bouquet of asters, gypsophila, and white camellias. But Leal's attention drew to her dad's eyes and the way he looked at her mom as he walked over. It was like he'd fallen in love with her the first time. And it was the same thing he'd say any chance he could.

Lealtad's body chilled as she felt her throat clam up.

Her eyes instinctively pulled away from Edric as she backed away. She let herself merge with the partying crowd as she forced herself to not look. Don't look. Don't do it. Don't. She could feel her stomach churn with guilt, but Leal couldn't help herself. She turned her head toward the food table and looked desperately for someone. Eda. Luz. Eda.

Coward.

Coward.

A bump from a large whooping demon startled her.

Lealtad stopped herself. "L-Luz," she muttered, centering herself. "Gotta make sure, she's fine," she said hollowly. Why was she even lying to herself right now? What excuse was this? She nearly waded her way halfway through the crowd before blowing out a sigh. She gave up and pushed her way out to the wall, giving herself an anchor to lean against as she caught her breath.

Why could she still feel his stare?

It was probably because he was still staring at her.

Of course he would!

Leal closed her eyes and gripped at her bat, shaking her head. Breathe.

"Hey Leal!" She jumped, turning toward the voice but sighing out of relief as she realized it was Vient approaching her. The girl had a small smile as she leaned up against the wall beside her. "So, Em said she was kinda tuckered out, so they're going home," Viney sadly reported. "She was not happy with me."

"Ah, sorry Vi," Leal awkwardly muttered.

"But, I apologized and wanted to make it up to her. My own way." She smirked at Leal. "Soooo, I invited her out to a date tomorrow."

Leal's brows raised. "Really?"

"Yup. I… I really felt that, leap of faith thing, and I decided I needed to take the initiative if I wanted to prove something." Viney proudly smiled. "So I will. And I am."

Leal nodded. She was glad someone was. "Good for you, Vi," she softly said.

The girl nodded back, then jerked her thumb to the exit. "They're still back there, you can catch Ed if—"

"I-I will," Lealtad lied, "I just wanna check on mi hermana first." And she stepped away.

Coward.

"Heeeey!" Eda's voice rang out as she appeared next to her, wrapping her arm around her. "There ya are! Didn't see you here at all before Grom showed up." She furrowed a brow as she searched around them. "Where's your date?"

Leal nervously chuckled. "A-Ah, went home. Wasn't feeling well," she said in a hesitant tone.

Eda narrowed her brows as she straightened herself up, giving the two a moment to stop their walking. "Leal."

She gulped. "I… not now?" she begged, her eyes pleading.

The witch's brows rose. Without a word, Eda nodded and held her arms out, smiling at her. Leal didn't even hesitate to accept it, pushing herself forward and embracing the witch. She wanted to cry. She wasn't sure why but… she just did. The tears didn't fall however. She just soaked Eda's warmth and embraced the woman's arms wrapped around her. This was good. She… She needed this. She hugged her tighter as she closed her eyes, fighting back her thoughts and feelings. She just let herself… be in this moment.

"Gracias, Mamá Búho," she whispered against her shoulder, not even thinking about the words she was saying.

Eda's chuckle vibrated throughout Leal's cheek. "No problem, Bean Head."

She wasn't sure how long had passed, but eventually, Leal pulled away from Eda. She could feel her ears still burning, clearing her throat as she looked up at the lady. The woman smiled at her for a few more seconds while slowly retracting her arms. Leal mutedly pulled her own hands back and looked to the floor, blushing a bit as she hadn't even realized she dropped her bat.

"Hey Leal, can you take some photos!" her sister shouted.

Lealtad sobered herself, summoning her smile as she turned toward Luz. Her sister was near the food table, with Amity, Gus, and Willow surrounding her. "Hell yeah, ¡hermana!" she shouted back. "Thought you'd never ask!" She turned on her Canon camera and rushed over to her sister and her friends.

The night easily delved into a one of photos and fun, with Leal happily taking each and every one. The photographer hired for that night seemed a bit annoyed, but Leal apologetically shrugged and carried on with her memory making. She took photos of Luz and her friends (Luz had a blushing Amity very close to her in one of them). She took photos of her and Viney, as they still managed to enjoy the night regardless of their dateless scenario. She took some with Bump, catching the flustered principal off guard. But there was still one photo Leal knew she needed.

As the music was winding down, and most of the students were tuckered out, sitting in the stands, Leal moved away from the food table and grabbed her sister from her friends. "Luz, quick! Let's take a family photo!"

Her sister's eyes brightened at that as she rushed off, grabbing King while Leal moved to Eda. The woman startled at Leal's eager approach, but Leal herself didn't deter. "Eda, c'mon! Family photo!" she declared, grabbing the woman's arm and tugging her along.

"Family wha—"

Seconds later, Luz arrived with a cheerful King and the four bunched together. Luz took Eda's left side while Leal held the right, both hugging the woman close. Luz's left hand held up King in the frame while Leal pulled off her camera from her neck and turned it around, preparing the selfie. "Say 'Grom'!" Leal shouted.

"Grom!"

And a moment was captured.

She'd make the most of it.

::::

The flight back was quiet, with King nearly dozing off here and there. Leal could tell everyone was nearly exhausted from the constant energy of the evening. Lealtad wasn't even a fan of such things but found herself enjoying the music and dancing quite a bit. Eda had the bright idea of looping behind the Owl House, so as not to disturb Hooty. Though that all flew out the window the second she opened and entered the kitchen, shouting, "Whoo! Watch out for this, human!" She pointed at Luz. "Oh, you did good, kid," commended as she placed her hands on her hips.

Leal smiled proudly at her sister as she shut the door behind her, but quickly shifted into a worried frown as she noticed her sister's sudden sullen mood.

Luz pulled off her tiara and dropped it to the floor, softly saying, "Thanks, but... I'm gonna go to bed."

Leal stepped forward and around King, who had already claimed the accessory and proclaimed himself both king and queen. She nearly followed her sister but stopped, turning toward Eda. She looked at her expectantly, knowing she promised to talk with the woman earlier.

The witch's worry dissipated as she nodded with a smile. "Go. We can talk tomorrow, or whenever you're ready."

Leal nodded back and hurriedly chased after her sister. She arrived at their room, knocking at the door as she said, "Sunshine? Can I come in?"

"It's your room, too Leal."

"To talk, hermana," she stressed, letting a bit of amusement pour into her voice. She patiently waited for the response, her ear pressed up against the door as she held her breath.

"Yeah, Leal," her sister finally said.

The girl acted instantly, opening the door and stepping in. She found her sister sitting in the window sill, one leg hanging outside with her right propped up in the window itself. Luz's face seemed sad, at least before she turned her attention back outside. Leal silently made her way over to her bed, shedding herself off her belongings and placing them all atop her luggage. She moved toward the wall, leaning up against it as she tucked her hands in her pockets.

"So…" Leal began, "I think I should begin with an apology."

Her sister spun her head at her bewilderedly. "What?"

She looked at her with a small smile. "For earlier? About being Grom Queen?"

Luz's head fell a bit as she sadly shook her head. "There's no need to apologize, Leal, you were right," she sadly said. "I… I couldn't handle Grom."

"But I wasn't, Sunshine. You did."

"Not alone."

"But you stood up to Grom. Sure, you caved a bit but…" Leal clenched her fist. "Who doesn't when it comes to their fears?" Hypocrite. She smiled at her sister and stepped toward her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know I did have faith in you, right?"

"Si, Leal," her sister nodded.

"I just… I wish you weren't so selfless and awesome sometimes. It's gonna give me a heart attack," she dramatically said as she placed her hand on her heart. The two shared a laugh. "I… I am sorry I didn't give you the full support you needed. E-Even if you think you couldn't have done it, I should've been backing you regardless. I-I always say it's you and me, but I didn't have your back today."

"Leal, it's okay."

"It's not," she denied. She took a breath, holding her sister's shoulder gently. "I… I heard you back at the cliff. Grom… did it take the form of our mom?" Luz's eyes widening and the way she froze up was all the confirmation Lealtad needed. Goodness, just what was her sister going through? Leal clicked her teeth irritably. "I… I should've been there, here, for you to vent to. To talk to. But—"

Luz rapidly shook her head, pulling her leg away and leaving both to hang outside. With the open space prompted, Leal sat herself down on the ledge with her sister, keeping her legs inside. "Mamá did text me this morning." Leal's brows raised in surprise. "And in the afternoon. Before I trained with Amity and her siblings." She chuckled hollowly. "Also just now."

Leal blinked at her sister. "What did she say?" Luz wordlessly pulled out her phone and handed it to her, keeping her head low. Leal looked at her messages.

She asked about her day, and said she was missing her. Earlier, she sent Luz a picture of her eating a chimichurri sandwich from the Snack Shack, stating how she missed her and Luz. Her sister replied with a smiley emoji with its tongue sticking out. And in the morning, she asked her how camp was to which Luz responded in kind with a thumbs up. Lealtad chuckled a bit at Luz's replies, then looked to see her sister frowning and slumping her head against her shoulder.

"Can't think of what to say?"

"Can't tell if I'm supposed to say anything," came the dry remark.

Leal nodded knowingly. "I hear that."

Her sister's head shot off her shoulder, leaving her to shoot Leal a surprised look. "What?"

She smiled at her sister. "You wanna know the last time I messaged Mamá from before today?" Her sister furrowed a brow. "It was back during the Book Fair, when I was in charge of the house." Luz's jaw dropped dramatically and Leal giggled at the sight.

"What! B-But I thought you were constantly updating her!"

Leal shrugged. "Well, I've been kinda getting caught up. And… slacking," she admitted. "Actually, back when you fought the Bat Queen, she messaged me and I kinda panicked then too. I was barely keeping up then, and I felt so guilty because I was slacking and not updating her like I promised." She chuckled, shaking her head. "Guess I ended up slacking more anyways," she mused. "When she messaged me this morning, I panicked again too. I… kinda threw you into her radar."

Luz's eyes widened.

"Lo siento, hermana," she softly said.

She shook her head, sobering her shocked look. "It would've happened eventually, Leal. It's fine. You've… You've already spent so much time covering for me." She smiled at her. "And I'm grateful for that." She looked outside, toward the moon Leal suspected. "I'm scared of how she'll react. Of slipping up and… just exposing this whole world. She… Grom, just kept showing me her getting upset and heartbroken and… it scared me." She looked down at her hands. "What if I really break her heart when she finds out I lied?"

Leal blew out a breath at that. Wow, that… was a lot. She looked down at Luz's phone and scrolled back down to their mother's most recent message, lingering on it. Her gaze flew from the phone to her camera, then the glimpses of her photo wall. There were so many memories made already… and they were both enjoying themselves. But it was all out of a lie. She shook her head and let out a brief sigh. "I don't have any easy answers for that, Sunshine."

Luz chuckled. "Yeah, figured."

"But I'm scared too." Her sister looked at her, surprised once again. "I accepted a lot of responsibility too. And, well, I guess I feel like I'm letting our mom down as well." She shrugged, then locked eyes with her sister. "Something I've accepted the second I started this, is that the white lies and half truths are all we can give right now. Sometimes, being as honest as you can, about how you're feeling, is enough to relieve the burden." Her mind flew to Eda, and a grin fell on her face. "The best thing I can tell you right now: is to take a leap and let your gut decide," she said as she handed her sister back her phone.

Luz smiled at her, looking between her phone and Leal, before accepting it. She pulled Leal in for one big hug, embracing her sister. "Gracias, hermana, for being there for me."

She chuckled as she patted her sister's back. "Always, Sunshine… always." She pulled away and winked, giving her sister space as she moved back to her bed roll. Luz took a moment to herself before texting, and Leal sought the opportunity to start printing some photos. Before she and Luz left, Luz's friends and Viney requested for some photos of the night, so Leal promised to have them ready. She pulled out her Canon Ivy Mini from her luggage and began printing. She saved doubles of some, wanting to pin them all on her wall, while she set aside others to give them tomorrow at Hexside.

Each photo she pinned, her eyes would dart over to Edric's for the briefest of seconds.

But she told herself it wasn't a big deal.

White lies and half truths.

She'd make it up to Edric tomorrow.

---

A/N: As cruel as it is… I wanted to stick to Dana's cute fanart she made of the twins that said they got stood up on Grom night. Soooo yeah. And here we have yet another instance of the Noceda sisters separating. Again, their argument (though it was less THEIRS and more general) isn't spawned from Leal's lack of faith in her sister's abilities but rather her tendency to overwhelm herself easily. Which HAS been the case in some situations—even in canon—but of course how Leal and Eda went about it wasn't the best method. If Leal wasn't going through her own thing, maybe things could've been different?

Along that thread, I'd like to clarify—since Leal didn't actually get to SEE any of Luz's other fears take form, and by extension neither do you guys—NONE of Luz's fears involve Leal. I know that may seem strange, but with how Grom works and seeing what, in canon, Luz considers to be her deep fears (even presently), Lealtad doesn't really meet the bar. Luz is not really "afraid" of her sister thinking she's inadequate or being a burden or anything along those lines like she does for Eda, because the ONE thing she's been most assured of growing up was that Lealtad loves her and respects her. Even when they leave for Grom, hearing Leal say "I love you" is the best reminder to Luz that while she has no reason to ever worry about Leal abandoning her, but also that she will ALWAYS have faith in her. It may be something she can worry about, but at the end of the day she knows she can count on her sister.

And speaking of Grom forms, no Leal can't see Grom Camila because it's LUZ'S fear its taking form of. We see when Amity's fear happens, it takes the form of shape of what we know to be Luz, but don't actually SEE Luz. It's not the same thing with having half of a Camila silhouette atop a giant monster—Leal ain't recognizing anything in that moment. And it's a moot point anyway since Luz still tells her about it. I just felt like bringing it up because I had a feeling someone would ask.

A lot of you wondered (and even hoped) Leal would take the stage here in Grom with fighting Gromthesus herself but I always figured her taking Amity's spot or her taking Luz's spot would be an avoided issue as she would just not want to do it. In her mind, it's not their problem so they don't need to insert themselves into it. Heck, even with the Grom event itself she wasn't all for going at first until she and Viney ran into the Blights. And while I DID want a fight or argument to brew out, I still never want to undermine Luz's abilities on her own or with other characters.

So on that note, Leal giving Luz the idea of putting an ice glyph onto something to wield as a weapon isn't, IMO, undermining Luz's already established creativity but more so seeding how she came up with the idea before the fight as we weren't really given an explanation. It just fits with the in universe theme of learning, so they're ALL learning and collaborating. But again, if you don't agree with that decision feel free to discuss it! Civilly of course!

Lastly, I think it's an obvious point that many of the photos we see later on in the series, end up being photos Leal took. As for this chap, it's the same photo Eda has in Eda's Requiem, but of course with Leal in it too. And if there is any curiosity about Camila's side of things, her not being too concerned about messages for two weeks is because of many factors: she wants Leal to enjoy herself and is assuming (rightfully) that she is, she also doesn't wanna come across as too much of a helicopter mom for updates, and Luz's letters have still be reaching her as per canon. So it's not like she's been totally in the dark.

Or at least, for her.

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Review Responses:

Gry27: Whelp, you at least have half your answer for now! Interesting theory on the next chapter however!

Loyal Follower: Ah, well, you can see what I DID go with, heh. Wasn't a huge fan of Wednesday (only really liked the first four episodes) but that dress was neat. Leal isn't much of a gothic/black kinda gal though. Also I LOVE Jimmy Smits. He'd be PERFECT for Manny.

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As always, feel free to hit me up on tumblr if ya got asks! And leave a comment if you liked this chapter!

Next chapter update: November 8th, 2023

Stay safe, and stay lovely y'all.

Until next time,

- Bleh