Chapter Text
Just like everything else on the Isles, Grom was something that was awfully terrifying and awe-strikingly beautiful at the same time. The memories I made there my first year at Hexide were sure to last a lifetime, and so were the mental scars I received.
You see Grom was sort of give and take when it came to magical moments. The wonderfully romantic, yet disappointingly platonic, dance Amity and I had under the light of the full moon, the birth of the majestically stunning Grom tree, the hours and hours me, Gus, Willow, and Amity spent dancing after the initial fight with Grometheus, all of that came with a cost. That aforementioned fight with Grometheus brought my worst fear to life long before I had to face it for real.
You think experiencing my mother’s heart shattering disappointment in real life would make what happened at Grom look like a walk in the park, and you would be correct. But don’t think for one second that the spider monster version of my mom that chased me through the forest while begging for my love still didn’t haunt my nightmares.
But this year was gonna be different. One: I wasn’t the one who had to fight Grom. And two: I didn’t have to hide my rising feelings for Amity in fear that she would say that I was nowhere near cool enough to date her. Nope. This time Grom was just going to be a fun night with my girlfriend, while some kid gets traumatized in the background.
With a happy pep in my step, I skipped over to my locker. The streamers strung up around it made my heart sing while the anticipation for that one special night brought me life. Standing in front of the locker in wait were two of my favorite Hexolios. Willow was calmly leaning her back against the wall, while Gus excitedly told her about his grom plans.
“Guess who was able to talk King into co-hosting again?”. The younger witch’s grayish blue eyes shone with pride. “And you said I couldn’t do it”.
A small smile stuck to Willow’s face, her own green eyes being just as bright with amusement.
“It’s a good thing too,” she purred, “You’re going to be a little busy this year, so you’ll need all the help you can get”.
“Busy? Busy with what?”. Gus’s confusion caused Willow to tiredly roll her eyes.
“Are you, or are you not, going to Grom with “Matty”?”.
Gus’s face flushed. He had to look away from Willow for a moment to gather himself.
“I was planning on hanging out with him, when I have time, but I’m not going to Grom “with him”. We’re just friends”.
“Sure, Gus. Whatever you say. But you know there’s no rule against taking a friend to Grom” Willow argued. “After all, that's what friends do”.
“I am never gonna live that down, am I?” I joined in, bashfully rubbing the back of my neck.
Like I said, I never expected cool and classy Amity to ever see me as anything other than a friend. How was I supposed to know that the person Grom turned into to tear up Amity’s grom proposal was me? And how was I supposed to know that then offering to go to Grom with her as friends would create this bittersweet moment that Amity would remember till the end of time?
“Hey Luz” Willow welcomed. “Are you excited for Grom?”.
“You bet!” I cheered. “I have a great feeling this one’s gonna be even better than the last one”.
“And how’s that Grom proposal going?” Gus teased. “If you’re not careful someone might get to Amity first”.
“Amity not going to Grom with Luz? I can’t see that ever happening” Willow assured while crossing her arms.
“I don’t know, Willow. According to Luz, she’s quite the catch”.
“She is,” I pressed. “I would literally give my life for her”.
“How about you don’t do that?” a witch behind me called out, their voice laced with nervousness.
I turned around to see the most beautiful thing that had ever existed in either realms. Her beautiful pale skin glowed in the sunlight. Her beautiful short silky hair was the perfect shade of lavender, while her beautiful golden eyes both froze me in place and pulled me towards her at the same time.
Long story short, she was beautiful.
But her gorgeous looks were just the tip of the iceberg, though I suppose majestic glacier was more accurate. Her confidence rivaled that of the mightiest creatures in history. Her sharp intellect knew no limits and neither did her endless compassion. She was feisty, valiant, and kind. She was just perfect in every way!
“Sweet Potato” I shouted as I launched into Amity’s arms. “I’ve been waiting for you all day”.
“It’s only nine-thirty,” Amity pointed out with a chuckle.
“I know. Thank God I didn’t have to wait any longer. I don’t think I would’ve made it”.
After soaking in the embrace a little while longer, Amity released her hold of me and put her hands behind her back. She began to scuff her foot against the ground as her gaze focused on everything but me.
“So” she started anxiously. “I have to… um...I wanted to ask you something”.
She internally growled at herself for stuttering before letting out a deep breath. In a short moment of fragile bravery, she handed me a small purple paper that was folded a few times over. Her hand then went straight to grabbing her other arm in an attempt to comfort herself.
“This really shouldn’t be that hard considering we’re dating but…yeah”.
The note hidden within the piece of paper gave me deja vu. Though I had only seen the bottom part of the note, the written Grom proposal Amity failed to give me the year prior matched the inside of the new note word for word.
In response, I quickly handed Willow the note, grabbed the love of my life by the hand with both of mine, and planted a kiss on the back of it.
“Mi reina (my queen),” I cooed as suavely as I could. “I don’t know what I have done to deserve such an amazing opportunity, but I humbly accept and thank you for the honor”.
Amity tried her best to hold in a giggle, but she failed miserably. She ecstatically beamed back at me after letting it out. I don’t think I’d ever seen relief, awe, and excitement blended together so flawlessly. The twinkle in her eyes, her white fanged smile, the pure joy radiating off of her, all made that moment feel extraordinary.
The sound of our principal's voice ringing through the hallways interrupted our special moment. Though neither of us wanted to, we both turned our attention away from each other and towards the intercom.
“Attention students. It is time once again to announce this year's Grom royalty”. Principal Bump sounded rather unexcited. Was he regretting this year's pick before he even announced it?
“Titan help the poor sucker he chooses this year” Gus whispered, prompting a glare from Amity.
“You probably shouldn’t say that in front of last year’s poor suckers” Willow whispered back.
“This year's Grom Queen, and I apologize for this decision in advance, and I assure you she was not my initial choice”.
“Get on with it” Amity grumbled.
“This year’s Grom Queen… is Amity Blight… again”.
Shocked murmurs skittered through the air as everyone's eyes fell on the recurring Grom Queen. Unlike last time, where the attention shattered what equanimity the witchling had into a million pieces, the Blight now saw nothing but red. She gritted her fangs together so hard I expected them to crack. Her hands were tightly curled into fists, the veins laying in them being clear as day.
Finally, the furious witch let out a groan so loud it probably could’ve been heard in the human realm. “Titandammit, mom!” she barked while marching away in the direction of the principal's office.
…
There was something peaceful about the quiet outside of the gymnasium doors. On the other side music was playing, and lights were flashing, but on this side, there was nothing but still. That's probably why my awesome girlfriend chose to fight with her nerves outside of the crowded make-shift party room. She really needed some calm before the storm.
Despite being swept up in her worries, Amity still looked stunning. Unlike me, who was stuck with my Grom outfit from last year (hey, if I made it work then, I could make it work again), Amity had a brand new elegant purple dress that was mottled with lighter and darker purple splotches. Her similarly lavender hair was neatly tied up aside from one loose strand that draped down her cheek.
The worried witchling heard my footsteps. Her ear twitched curiously before she turned to see who it was. Once her gaze met mine, she relaxed slightly. Her attentive look melted back into her uneasy frown.
“Hey, Luz,” she sighed. “Come to see me before the execution?”.
“Com'on” I gently roused. “You’ve done it before, and you’ve gotten even stronger since then”.
My encouragement didn’t sway my love one bit. Amity stared at me with worried wide eyes. She had completely dropped whatever intrepidity she was holding onto in a moment of pure vulnerability
“But I had you with me last time”.
“And you’ll have me with you this time,” I reassured. From behind my back, I pulled out a light, gift wrapped box. “I even got you a little reminder”.
Amity gently took the present and, rather meticulously, removed the wrapping paper off of it. She then slowly pulled a slender and smooth dagger out of the package, in the meanwhile her eyes filled with a tender admiration.
“I don’t know what Grom will turn into this time, but no matter what happens, I want you to remember that I’m here for you”.
The consoled witch stared down at her gift for another moment, before her brilliantly golden eyes locked onto my love-filled brown ones.
“Thank you” she said softly. “I still don’t think this fight will be as easy as you think it’s gonna be, but I feel better knowing you’ll be there to support me”.
She leaned in to give my cheek a kiss, but I beat her to it. I pressed my forehead into hers, then gave her a delicate kiss on the nose. Both our faces flushed red, Amity’s a lot brighter shade than mine, yet neither of us shrunk away. We just stood there and enjoyed each other's company for as long as we could.
The sound of Gus’s holler was jarring. It startled the both of us out of each other's arms and sent both of our embarrassed gazes all around the hallway. Once Amity calmed down from the scare, she turned to me and grabbed my hands for comfort.
“It’s time,” she murmured.
“So, it is” I hummed back while giving my girlfriend one more caring look of pride. “I know you’ll do great”.
We walked through the gymnasium doors together, with our heads held high. Amity proudly strode to where Grometheus was being held. I, on the other hand, hurried over to the bleachers.
I knew where I was sitting before Grom even started, or more, who I was sitting with. On the bottom bench, sat the witch bitch herself: Odalia Blight. She was just as intimidating and strong as her youngest child was, her perfect posture being a great indicator of that. But instead of having a warm heart full of kindness like her daughter, Odalia had a giant pit of blackness for a soul.
She was the reason Amity was forced to be Grom Queen again. She had asked (extorted) principal Bump into choosing her, claiming that her daughter needed to prove she could take on Grom on her own. And, to make sure she did that, she insisted on being a chaperone.
And that’s why I was sitting there. Whenever Amity looked over at her overbearing shrew of a mother, she would also see that there were people out there who actually supported her. I must admit that being so close to the woman who almost got me brutally slashed open by her husband's newest invention was a little scary. Okay, it was a lot scary, but I could bear it for my awesome girlfriend’s sake.
“Evening, Mrs. Blight. How have you been since you attempted to murder me?” I greeted as Gus continued to hype up the crowd.
Annoyed confusion made Odalia’s blue eyes shine menacingly. Her grimace hid behind her fake patient smile, her fangs similar to freshly sharpened paring knives.
“Ah, yes,” she humorlessly laughed. I could see her relive the embarrassment of her precious Mittens swooping down from the rafters, bringing her sales presentation to a screeching halt, before forcing the very weapon she was trying to sell to its knees. “I’d nearly forgotten about our last encounter”.
“I didn’t forget” I squeaked. “That abomi-ton that almost cut me in half is still in my nightmares to this day”.
“That’s the idea, human. I’m selling weapons, not common trinkets” she hmmed as she had to force her disdain for me down.
“So,” I moved on after a moment of awkward silence. “What do you think Grom ’ll turn into this time?”.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I’m sure it will be something horrendous, since she seemed to have so much trouble with it last time” Odalia uttered with a bit of disappointment lacing her voice.
“Huh…Well, what if Grom turns into you?”.
“Excuse me?”.
“I mean, it’s a possibility, isn’t it?” I went on as my fear suddenly melted. “You do put a lot of pressure on her”.
“Because that’s my job, heathen,” Odalia hissed. “The reason Amity's miles ahead of many other witches her age in magical ability is because I’ve pushed her to be”.
“Don’t take credit for all the awesome things Amity’s done! She’s brave and strong because she acts brave and strong, not because you force her to be!” I snarled. Without knowing it, I rose to my feet so I could be at eye level with Amity’s wicked mother. “Besides. There's a difference between supporting your child and being a hurdle!”.
“Are you saying I’m a hindrance to my own child?”. The witch’s snarl was lathered in an anger that she was barely holding back.
“No,” I answered snippily. “I just don’t want you to be surprised when Grom tells you that”.
“Hey! Down in front!” a new voice over the microphone shouted. It seemed like, while Odalia and I were chatting, Gus handed the mike over to King.
The small horned demon glared at the both of us. His floofy little tail twitched back and forth as he irritably waited for us to stop bickering.
“Are you two done?!”.
“Yeah” I cried out before Odalia could answer for me. “Sorry, King”.
I got one more good glance at the bitter old Blight next to me right as the fight was starting. She looked calm, but I could tell by the way her lip slightly quirked that she was still internally fuming.
As the floor in the middle of the gymnasium shifted away to reveal Grom, I got a chill of familiarity. I knew what it was like to be down there, how heavy the air felt as the first couple bits of Grom creep– what!
Before the chamber keeping Grom contained even fully opened, a black tendril shot towards Amity at lightning speed. Stunned by her surprise, the poor witch didn’t have the time to even think of moving. It raised her up into the sky, her golden eyes turning pure white, while it rummaged through the darkest corners of her mind.
Did it recognize her? Apparently. I didn’t know how it had time too, but it was obvious that Grom’s furocity was more than the creature's horrible nature. This fight was personal.
When the beast was done reading her thoughts, it tossed Amity to the ground like she was street litter. Without hesitation it began to morph into the shape of a witch. Unlike the blob of black muck that Grom turned into the year prior, the one that ended up being me, the beast decided to make an exact copy of who it was turning into.
It was slightly taller than the lavender haired witch, the beast obviously portraying someone older. Though the hair and eye color were different, the two shared the same pale skin along with a lot of facial features. It was almost like the witch Grom was portraying was related to Amity.
I couldn’t help but turn my attention to Odalia, a small smirk refusing to leave my face. And she couldn’t help but glare back at me from the corner of her eye. She was shocked to find that her own daughter somehow feared her, but she was also pissed at my reaction to it. I was really tempted to say, “I told you so”, but I wanted to live more.
“Nice try, Grom,” Amity scoffed. “But I deal with my mom on a daily basis”.
“Deal with me?” The fake Odalia gnarled back while her anger quickly rose. “You speak as though I’m some sort of pest, but that couldn’t be true. Look at everything I’ve given you”.
“Nope. We aren’t doing this tonight”. Amity raised her hand to draw a spell circle, but the fake Odalia was able to summon one much faster.
A thick transparent dome quickly surrounded the Blight. The miffed witch growled a small, “really?”, before she began to slam her fists against it and shout.
“Let me go, you coward! You can’t keep me here all night!”.
Amity flashed her fangs while a fire raged in her eyes. She looked like a savage wild animal, ready to tear whoever dare face it to tiny pieces. The fake Odalia, on the other hand, was calm and collected once more.
“Stop you’re fussing, Mittens. This will only take a few minutes” her mother huffed as she slightly stuck her chin up.
“What will only take a few minutes?” Amity asked as her outrage cooled into a frosty suspicion.
Instead of responding with words, Odalia simply snapped her fingers. As soon as she dropped her arm back to her side, two familiar voices could be heard yelling for help. Everyone simultaneously brought their focus to the left side of the gymnasium. Now standing there vigilantly were two abomination/mechanical soldiers, both being the newest model Blight industries had to offer. And squirming in their arms, desperate to break free, were mine and Amity’s two best friends.
From her spot on the bleachers, real Willow’s eyes grew wide in realization. Though it was not the same type of terror, the witch was just as frightened as her Grom counterpart. The real Gus could only gawk at the scene in front of him from the stage. All of the excitement he had used to rally up the crowd had faded into nothing.
My once stoic girlfriend was now quaking. Her fury towards Grom became an alarmed animosity. Her loud yowl was both in anger and panicked.
“What are you doing?! You promised me you’d leave them alone!”. She was no longer talking to Grom. Despite her words being directed towards the horrid beast, Amity was confronting her mother.
“I said I would let them back into Hexide, and I did,” Odalia corrected. “But they have proven to still be quite an issue, an issue that must be removed entirely”.
“No! You can’t! Let them go!” Amity screamed.
“I’m sorry, Mittens, but I can’t do that. You’ve gotten too attached”.
“Her biggest fear isn’t facing you” I thought aloud as I faced the real Odalia, “Her biggest fear is you hurting the people she loves!”.
Chatter arose from the students around us, most of it irate insults pointed towards the Blight matriarch. Odalia just sat there quietly, pretending not to hear any of it. She couldn’t say the fear was irrational in the slightest. After all, she tried to kill me just a few months prior and tried to justify it by saying she was getting rid of one of her daughter’s distractions!
“That’s enough!” another familiar voice called out.
Running to the middle of the gymnasium, and right in front of Amity, from either side were a pair of protective siblings. They looked very alike, one’s longer emerald hair and jewelry being one of the only things different about the two. They shared the same golden eyes their younger sister had, down to the defensive determination shining in them.
“You’re going too far, mom!” Amity’s older sister snarled.
“This is literally attempted murder! You are literally one step away from being a murderer!” their brother added just as heatedly.
“Edric! Emira! You need to get out of here!” Amity cried. “You’re going to get hurt!”.
“Nonsense” the real Odalia whispered. “I’d never hurt my own children”.
I had to bite my tongue as hard as I could. She couldn’t have been that dense! The mental trauma she had caused her youngest daughter had literally manifested in front of her, yet she still denied doing anything wrong!
“Your sister is right”. The fake Odalia’s voice turned poisonously pleasant. “Just step to the side and let me handle this”.
“You think we’re gonna just stand back while you treat our sister like this!” Edric shouted while both him and his sister stepped closer.
“It’s very sweet how much you care about your sister, truly it is. But she’s been getting a little too out of hand. This has to be stopped before something drastic happens”.
“You think she’s the only one acting out?”. Emira’s scowl rose into a taunting smile. “Who do you think dyed her hair that awful not-green?”.
The real Odalia gawked backwards at her two other children with a disgruntled look of betrayal. Both twins refused to meet her glare, Edric pretending to be too busy snuggling with his grom date, while Emira’s eyes wouldn’t leave the ceiling.
“It’s funny that you expected those two of all people to behave” I snickered before quickly being silenced by the elder Blight’s glower.
“We’re done letting you push our baby sister around!” Emira went on.
“You want to get to her? You’re going to have to go through us!” Edric howled.
The fake twins both looked so confident, as if their mother could never bring herself to punish her perfect little angels. And, at first, they were right. The fake Odalia stood there hesitant for a minute, her head bent down as she tried her best to fight her inner turmoil.
“Don’t take this personally” the Blight finally responded. “You both will always be my precious little gems”.
No one had any time to think about the fake Odalia’s response. From where Grom’s three imitations stood, a bright flurry of pink bolts blinded everyone in the crowd with a violent flash. I instantaneously covered my eyes, which were burning like the wick of a candle that had been soaked in oil. A chorus of surprised yelps in pain, mine included, nearly drowned out Amity’s cry of terror.
My vision was welcomed back by a gruesome sight. The fake twins were both on their hands and knees. Blood trickled down their chests and arms into a pool on the wooden floor beneath them; despite it being warm, it caused both witchlings to vigorously shiver. Their chests were heaving up and down, with every breath they took being a sickening gasp.
They both stayed like that for a few moments until they synchronously collapsed back into a pile of black goop. You think that the sight of Grom’s sludge would’ve brought Amity back to reality, yet she seemed to have just fallen deeper into her own mind.
“You…”. She had to pause a moment to swallow her grief-filled horror. “You killed them! How could you!”.
“We all have to make sacrifices” the fake Odalia simply sighed. “We must overcome our obstacles, even if we lose something we care about in the process”.
The real Odalia had given up hiding her distress. Her mouth was stuck gaping open while the middle of her strong blue eyes were as small as pin pricks. Her painted nails dug into her navy-blue dress pants, her hand twitching in irritation.
“She can’t seriously think I’d kill my own children!”.
“You’ve tried to kill someone she cares about before”. I couldn’t hold myself back this time. My own shock blew my caution into the wind. “What makes you think she wouldn’t expect you to do it again?”.
“But I’ve raised those two since the day they were born! They’re family!” Odalia spat incredulously.
“To Amity, Willow, Gus, and I are family too!”.
“I know it’s hard,” the fake Odalia continued, “but you can’t care for anything more than your success. Climbing the latter is what you were born to do”.
In spite of her daughter’s agonizing pleading, Odalia turned to the two abomi-tons and gave them the go ahead with a nod. The two soldier’s grasp on the fake Willow and Gus grew tighter and tighter within seconds. Both witches kept up their struggle, holding on to that little bit of hope that they were going to still escape.
A bunch of awful snapping sounds could be heard right before the tangled mashed bodies of Willow and Gus were dropped to the ground. Just like Amity’s siblings, they also turned into nothing more than pitch-like muck.
“Why are you doing this?”. Amity’s voice was now a hoarse whimper. Grom hadn’t hit her once, yet she could barely stand.
“I only want what's best for you” her fake mother purred with a look of sickeningly amused pity on her face.
“¡Tontería! (Bullshit!)”.
From behind, another one of Amity’s loved ones, a daring and rather dashing teen in a tux tutu combo crashed into the fake Odalia’s back and knocked her to the ground. Once her head collided with the hard wooden floor, the dome around Amity shattered.
“Hey, hermosa” the fake me chirped as she jumped off the witch laying down on the ground. “Need help?”.
It was as if the fake me had gone up and stabbed Amity instead of speaking to her. The witchlings’ skin was so white she looked anemic. She was partially hunched over, barely able to stay on her feet. Not a single part of her wasn’t trembling.
“Luz!” the younger Blight yowled. She pushed herself against me in attempts to shove me away. “You need to run! Now! Before mom gets you too!”.
“No. I’m not leaving yo–”.
The human imitation was stopped by Amity’s tear-filled eyes. Her stare held everyone in place, it being as strong as a thousand witches. Without words, she told me she loved me, she needed me, and would give her own life for my safety all at the same time.
But, since her willpower left fake me stunned, she gave the grom version of her mom a chance to recover and retaliate. Donning a nasty bloody nose, the fake Odalia leapt towards her daughter and her rescuer and snatched the latter by the back of their neck. She then slammed her to the ground as hard as she could, causing a resounding thud, and smashed her foot into the teen’s chest. The sharp heel of her sturdy black boot dug into fake me like a burrowing animal.
I tensed, ready to spring to my feet and rush to my girlfriend's side. After seeing her siblings and her two greatest friends be horribly slaughtered, I didn’t think Amity would've survived watching the love of her life be murdered by her mother too (And let’s be real here. I didn’t want to watch myself die either). Yet, when I tried to stand, a hand lightly but forcefully pushed me back down into the bench.
“Stay put” the real Odalia snapped. “She’s supposed to do this on her own”.
“You can’t be serious!” I growled back. “She can barely stand! We need to do something!”.
“The whole point of Grom is to face your greatest fear. And facing her greatest fear is something she needs to do on her own, not have some reckless criminal do it for her”.
“You call this Amity facing her fears!”. I pointed towards her daughter, who was now begging for the grom version of her mother to spare grom me’s life. “She’s not facing her fears, she’s just suffering through them!”.
“Have faith in your friend, human” the voice of someone I’d completely forgotten was there piped up. “She may be struggling now, but she will find a way through this”.
From the other side of his wife, an older witch with sunken golden eyes, ragged auburn hair, and concerningly pallor skin, leaned out to face me. It was a shock to hear him say anything at all let alone praise his youngest daughter. Hell, it was a shock to see that Alador showed up at all instead of staying home to work on his latest inventions.
The fake Odalia once again ignored Amity’s desperate pleading. As if she was smashing a roach at her feet, the grom imitation swiftly brought her foot up before vigorously bashing it into the fake me’s chest again. This time, Odalia put all of weight onto the teen making her ribs crackle like snapping twigs.
The scream fake me tried to let out was nothing but a bunch of loud wheezes. Her brown eyes shot as wide open as they possibly could, before they dulled, and her gaze stared at an invisible nothing. Her flailing limbs slowly went slack while her mouth slightly fell open and let her tongue peek out. It took a moment, but the fake me then turned back into a lifeless pile of gunk.
I raised my knees to my chest and held myself. I…what in the actual hell did I just see?!
Amity finally fell to her knees. She didn’t cry out or sob; all she could do was whimper. Her shaking had gotten so bad her tightly gnashed fangs began to chatter.
The grief-stricken teen stared down at the ground, too drained to look anywhere else. And, as she stared on, the fire inside of her tear-filled eyes relit. I couldn’t see what it was, but Amity saw something other than the wooden floorboards beneath her.
Whatever that thing was, it reanimated her. Amity had found her strength again. It was brittle and could’ve crumbled with just the slightest push, but it was enough for the witch to be able to carefully rise to her feet. The sound of her stirring brought the fake Odalia’s attention back to her daughter and caused her to scoff.
“Stop with the blubbering, Mittens” she snipped. “That girl was a criminal. I honestly don’t know why you’re so obsessed with that dull creature”.
As if her grom mother had said nothing at all, Amity raised her hand to draw a spell circle.
“You can’t be serious. Do you really think attacking a witch with twice the magic experience is a good idea?”.
Instead of answering, the Blight let out an enraged war cry. She summoned a spell circle while she sprang towards the fake Odalia with the strength of a tiger. The Grom imitation rolled her eyes and began to draw a spell circle of her own, but she was stopped by a sudden blaze of magenta. Fire mercilessly licked at her face, attacking the Grom witch’s eyes with its powerful glow. It surrounded her, making sure its victim couldn’t flee.
But the fire was tame compared to Amity’s fury. The lavender haired witch slammed right through the fire and into the fake Odalia, jabbing something tightly in her grasp into the imitation’s chest. The parts of it not covered in blood glimmered brilliantly in the lights of the auditorium.
I knew that blade I gave my girlfriend before the fight would come in handy.
“All my life you’ve been trying your damnedest to turn me into a hateful hellhound like you!” Amity thundered, all of her pent-up frustration breaking free. “Well, mom! Here’s your hellhound!”.
The mighty Grom Queen raked the knife stuck in the fake Odalia’s chest down to her stomach. The dagger split the witch’s abdomen in two; it was as if Amity had simply zipped it open like a duffle bag. Blood raced to the floor, trying its hardest to escape its fleshy prison. The Grom imitation’s screams fled the witch too, bolting out of her throat in a bunch of shrill howls.
Before the fake Odalia could even go limp, all of Grom’s sludge slithered back to the center of the auditorium and fused back into the beast's original monstrous form. Despite his ear-splitting roar, Amity didn’t flinch. She didn’t even bother to look at the creature in front of her. She just simply pointed towards Grom and sent her fire-spell after him.
Grom wriggled and squirmed in hopes to shake the many flames singeing it but that just made the fire spread. Its skin began to bubble as if it were a brewing potion. It’s squealing in pain grew gurgly and quieted more and more each second. As quickly as Grom had rushed into the fight, it was now fleeing to their prison below the school.
All the while, Amity stayed kneeling on the ground, staring at the spot the fake Odalia had spent her final moments in. Her anger festered deep within her. A vicious sneer refused to leave her face while she dug her painted nails into the floor.
The cheers of the crowd around her snapped the Blight out of her rage. She raised her head in panic and began to take in all the sights and sounds of the auditorium. The witch’s ears twitched in irritation. Her chest heaved as her breath and heartbeat shook her.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She hid her face in her arm while she bolted through the doors, into the much quieter hallway. From their spots on the bleachers, Edric, Emira, and Willow all gave chase, Gus following once King told him he’d handle calming the crowd.
I shot up, ready to race after all of them, but I first took a moment to turn towards Odalia. She went to say something, probably some stupid excuse in attempts to justify what just happened, but I beat her to it.
“You got what you wanted. And Amity suffered for it” I snarled. “I hope you’re happy”.
…
The moonlight shining through the stained-glass window turned my room a sleepy blue. They were loud, yet my friends’ snores actually added to the still of the night. Willow and Gus both happily dozed at my feet, tired from an evening of games and movies after the terrifying Grom fight. Below us, in the living room, Amity’s two older siblings did the same (they insisted on staying with their sister to offer their support, though part of me thinks they just didn’t want to sleep in the manor after seeing their mother murder them).
And lying beside me, right where she belonged, was the most stunning Grom Queen in history. Just like me, Amity was wide awake, taking in the sound of my steadied breathing. In spite of everyone's best efforts to reassure her, she still clung onto me as if her mother was about to burst through the door and rip me out of her arms.
“I really wish you didn’t have to see me like that” my girlfriend murmured as she nuzzled into my chest.
“Like what?” I asked softly, though I’d already known what she was talking about.
“You know, like a complete wreck”.
“Mi amor (my love)” I cooed while I lifted her gaze towards mine. “You literally watched everyone you cared about die… well not “literally”, they were fake versions, but still”.
“I know, but I really lost it tonight. It was like mom was trying to bend me to her will, like normal, but, instead of breaking, I… just snapped”. Amity paused, taking a moment to shutter. “I don’t ever want to feel like that again”.
“You won’t have to. I’m sure Grom’s not gonna mess with you anymore” I laughed, causing Amity’s frown to grow stronger.
“Grom’s not who I’m worried about. I’m sure mom wasn’t even phased by what happened tonight”.
“I don’t know. I’m sure watching her daughter gut her like a fish made her feel something”. When Amity didn’t respond I added, “I think your mom learned a very important lesson tonight”.
“I wouldn’t count on her treating anyone any nicer after this”. My girlfriend let out a little huff that I couldn’t help but chuckle at. The way her face scrunched when she was frustrated was nothing short of precious.
“No,” I purred before earnestly softening. “But, even after everything Grom put you through, you still didn’t back down. It’s like you said. You didn’t break”.
“But I still lost everyone I care about”.
“But you didn’t. It was all fake rem–”.
“But next time it may not be!”. The Blight quickly covered her mouth. She waited a moment to see if she woke Willow and Gus up before continuing more quietly. “And mom’s not the only one who wants to hurt you, either”.
I sighed out all the ache I felt for Amity. I pulled her close to me, bringing her head towards my chest so she could feel it rise and fall.
“I can’t promise you we’ll never be in danger again. But we’re all tougher than you think we are, and so are you. Tonight, proved that. And I don’t care what your mom says. If something like that ever happens for real, you won’t have to go through it alone. There are too many people that care about you to ever let that happen”.
There was another pause as Amity soaked in what I had just said. I could tell that she was still full of doubt, full of dread. Yet she sunk into me, gratitude radiating off of her like her own body heat.
“Thank you, Luz,” she whispered. “I don’t think I would’ve survived tonight if it weren’t for you”.
My only response was holding the love of my life even tighter. The two of us completely melted into each other, the still of the night soon taking over the both of us. And as that Grom night came to a close, I was left with one single question: Was this year’s Grom better than the year before?
No. The Grom fight was twice as horrific than Amity’s first one, and what it did to the poor witchling was just as awful. But as terrible as the beginning of the night was, I definitely couldn't complain about how it ended.
There was a silver lining to what Amity had to go through, and I truly believed that one day, Amity would be able to look back at that evening with pride in herself instead of a fear of her mother.