Storm's Hand (The Owl House AU)

There was a circle of scorched stone beneath Sturm's feet. The building before him had its windows shattered due to the shockwave.

Luz, Willow, and Gus couldn't help but stare at their classmate and how he had changed so much in such a short amount of time. He was breathing heavily and there was a constant electricity sparking everywhere around him, making him seem much more dangerous than he had been previously. And they were now genuinely frightened by the change in him. They felt like they didn't even recognize him anymore.

"S-Sturm... easy..." Luz said quietly, trying to soothe him while masking her fear.

Sturm's gaze focused solely on her for a moment. He growled, but he didn't seem to listen. His voice was distorted, and his growl was almost monstrous.

"Hey, it's just us!" she continued, trying to back away while putting her hands up defensively.

Sturm then clutched his head still clutching his head as he let out an angry groan. Suddenly, in less than a millisecond, he turned and zoomed off the school property and into the woods, creating a powerful gust of wind and a booming sound, like thunder.

It took just a few seconds for the others to notice that he had left in the blink of an eye. They wanted to go after him but had no clue as to where he had gone.

"What's happening?!" Luz asked, turning to her friends.

"How should we know?!" Willow replied, throwing her hands up as she noticed that other students started to look out the broken windows to find out what happened. However, they missed seeing Sturm.

Suddenly, the trio looked up in the sky and saw Amity flying on Ghost, dressed in her casual clothes rather than her uniform and holding Blitz in his palisman form along with a pouch. She quickly landed before her friends and ran up to them.

"Guys! Guys!" Amity's tone was urgent as she approached them.

"Amity?" Luz said, confused.

"Yes," her girlfriend responded. "Listen, do you know where Sturm is?"

"You just missed him!" Willow said worriedly. "He was very acting weird today. When we tried to confront him, his magic got out of control and he just left."

"Where did he go?"

"We don't know. Why are you asking?"

"I found a few things in his room, including this."

Amity then reached into her satchel and pulled out the precisely cut Galdorstone. Everyone looked at the stone with concern, wondering what the blue piece of rock had to do with everything.

"Wait, you found this in his room? What is this?" Luz asked. Gus looked closer at it and gasped.

"Wait a minute... I know what this is! It's a piece of a Galdorstone!"

Everyone's eyes widened once more, now even more confused than ever.

"A Galdorstone? I thought they didn't exist!" Amity exclaimed.

"How…how did he get one of those!?" Luz added.

"What's a Galdorstone?" Willow asked Gus, having never heard of such a thing.

"It's a relic that amplifies magic. I don't know how he got it... Unless..." Gus gasped. "He must have stolen it from the Looking Glass Graveyard to get a power boost! It's increasing his magical abilities and he can't control them!"

They all looked at each other with worried looks. To have so much power at the hands of someone like Sturm...this wasn't good. Not good at all.

"What do we do now?" Willow asked.

"We need to find Sturm before he does something dangerous!" Amity said urgently.

"No, we need to find Eda first! She'll probably know what to do!" Luz suggested.

Still holding the stone tightly, Amity handed Blitz over to Luz and hopped on Ghost. Willow and Gus summoned their palismen and started flying toward the Owl House. It took almost no time to get there. Once they all landed, they ran to the entrance, ignored Hooty completely, kicked open the door, and rushed inside.

"Eda!"

Luz and the rest rushed into the living room, where Eda sat down and sipped a mug of apple blood and King was sleeping on the couch. King and the Owl Lady were startled by the sudden and loud entrance, so much so that the little demon's fur stood on end while Eda almost dropped the mug and choked on her drink.

"Whoa, what are you all doing here so early? And why do you look like you got chased by a swarm of fire bees?" she asked before Luz stepped forward and quickly tried to explain the situation.

"Eda, we need your help! Something has gone super wrong! With Sturm, I mean!"

Eda paused for a moment. The name sounded familiar, and she tried to remember where she had heard it. She only spoke with him once at the Knee a few months back and hardly heard anyone mention him.

"Sturm... Sturm..." she muttered before she suddenly perked up. "Ah, that rude boy whose sole personality trait is hating your girlfriend! Haha. What about him?"

"He's gone off the deep end! And it has something to do with this!" Gus explained before pulling out the Galdorstone piece that Amity had previously found in Sturm's room. When Eda took it, it took her a while to realize what it was, and when she did, her joking smile disappeared.

"What? Is this a Galdorstone?" she asked.

"Half of one, but yes," Willow replied.

"They're real? Eda and I thought they were merely a myth," King said.

"So did we!" Amity added. "I found it in Sturm's room earlier. I think he used it to make a potion out of it."

Eda looked at Amity, perplexed. As she took in the response, she stumbled over her words before she processed the whole thing.

"Wait, hold on! He made a potion from one of those?!" Eda pointed at the Galdorstone for emphasis. Amity nodded in response, causing Eda to put her hand on her hip as she started to think. "This is troubling. I read that Galdorstones can be quite dangerous when used by inexperienced witches. It may have amplified his power, but if he can't control it..."

"...He might be too strong to stop," Luz finished. Eda's eyes widened as she realized the danger.

"If he drank a potion, we must give him something that will cancel the effects," she said, and the others felt a little relieved to hear there was a solution to the issue at hand.

"So, what would we need to give him?" King asked.

"I need this piece of the Galdorstone to reverse-engineer his potion and create an antidote."

Amity's eyes widened at hearing the solution.

"That's all? We can cure him with what you make from the Galdorstone piece? Is that our only option?"

"Well, we can always just kill him," Eda shrugged.

"Eda!" Luz yelled, making the Owl Lady snort a laugh.

"I'm just messing with ya. But seriously, making a cure is the only solution I can think of. We must make it as quickly as possible before Sturm does something stupid."

The others breathed a sigh of relief when they heard it was not a serious suggestion.

"So, you can make a cure?" Amity asked.

"I think I can try it... but it could be difficult..." Eda said, squinting her eyes as she thought through the process. "We need to know what ingredients he used so I can use the ones with the opposite effect."

Amity stepped forward.

"I may have the recipe right here. I took it from Sturm's room."

Eda looked at Amity, surprised by the information. Amity then handed the paper with the recipe and Eda looked it over, taking note of each ingredient.

"This is very helpful. I'll get started right away."

"Please, be quick. Someone could get hurt as we speak."

With that, Eda immediately got to work. She began preparing the potion, mixing the ingredients, and placing the mixture into a cauldron. Luckily, she already had the necessary ingredients to create the opposite effect of Sturm's concoction. For Sturm, it took him a couple of hours to finish the potion, but with the help of King and the kids, Eda managed to finish much faster. They all worked silently for a while, the only sounds being the bubbles from the cauldron and the occasional instruction from Eda.

After a while, Eda finished making the cure, stirring it, and finally pouring it into a vial. Everyone was very relieved and happy that the cure was successfully made in such a short time. Eda was already the most experienced witch and potion maker in the room, so she proudly added this moment to the list of her achievements.

After that, everyone then stepped outside.

"So, what's the plan, Eda?" Luz asked.

"Sturm needs to take the antidote. Once he drinks it, he should go back to normal."

"But we can't just walk up to him and give it. He can't be reasoned with and won't drink the antidote without a fight."

They all nodded in agreement again, knowing they needed a plan. They needed to find a way to distract or even subdue him, which was most likely the best plan.

"You're right," Amity added. "Sturm mostly uses lightning magic, so even getting close to him is dangerous. That's why you should all wear these..."

Amity drew multiple spell circles with both hands, causing some abomination-based suits to appear; more specifically, boots, gloves, and chest pieces for everyone. King looked down at his hands, feet, and chest in confusion.

"Umm...what are these for?" he asked.

"Abomination sludge can be a good insulator if the consistency is just right. In theory, they should protect you from Sturm's electrical discharges."

"Well then..." Eda then changed into her harpy form with the boots, gloves, and chest piece adjusting to her size. "Let's find the little jerk."

Everyone got on their palismen; Luz got on Owlbert while holding Blitz, and Eda carried King. The group took flight and soared high in the sky as they began to search for any signs of Sturm. Eventually, they floated above the Boiling Isles to get a bird's eye view of the Titan's carcass.

Everyone was hoping that they would be able to locate him soon and that it wasn't too late before someone got hurt. Their minds were racing with thoughts of the worst possibilities if they failed.

"Well... If I were an antisocial teenage boy with albinism, where would I be?" Luz asked, squinting her eyes at the landscape.

"He could be literally anywhere right now," Willow answered, realizing this would be tricky. It seemed like this search was going to be a lot more difficult than she had originally hop-

"There he is!" Gus exclaimed, pointing at what he saw.

Suddenly, something caught the attention of the group. They saw what appeared to be a visible ball of electricity shining brightly and approaching the Titan's left hand... They all looked on in pure shock at the sight. Not only was Sturm running along the ocean on top of the water, but he had reached such great speed that he was effortlessly breaking the sound barrier.

"Holy Mac and Cheese! Did he run all around the planet?!" Luz asked incredulously.

"That is just not possible..." Eda said, just as flabbergasted as everyone else before shaking her head. "But never mind that! Follow me, kids! I have a plan!"

Everyone nodded and began their descent toward the Titan's left hand. Everyone except for Amity.

Luz sensed Amity's absence as she followed Eda. So she looked back and saw that Amity was hesitant to follow. Confused, Luz floated over to her girlfriend to give her a look of concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing Amity's look of worry and fear on her face.

"Luz... I... I don't know if I can do this."

"What do you mean?"

Amity now sported a look of anxiety and pure stress on her face that she tried and failed to mask. Luz noticed her girlfriend's hands shaking as she held onto Ghost.

"I've known Sturm long before I ever met you, and he's hated me since day one. Now that he has all this power...I don't wanna know what he'll do to me when he sees me."

"I know, but we can't just let him run rampant either," Luz said, briefly looking away before taking a deep breath. "Look... I know Sturm's done some pretty messed up things, but you and I know that he needs help. If we don't bring him back to normal... he might hurt someone."

"Luz... I hate to admit it. But I'm too afraid to do this."

Hearing this, Luz took a deep breath and sighed. She looked away from Amity for a few seconds, trying to make a judgment call. After a short pause, she spoke up.

"I understand," she said, turning around on Owlbert before giving her girlfriend one last glance. "Me and the others will deal with Sturm. Alone, if we have to."

And with that, Luz headed down to the Titan's left palm to catch up to the rest. Amity was still hovering in the air, looking down at them, still frozen with fear, unable to bring herself to fly down and confront Sturm. She felt guilty for letting her handle this alone with the others. If the situation was any different, she would have helped with no hesitation. But it wasn't, so she couldn't.

Her face continued to sport that worried expression as she watched her girlfriend disappear in the distance with the others.

"I'm sorry, Luz. Please be careful."

Sturm hit the proverbial roof and went clear through it.

After his short, mindless journey across the planet, the boy finally reached the shore and headed in one direction. Eventually, he reached a town and passed through the main street in less than a second, creating a powerful gust of wind, knocking plenty of things and people to the ground, and even making some buildings shake. Even the guards were taken by surprise. They didn't even see Sturm as he passed through their town, leaving them too confused to do anything.

After leaving the town, Sturm entered a dense forest; a place where he could take out what remained of his overwhelming anger.

He started by driving his fist into a tree trunk until splinters flew all over. Ignoring the pain, he screamed out in frustration with the situation and rage over what he experienced and he resumed storming through the woods, breaking everything he could get his hands on.

For as long as he could manage the energy, Sturm laid waste to whatever tree was in the way. He had no idea where he was going and he didn't care.

After zipping around for a bit longer...he was there.

The rage suddenly disappeared when Sturm found himself in a particular spot in the woods... The entrance of a cave. Not just any cave. It was the cave he saw in his vision when he first drank that addictive potion. But the only difference was that its mouth was now covered in boulders, not even allowing air to pass through. He knew this was the place. He'd been there before. He was there when it was sealed.

He noticed something on the ground from the corner of his eye. There, lying beneath a small wild bush, was a pair of glasses. One lens was missing while the other was slightly cracked and full of grime from the years of accumulated dust. They were in bad shape, but they miraculously survived years after being out in the open for so long.

Sturm recognized the glasses, so he gently bent over and picked them up. He spent the next few minutes staring at the glasses with no reaction, feelings or thoughts...

His gaze then turned to the covered cave entrance... and he smiled. He smiled as best he could, even with the electricity coursing through the capillaries around his lips, giving him the sting of millions of microscopic needles.

Suddenly, a chuckle escaped his mouth. Then over time, that chuckle turned into shrill hysterical giggling, which turned into laughter with that distorted voice. Then, quickly after, it rose to an awful, uncontrollable cackle that echoed throughout the area.

He laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. He tried so hard to get away from that place, and after all the suffering he'd endured, he ended up back there.

His laughter was suddenly interrupted when he heard a faint snapping sound from somewhere behind him. He abruptly fell silent as he slowly turned around in the direction of the noise. His smile and now white, blank eyes were as wide as ever.

There was a beat of silence. Someone was trying to sneak up on him... And he could sense their presence...

"You have three seconds to run... Porter."

After a short pause, something moved through the bushes. Gus had turned invisible, but when he started running, the spell faltered, revealing that he had used one of Luz's invisibility glyphs. Gus sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, once those three seconds had passed, things took a turn for the worse.

Sturm launched different lightning bolts at Gus, each narrowly missing, either hitting the ground causing a small explosion, or a tree, causing it to fall off. Gus screamed with each close call.

"GUYS! GUYS! THE PLAN IS BOTCHED!" he screamed right before he found himself at a dead end in the form of a gigantic fallen log blocking his path.

Hyperventilating and panicking, Gus glanced around for a way around, but they were all too far. When he looked behind, he saw Sturm, who was in the middle of lunging at him with a horrific scream.

When Sturm was about to get too close, something hit him in the face and burst in a bright, mostly harmless explosion of light. Sturm screamed as he fell to the ground, closing his eyes. But he quickly recovered when he shook his head before looking up.

He saw Luz standing atop the log, holding light and ice glyphs. When she combined them, she created balls of ice containing the magical light, essentially turning them into improvised stun grenades.

She threw another one, but Sturm quickly recovered and fired a lightning bolt at the grenade once it was thrown, making it explode relatively close to Luz. Luz was temporarily blinded by the flash and got disoriented by the loud bang, causing her to fall off the log and land next to Gus.

Sturm watched as the girl grunted in pain while Gus scrambled over to Luz to see if she was alright. He then stepped closer to them with another sinister grin.

"Ah, so you all came for me... But my question is, who dies first?" he asked, curling his fingers into fists before raising his right arm.

But before he could do anything to Luz and Gus, a vine burst out of the ground and wrapped itself around his wrist. Sturm was caught off-guard but quickly tried to pull away. The vine went taut and more of it was revealed from the ground. But Sturm was so strong that the vine snapped from all the strain.

Sturm looked around and saw Willow standing on a small cliff a few dozen yards away. From the look of it, she was nervous to see Sturm escape easily, so she quickly drew another spell circle.

After a few seconds, Sturm felt the earth beneath his feet rumble slightly. He rolled out of the way just in time when more vines burst from the ground, which would have ensnared Sturm completely had he moved a split second too late. As he quickly got on his feet, Sturm grabbed a boulder the size of a child and threw it at Willow. The witchling tried to block it with a wall of vines, but the impact was so great that it caused a small shockwave, knocking on her back.

Seeing that he hit the mark, Sturm ignored Luz and Gus and ran vertically on the side of the cliff until he reached the top. He saw Willow struggling to get up, but when she saw Sturm, she panicked and quickly drew another spell circle, trying to aim at Sturm. But the white-haired teen zipped from left to right as he approached her. Upon getting close enough, he kicked Willow to the side, making her fall to the ground with a loud thud.

She tried to get up, but Sturm harshly flipped her on her back.

"Where you going, Half-a-Witch?" he asked before stepping onto her chest piece. "I'm not done yet."

Willow grunted as he placed his foot on her, she watched in fear as Sturm bent over to get a closer look at the strange armor she was wearing. His expression showed an impressed smile that quickly transitioned into a mocking smirk.

"Insulated Abomination armor! Smart. But not smart enough...to wear it... everywhere."

His grin returned as Sturm took his index finger, made the electricity spark around it, and slowly drew it closer to Willow's face. The witch girl squirmed underneath to no avail, watching as his finger drew closer. Just one touch and she would be a goner.

However, she was saved just in time when a large figure landed behind him. He turned around and saw Eda in her harpy form. But before he could react, Eda dashed over to him and gave him a powerful uppercut that sent him flying a few hundred feet in the air.

As Sturm was about to fall, Eda flew over to him, grabbed him by the shirt, and twirled before throwing him to the ground. Sturm's body hit the forest floor and bounced around, making him grunt and creating small craters until he stopped himself by placing both his feet and right hand on the ground before sliding to a stop.

He quickly looked up and saw Eda land before him.

"You stay away from the kids, you brat," she said with a dead-serious expression.

"Ah. The Owl Lady..." Sturm smirked, standing upright. "The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles? What a joke..."

Growling angrily, Eda marched over to her opponent. Sturm attempted to strike her with his left hand, but Eda caught his fist and ended up interlocking her fingers with his. The same thing happened with the other hand, and Eda attempted to push him backward. Sturm tried to electrocute her with his hands, but the insulated gloves around Eda's forearms and hands prevented him from zapping her. Sturm managed to get his left hand loose and slammed his forearm against Eda's, causing her to lean forward slightly. He saw his chance and used his left hand to deliver a vicious left hook to Eda's face with an electrified fist, making her reel to the side and almost knocking her off balance. Before Eda could recover, Sturm leaped and kicked her in the face, causing her to fall on her back.

Before Sturm could go over to her and make her suffer more, he heard a voice from behind.

"Hey, loser!"

Sturm stopped and quickly turned around, only to see King standing on a boulder about five feet away. The little demon inhaled, and then...

"WEH!"

A burst of sonic energy came from King's mouth, and when it hit Sturm, he was sent flying backward and screamed as he grabbed his ears. When Sturm got up, he narrowed his eyes at King before zipping over to the little demon and grabbing him by the chest piece, holding him high in the air.

"Weh?!" King squirmed and kicked his feet uselessly as Sturm glared at him in annoyance.

"Stupid dog!" he sneered before spinning and throwing King high above the forest canopy.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!"

"KING, NO!" Eda gasped in horror before flying over to catch the little demon.

As Eda flew, Sturm balled his left hand into a fist and prepared to shoot a lightning bolt at her when she least expected it. However, that plan came to a halt when he heard a familiar clicking sound coming from his right. He turned and saw a familiar electric eel swimming in the air toward him.

"Blitz...?" Sturm asked, confused.

The electric eel produced a whirring sound, communicating with his owner through their connection.

"Why stop now, Blitz? They wanted this," Sturm replied in a distorted yet flat voice that Blitz had never heard come from his owner's mouth. The palisman tried again to reason with his Sturm, but the white-haired teen loomed over him menacingly as his voice changed from flat to aggressive. "Your purpose is to do what I say. And I command you to assist me...or you can join them in failure. Your choice."

Blitz cowered in fear. His gaze kept darting around as if looking for a way out. Fleeing was not an option. With a regretful look, Blitz drew closer to his owner.

And like the first time the two met, Sturm raised his forearm, and Blitz began to slither around it, creating a trail of sparks where he passed. In just a second, Sturm was enveloped in white electricity as Blitz changed into his staff form. With that, Sturm's lips curled into a wide smile.

"Yes..."

But his little celebration didn't last long, as he heard a loud whistle from the right. He turned and saw Gus putting up his fists. Sturm rolled his blank eyes and quickly pointed his staff at Gus, firing a powerful lightning bolt that exploded upon impact and created a large cloud of dust. When the dust settled, it revealed Gus completely unharmed. He dusted himself off and smirked as his body glitched.

"Made you look, man," he said before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke.

Sturm was confused and irritated while his eyes darted around for the real Gus. Suddenly, he heard a strange sound from his right, and his arm quickly moved to catch an ice spear meant for him.

He looked in the direction of the spear's trajectory and saw Luz standing on another small cliff, holding Owlbert. Sturm growled when he saw her, and he raised his arm, ready to chuck the spear back...not noticing the glyphs taped to the tip.

Luz then tapped the butt of the staff against the ground. Owlbert's eyes glowed, as did glyphs on the spear before they ignited, making the weapon explode in Sturm's face with a flash of bright light. Sturm screamed as he was stunned by the light and the boom close to his ears.

"Willow! Hold him down!" Luz yelled as Willow stepped into view and drew a spell circle with each index finger.

Suddenly, a bunch of vines burst from the ground below Sturm and wrapped themselves around his legs and arms, forcing him to kneel and not allowing him to release Blitz. Sturm thrashed and squirmed, snarling like a rabid animal as he tried to free himself.

"The antidote! It's now or never!" Luz shouted.

Gus stepped forward, holding the antidote in his gloved hands. Seeing the vial, Sturm realized what they were trying to do and thrashed even harder. When Gus got too close, everything started to fall apart when the ensnared teenager managed to get his left arm loose, the one holding Blitz.

Blitz flew over to Gus and smacked him hard across the face with his tail, electrocuting him slightly and causing him to fall. To keep the antidote safe, Gus threw the vial at Luz, who caught it with her hands.

Sturm began to rip the vines off his remaining limbs and when he was done, he used one of them as a whip and hit Willow on the arm, causing her to reel over. Luz was the next person he saw, so with a great leap, he lunged at her while extending his electrified arm.

Before he could reach Luz, Eda swooped in and grabbed his leg before slamming him against the ground, creating another small crater. Sturm quickly recovered and rushed over to the Owl Lady.

Eda expected him to pounce on her like an animal, but instead, he grabbed her right hand with his left and used the other one to bring it down at full force with a knifehand strike and slice off her arm at the elbow! Eda let out a loud, painful scream as she stumbled back. She had her limbs severed many times before, but never in her harpy form.

Luz saw what happened and her eyes widened in pure horror.

"EDA!"

As the Owl Lady continued to scream, Sturm used her severed arm as a bat and hit her across the face with it, making her fall on her back as she continued screaming. At that point, Sturm began to cackle maniacally as he proceeded to viciously beat Eda with her own arm. Eventually, Sturm threw the arm at Eda's chest and kicked her to the side.

With a gleeful chuckle, Sturm extended his arm to call Blitz back to his hand. Once Blitz returned, Sturm raised his arm and rapidly twirled his staff as electricity sparked around him. He then slammed the staff against the ground, and in mere seconds, the entire area faced a heavy barrage of lightning bolts crashing in every direction. It was comparable to the terrifying and awesome rage of a god.

As the magical thunderstorm rolled in, Luz, Eda, King, Willow, and Gus scrambled to their feet and ran around to look for hiding spots. However, they soon learned that it wasn't just the lightning bolts they should have feared. Wherever lightning struck, it caused sparks to fall on dry leaves and sticks, creating flames that slowly spread around the area.

Now there was no question. Sturm had become the most powerful being on the entire planet.

Amity couldn't see much due to the dense forest below, but it didn't take long until lightning bolts started shooting out in various directions. Even though she couldn't see anything, it wasn't hard for her to believe that things weren't going smoothly. And if things went bad, it meant that her girlfriend was in mortal danger

"This isn't good..."

Every time another bolt of lightning flew about, she grew increasingly worried. She looked down at the Titan's palm below, wanting nothing more than to get down there and protect her friends, but she couldn't move. When she saw the smoke rising from the fires, Amity looked on in worry, her eyes following the strikes as they flashed about.

That was the moment she decided not to stand by anymore.

"No... I'm not just gonna sit here!"

She suddenly snapped out of her state of fear and stared down with a determined look as she flew over to the Titan's palm.

Luz, Eda, King, Willow, and Gus were injured and cornered as Sturm slowly stepped toward them.

The group's injuries and banged-up states were evident that their hiding spots did them no good. Now they were either half-conscious or in too much pain to do anything. Even if Sturm didn't kill them, they would have to deal with the forest fire. As Sturm approached, he spoke to them in his distorted, mocking tone.

"You morons don't seem to get it, so let me spell it out for you..."

He then picked up a fallen giant tree trunk and held it above his head. Luz's eyes widened as she watched how he easily held it up, even though the thing looked incredibly heavy, likely hundreds of tons. Then Sturm finished his statement...

"I! Am! INVINCIBLE!"

He then hurled it at the group. Luz held her friends close and watched as the trunk rapidly approached her. She convinced herself that this was it. This was the end of the line. She tried to help a troubled person, and this was her reward.

She clenched her eyes shut and waited...

But nothing happened.

When she realized the trunk never came, she opened her eyes only to see Amity standing between her friends and the incoming trunk, having summoned a giant abomination hand to catch it in time and hold it in place. As she struggled to hold the trunk back, Amity looked over her shoulder and smiled at Luz, who gave her a smirk that said 'About dang time!'. Even though no words were exchanged between the two girlfriends, it was clear that they would have each other's backs.

Amity then threw the trunk to the side, exposing herself. Sturm's eyes widened as his grin faded. The girl stood tall, not cowering from Sturm anymore even though he was more powerful than she had ever seen him before. She stared into his white, glowing eyes, showing no fear towards him.

Sturm's expression turned into a hateful snarl. His rage and loathing for Amity now bubbling over like never before.

"Amity..."

That name alone was enough to strike a few nerves. With that cursed name came a face he felt sickened to see. With that face came a voice he considered worse than the sound of nails on a chalkboard. And with that voice...came a word he had heard hundreds of times...

You are worthless, Sturm!

Get away from me, you worthless hobo!

Know your place, worthless trash!

Worthless guttersnipe!

Worthless riff-raff!

Worthless! Worthless! Worthless! Worthless worthless worthless worthless worthless worthless worthless worthless!

That was it. She was the reason Sturm went to these lengths. She tightened the leash around his neck for years. All the threats, the blackmail, the sabotage, the insults, how she used to spend her energy thwarting him, undercutting him, suppressing him. For four years, Sturm had been far too hesitant to stand up to her.

And then it came to him... An answer so simple, he was shocked he didn't have the guts to do it himself before.

There was only one way he could ever truly be at peace...

Kill Amity

Amity looked back at him, seeing the look of pure hatred on his face. He had spent years building resentment towards her, and now was his chance to finally get back at her. But she was not going to give in to him. She wouldn't back down, no matter how scared she was.

She took a deep breath and drew a purple spell circle with each hand, using the residual abomination slime from the giant hand to move it close to her body and create something new. It quickly began to envelop her form until she was covered in a large amount of sludge, which expanded and took the form of a dome before shrinking, taking the shape of Amity herself.

Now, Amity had a fully insulated skintight abomination suit with spikes on her knuckles. Her face now sported no facial features except for her eyes, which had become larger and more angular with black sclera and her usual golden irises.

Sturm's jaw clenched as he saw Amity's defense against him. He knew that her suit was insulated too, and worst of all, Amity stood against him...like always.

"If you wanna hurt anyone... I'm right here!" she shouted defiantly. Sturm stood still like a statue as his glare slowly turned into a pleased smirk.

"I was hoping you'd say that..."

He then took both hands and drew a white spell circle in a wide arc with each one. The circles then multiplied and began to spread on various spots on the ground through the entire area. Once they were all in place. he raised his arms.

"Abominations, rise!"

Then the earth shook slightly as countless abominations rose from their circles until the entire clearing filled with goopy monstrosities...

Amity looked all around, seeing the hordes of abominations that Sturm had summoned. They looked...not exactly finished. They looked like they were still in the early stages of creation, not yet perfected. Some were disproportioned, some were too skinny, some were missing limbs while others had more, and their numbers were overwhelming. Despite this, Amity had to stay strong if she wanted to save her friends and stop Sturm.

From behind her, Luz, King, Willow, and Gus rose to their feet while Eda took her arm and reattached it to her stump. Thankfully, even in her harpy form, she could still heal herself.

Sturm then pointed at the group.

"Kill!"

With a single command, the horde charged toward them, groaning or screaming. When they got close, each kid fought against the horde in their own ways.

Luz used different types of glyph combos to destroy each abomination that came for her. Willow used her plant magic to either trap or impale them. Gus used his illusions to either distract them or lure them into traps. King used his sonic shouts to disintegrate his targets. Eda would use brute force or swipe her wings to cut and crush each abomination she could get her hands on.

And Amity...didn't get the chance to fight any of them.

She looked around, confused. Unlike her friends, who were actively engaged in battle against the horde, all of the abominations were just ignoring her. She was not attacked at all.

She looked back at Sturm, who summoned his staff back into his hands. Amity cautiously did the same thing with hers.

After a moment of anticipation, Sturm began to slowly move around Amity as the latter watched with caution, not taking her eyes off him for even a second. He gradually picked up the pace, and eventually, he began zooming around in circles, surrounding her in a tornado of dust.

Amity watched how Sturm moved faster than she could imagine. She saw the dust swirl around like a small twister, creating a cloud around her that made it hard to see him. Her eyes narrowed as she braced herself. She was ready for an attack from him, staying ready and alert in case he struck.

Finally, Sturm lunged at Amity from behind. She reacted in time, but just barely. She was able to get out of the way at the last moment. She dodged his attack and he came swinging at her again. Their staffs clashed, causing magic sparks to fly out. Eventually, Amity was forced to rely solely on the defensive, and Sturm was able to push her farther back, toward the edge of a cliff.

After a while, Sturm threw his staff at her. Amity swung hers to deflect it but ended up letting go of it when the staffs collided again. Once Amity was disarmed, Sturm used the opportunity to lunge at her. They rolled together until they reached the edge and fell. And Luz was there to see it.

"Amity!" she yelled. She tried to rush in to help her, but several abominations blocked her path.

Amity tried to regain her bearings as she was in free fall, and the air rushing past her made it clear she was falling quickly. She watched in horror how the ground seemed to approach rapidly.

She saw Sturm zipping around her until she felt him land on her back as he held her down. The two began to plummet at an even higher speed. Amity then realized that Sturm intended to make her crash into the ground below first. Amity decided to flip the roles, and she managed to spin Sturm around. As she got on top of him, she had the higher position and the edge. She put her hands on his chest and began to push him downwards, trying to force him to fall on his back. She kept her grip as he tried to push her off.

They reached the ground, Sturm fell flat on his back and screamed as Amity was sent hurtling to the side. Amity rolled and skidded across the ground before coming to an abrupt stop and groaning. She stood up, breathing heavily from the pain and struggle that the fall had caused. She looked up and saw Sturm still on the ground, writhing in agony.

Sturm sluggishly rose to his feet along with Amity. From one glance, the girl could tell that his right arm was limp, appearing to be dislocated from the shoulder. He was obviously in a great deal of pain, his breath coming in short and rapid breaths. She watched him struggle to stand.

He picked up a stick from the ground and put it in his mouth before clutching his shoulder and popping it back into place with an audible snap that made Amity cringe. His breath hitched and his eyes widened, clearly in pain as he did it.

She stared in surprise at him, wondering if he had just dislocated his shoulder during the fall, or if she was the one who had inadvertently caused it. Regardless of the cause, he seemed to have fixed it, albeit with a great deal of discomfort, and he now had his arms both in one piece. He dropped the stick, and his arm was back into place before zipping out of sight.

Amity's eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly disappeared from view. She blinked a couple of times before looking around, searching for any sign of where he might have gone.

Amity was on high alert, constantly looking around, but the trees kept obscuring her vision. She tried to look between the burning trees to see where he might have been hiding. She couldn't see him but she could feel his eyes on her.

She began to fear him as she feared a thunderbolt; she could never knew when or where he was going to strike. Even though she was nervous, she called out to him.

"Sturm. It doesn't have to be like this." She waited for a response, but none came. "Please. The potion you made is not helping you, it's destroying you. The Sturm I knew valued playing fair. You'd never cheat like this. You're better than that. You have to stop before someone gets hurt."

Amity suddenly heard a familiar crackle from her right and her eyes snapped to their widest when she saw Sturm pointing at her with lightning building around his forearm, ready to fire.

"Oh, that's rich!"

He shot the lightning bolt, but Amity jumped out of the way, letting the projectile hit the tree behind her. She watched as the tree got struck, its branches and wood instantly turning to cinders.

"Is that your best pep talk, Blight? To just give up on my dreams?"

"Your dreams are not worth harming people for! If you won't quit for your own sake, at least do it for the friends you've hurt! I can help you, but only if you let me."

"The last thing I want is YOUR help!"

Sturm snarled and built up electricity again. Amity rolled out of the way as he launched another lightning bolt, this time hitting the ground. She felt the ground shake and watched as the spot got scorched and burnt. She could almost feel him seething with pure rage – all aimed at her. And Sturm still had a lot to say

"You can never understand how much it hurts! To be so full of power and not being able to do a blasted thing with it! YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN ME!"

Amity nimbly dodged the next bolt of lightning, her feet dancing over the scorched ground as she deftly evaded the attack.

"Sturm! Sturm, stop! This won't solve anything! Your rivalry with me has gotten out of hand!"

"It's all we have! You had every chance to be my friend, Blight...and you've dashed all of them! Ever since I met you, all you did was put your boot on my neck! But guess what? I am FINALLY in control for once! Of my dream! Of my life!"

Her shoulders sagged slightly at his words, guilt and regret weighing heavy on her heart. He was right. She had the chance to be his friend, to change the course of their relationship, but she had chosen differently.

"Sturm, I know I made mistakes! But I never meant for things to end up like this!"

"Don't LIE TO ME!"

Amity flinched when he shouted as electricity crackled around him with a brilliant glow. She hid behind a tree to avoid the lightning bolts he created as they hit various trees around her and set them ablaze.

Then, the noise just stopped. All was quiet save for the crackling flames and Amity's labored breathing. Her heart raced as she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

Then suddenly, and without warning, an Abomination-made chainsaw blade pierced through the tree trunk she used to hide, just above her left shoulder, accompanied by an earsplitting buzzing sound. Amity's heart stopped and she let out a startled yell as she jumped forward, barely avoiding certain death.

She stepped back and watched the blade cut through the thick trunk like a hot knife through butter. Her heart sank as the tree fell over, revealing Sturm with an abomination chainsaw blade in his hands.

"You're the one who put my livelihood in jeopardy! Because you didn't want me to improve my life or get a lousy A!"

Sturm then turned the abomination chainsaw into a large, spiked wrecking ball and used it as a flail. He leaped over the stump and swung it around to hit Amity with it. She quickly ducked out of the way, barely dodging the weapon. She was breathing hard, her heart raced from the multiple close calls, and she realized that Sturm was not holding back one bit. Whenever he missed, he hit the trees so hard that they collapsed from the missing chunks as he continued to rant.

"I surround myself every single day with people I CANNOT STAND so I can have YOUR scraps!"

As he continued to shout at her, he swung the abomination wrecking ball at her again. It narrowly missed, the spikes tearing a bit of her suit.

Sturm then raised his arms and twirled the wrecking ball above his head at an insane speed. He then smashed it against the ground, causing a shockwave that started to form into a layer of abomination slime full of snarling mouths and thrashing limbs that quickly spread like a virus, covering the entire forest floor of the area.

As the shockwave expanded, it turned into a living, nightmarish carpet; the most grotesque sight Amity had ever seen.

"Holy Titan!" she gasped, her eyes widening as she backed up. She was already an advanced abomination magic user for her age, but Sturm seemed to exceed her in ways she couldn't imagine.

Soon enough, she found her space to move diminishing quickly as the area was being consumed by the sludge. It kept getting closer, making her back up until she hit a tree. A few slimy hands reached out from the abomination carpet, trying to get her feet. She could hear the mouths speaking in monstrous, almost demonic voices.

"Aaaaamiiityyyyyy..."

Thinking quickly, she used the power of her suit to shoot a tendril of slime up at the nearest tree branch. She latched onto it and swung from one tree to another, using the branches to move through the forest and escape those monsters. Amity finally had a moment of relief as she made her way through the forest, swinging from tree to tree, finally getting away from the spot. Thinking that she had safely escaped, Amity was relieved that the horrifying attack couldn't reach her.

However, her moment of peace was interrupted when she heard the sound of wood cracking. She immediately looked to her right and saw Sturm bouncing off a tree branch and lunging at her. Her eyes had barely registered the sight of Sturm flying towards her at full speed before he tackled her out of the air, causing them both to fall.

The tendril snapped and Amity quickly tried to shoot up another one but Sturm grabbed her foot and dragged her down with him, crashing to the earth below. Amity landed with a thud, and the wind got knocked out of her.

Sturm quickly got up and grabbed her by the collar of her bodysuit, lifting her off her feet.

"You're calling yourself a 'great' witch, huh?"

He then proceeded to slam her body against the nearest tree, taking off a huge chunk of the trunk. Thankfully, the suit managed to cushion some of the impact. Sturm then repeated the process with another tree. And again. After the fourth time, he threw her away until she landed on her stomach.

Sturm slowly drew closer as Amity tried to get up. She put up her fists to keep fighting...but Sturm delivered one last line...

"Well, if you were half the witch you pretend to be, I would not spend every second of every single day hoping that you die!"

Amity could feel the guilt wash over her as she realized how her actions had affected him. After hearing the whole rant, she was horrified by what kind of person she'd shaped Sturm into. She slowly lowered her stance, the rage and bitterness in her heart suddenly starting to melt away, and she became filled with a mix of guilt and sadness as she stared at him.

"Sturm... I'm s-"

Upon seeing Amity lower her guard, Sturm lunged at her. Amity grunted and stumbled back as she got punched in the face. While she was open, Sturm reached his hand out and grabbed the face of her suit and then ripped it off like a mask, revealing her face.

Amity gasped, but Sturm wouldn't let that sink in for her, as he began to assault her with a barrage of shock-infused first. Amity tried to shield herself from the punches with her arms, but while her suit protected her from the electricity, it wasn't strong enough to spare her the pain.

"STURM, STOP! PLEASE!"

After a brief beating, Sturm grabbed her arms and pushed them aside, giving them the opening he needed to grab the collar of her suit and rip it off the same way he did with the mask, exposing the clothes on her torso. Her eyes widened in even greater horror as she felt him tearing her suit off. That suit was her best protection; a barrier against Sturm's harmful electricity. Now that it was gone, she was a dead woman.

Sturm zipped closer to Amity and began to deliver blow after blow to the girl's upper body and face, making her scream with each strike. After what felt like an eternity, Sturm finished it by giving Amity an uppercut that sent her flying a few feet in the air.

Sturm leaped high above her as she fell on her back and threw his body on top of hers, straddling her and harshly gripping Amity's chest, releasing a powerful surge of electricity. Lightning crackled and raced all over her body, causing an intense, excruciating pain that ran through her, driving her to let out a terrible shriek. Her body convulsed involuntarily as the electricity continued to surge through her, her body seizing up and spasming. The pain was unbearable, and it felt like her entire body was on fire.

Sturm pulled his hand away and clenched his right fist before raising it above his head. Amity blinked, feeling her body slowly stop convulsing. She stared up at him, terrified. Desperate pleas of mercy escaped her mouth but Sturm couldn't make out a word she was saying. Nor did he care to hear them.

With a furious yell, he brought down the fist to Amity's chest.

Amity's breath momentarily got knocked out of her as her ribcage buckled by the impact. With just one punch, her heart had stopped. An overwhelming numbness began to wash over her as her body slowly began to shut down.

Her eyes closed as she felt the last bit of strength leave her. Her head filled with cotton, and soon, she fell into a deep, silent sleep. The last thing she saw was Sturm's face etched with pure rage before everything went dark.

Sturm sat there, breathing heavily from the adrenaline coursing through his veins just moments before. As he slowly returned to his senses, he realized what he had done. His eyes widened as he looked at his fist in disbelief before gazing at the motionless witch girl.

Back to Luz and her friends, they still kept on fending off the horde... No matter how many golems they fought, they just kept coming. With each abomination they destroyed, another one would take its place.

"How many more of them are there?!" Gus asked while using a fire glyph given by Luz to melt a burly abomination.

"Oh, I hate those things so much!" Willow said exasperatedly, having destroyed so many golems that she no longer cared to count.

Eda, King, and Luz were covered in sludge after fighting off so many. Their strategies became repetitive and they were now out of ideas and energy to keep fighting. The group backed away from the approaching horde, cornered, exhausted, and with no hope of winning.

"Alright, guys! Get ready!" Luz said, preparing more glyphs to keep herself in the fight...

But then...something changed.

The horde stopped its advance and each golem began to melt instantly, and their puddles evaporated...

Everyone in the group lowered their guard as they watched in confusion...before they had a chance to comment on that, they noticed that their insulated armor pieces began to melt away in the same manner, puzzling them even further.

"Uh... Did we win?" King asked half-heartedly.

But Luz couldn't brush off what just happened. She thought for a moment, trying to come up with a theory as to why their armor disappeared.

Then a harrowing idea popped up in her head.

She gasped... It couldn't be!

"No!"

Without even thinking, Luz rushed ahead to where she last saw Amity. She didn't care what she had to go through, she just wanted to see if her girlfriend was okay. Seeing Luz so scared, everyone followed her, beginning to think the same thing.

Amity's body lay motionless on the ground, frozen in place after Sturm struck her chest. Her eyes were shut, and her face was eerily calm. Sturm stared at her, waiting for any sign of movement or breathing, but her chest remained still. She was not showing any signs of life.

Sturm began to wrestle with his own thoughts, questioning why he wasn't feeling the emotions he believed he should have felt: the joy, the triumph, the satisfaction of winning... But as the feelings continued to grow and swirl through his mind, they slowly consumed him, driving him to scream in frustration, clutching his head as he yelled through clenched teeth.

"HRRGGH! I DON'T UNDERSTAND! I've won! This is what I wanted! ... No... no, no, no, NO! I don't want this! I don't want this!"

This realization hit Sturm hard. He felt a growing sense of horror at what he had done. He wanted this - he knew it. But now that it was in front of him, it felt wrong...horribly wrong. It felt like there was a hole inside of him. And worst of all, he couldn't do anything to take it back.

Or could he?

Sturm stopped his internal battle and came to a sudden realization. There was a chance to fix this. With his intelligence, he could find a way to undo the damage. The first step was to think quickly, his mind racing with thoughts and ideas.

"When you find someone unconscious, it is important to check their pulse. If you sense nothing, there is a chance they might suffer from cardiopulmonary arrest. In that case, you must call for help or perform CPR as swiftly as possible. You have only minutes to resuscitate the person before it's too late."

His hyper-accelerated mind allowed him to analyze countless bits of information until he recalled the mandatory first aid class he had taken back at Hexside. He remembered the lesson on CPR and how to perform it.

He remembered that the only way to resuscitate her was to perform CPR. With this knowledge in mind, he prepared himself to attempt the life-saving procedure. He quickly began pressing down on her chest and attempting to restart her heart. As he applied the chest compressions, a small surge of electricity began to flow from his arms.

"Come on! Wake up!" he muttered urgently, his voice filled with desperation.

As the electricity coursed through Amity's body, she slowly began to stir again. Her heart began to beat once more, and gradually her lungs began to draw in air. She began to move and twitch slightly but remained unconscious.

Amity's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she woke up coughing and gasping for breath. Her breathing was short and rapid, and she slowly began to move as she sat up. She rubbed her chest, still dazed and disoriented from the shock. As she blinked a few times, her gaze met Sturm's, and she looked at him with a mix of fear and confusion. She suddenly realized that he was the one who had resuscitated her.

Amity kept blinking, trying to process what had just happened. She had died. But now she was back, alive. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, particularly about Sturm. He had brought her back, but there was no way that he'd do such a thing. He hated her, she was sure of it.

She stared at him, her face still displaying a mix of confusion and suspicion. She sat in silence as she tried to understand why he had brought her back. Was it out of pity? Did he actually care? Or was he planning to torment her further? Either way, she wasn't ready to let her guard down just yet. She kept her wide eyes locked on him, waiting for him to speak and hoping for an explanation.

"I may hate you, Blight... But I'm not a monster."

He finally got off her, his hands trembling, and she slowly tried to sit up. She continued to struggle to comprehend everything that had just happened. Her chest still ached from the CPR and the electrocution that had ended her life just moments ago, and she was still coughing and trying to catch her breath.

"All I wanted was to prove I'm the best...not this. I don't want anything like that on my conscience."

She blinked a few times, listening intently to his words. There was a hint of remorse in his voice, and she felt a bit less bitterness towards him despite everything he had done to her before.

As she slowly rose to her feet, Sturm turned around to face her, and she saw the anger through his tearful eyes.

"Why couldn't you just let me live my dreams?!"

As she heard him speak, a wave of guilt washed over her again. She knew that she had been the one to stand in his way, blocking him from becoming someone. For the longest time, her thoughts were consumed by her own struggles, not considering his. All this time, she subdued someone with great potential and power. However, hearing him express his feelings made her realize that despite his terrible actions, she couldn't keep holding him back any longer.

Suddenly, a glyph-made stun grenade flew near Sturm's face before exploding. Sturm screamed out in pain and covered his eyes, temporarily blinded by the unexpected attack.

Amity looked up and saw Luz leap from behind a tree. Shock filled her eyes as she noticed the ice and light glyph in her hands.

Luz called out, "Now, guys!" as Willow jumped beside her and conjured her spell circles.

From the ground, vines erupted and ensnared Sturm, trapping his limbs and forcing him into a kneeling position. He struggled to break free, but the thick, powerful vines rendered him immobile. The vines were now restraining him perfectly, stopping him from firing any more lightning or running away.

"Amity! The antidote!" Gus called, causing Amity to turn her head sharply toward him.

She saw him throw the vial with the cure at her, and she quickly caught it with one hand, clutching it tightly. A sense of urgency settled upon her, knowing that she had to act. She then approached Sturm, still ensnared by the strong vines.

Sturm thrashed and wriggled like a cornered animal, desperately trying to escape. And just like the last two times, he succeeded. He let out a shout as his body produced a shockwave that not only destroyed the vines, but also knocked everyone back, making Amity drop the antidote.

Sturm fell to his knees from exhaustion and tried to catch his breath. When his eyes landed on the antidote, his first instinct was to grab it. Everyone lifted themselves to see Sturm now holding the only hope they had of stopping him. They feared that if one of them made a wrong move, he would break the vial and become truly unstoppable.

But in Sturm's mind...this is what he needed. If the power boost turned him into a monster, then he didn't want it anymore.

He popped off the cork and chugged the antidote in one go, not leaving a single drop. As the cure traveled down his throat, his snow-white face began to sweat and he dropped the vial as he fell to his knees, coughing violently. Suddenly, the electricity began to surge, and Sturm cried out in pain as his powers went out of control. Everyone fled, taking cover behind a massive fallen tree.

A shockwave erupted, affecting the area. The sudden gust of wind killed all the flames created by the fight. Amity and her friends were momentarily thrown off balance by the impact. They steadied themselves, looking around in wonder as the shockwave subsided. A crater could be seen where Sturm had stood.

Luz approached Amity, her voice filled with concern as she asked,

"Did it work?"

Amity paused before answering, a whisper escaping her lips.

"I'm not sure. I don't know what just happened or what became of him. But... I think it did…"

"Should we check on him?"

"Yes, we should."

They cautiously approached the crater. As they neared, they were stunned into silence by the sight before them. Sturm lay on his back, his long white hair now even more dirty and unkempt than before, and his clothes were ripped and tattered to the point that they were barely holding themselves together. The tears exposed his forearms, revealing multiple scars in the shape of electrical branches. The glove on his left hand, however, remained intact. His eyes were also closed, and his breath was ragged.

Amity stared at him in complete silence before slowly approaching him. She cautiously and hesitantly knelt beside him, unsure of what he would do.

"Sturm?"

Upon hearing Amity call his name, Sturm's chest started moving faster, and a strange sound escaped his lips. Initially, it seemed like laughter, but it quickly turned into crying. His expression shifted from a manic grin to an emotionally distraught state as tears ran down his face.

Amity was taken aback by the sudden emotional outburst, unsure how to react. The others stood behind her, equally stunned by what they were witnessing. The air was filled with an uncomfortable silence as they watched Sturm sobbing. The sight of him lying there, completely broken and vulnerable, was hard to witness.

Amity took a step forward, kneeled beside him, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sturm..."

Amity listened as his sobs slowly quieted down, and he began speaking. His voice was filled with remorse and disappointment, his words punctuated by his tears.

"Heh. I guess that's it... I really wanted to prove I was the best. Even with all that power and knowledge... I just can't."

He then looked away and Amity's expression softened. She had always known him as prideful and competitive but seeing him so ashamed and humiliated made her feel sorry for him.

She sat down beside him, her hand still resting gently on his shoulder. She spoke softly, looking directly at him.

"Sturm... You don't have to be the best. I wish you could have realized that..."

"You don't understand. I don't want to live my life like... this."

Amity listened intently to his response. She understood the pressure he felt, the desire to be recognized. She knew firsthand the burden of living up to others' expectations. But it pained her to see him torn up inside.

"I get it. You want to be remembered as a great witch. But chasing that dream isn't worth losing yourself to it. You're more than your need for recognition. You are smart, talented, and capable of great things. You have friends, family... people who care about you for who you are, not for what you achieve."

Sturm felt a pang of realization hit him when Amity said that: she had no idea what was really going on in his life, how distant he had been from everyone.

He had never truly gotten close to anyone, keeping his distance even from those he got along well with, like the Blight twins. The topic of family was something he had always avoided, never wanting to delve into that particular realm of discussion.

"Funny. You just listed all the things I don't have."

Amity's eyes widened, slapping herself mentally. She had spoken from her perspective, assuming that everyone had people in their lives who cared about them. But hearing Sturm's response made her realize he was a lot more different than she previously believed.

She sighed and shook her head as she responded solemnly.

"I know there's no excuse for the way I treated you. I know I had my reasons, but... you were right. I didn't see your side of things. But I realize that it doesn't matter who's right or wrong. Because no matter what our perspectives or intentions were, we still hurt each other. And... there's no reason for either of us to keep going on like this. We only make things worse if we do so. That's not what either of us wants, is it?"

Sturm slowly composed himself, standing up while his legs shook. His expression softened, the bitterness fading from his face, replaced by exhaustion. A couple more tears spilled out, and he almost lost his balance before catching himself, his strength still recovering from the intense ordeal.

Everyone present watched in silence as Sturm slowly made his way out of the crater, his head held low and tears streaming down his face. Seeing him so weak made them a bit saddened. Amity broke the silence by calling out to him.

"Where are you going?"

Sturm turned his head slightly but didn't meet Amity's eyes.

"I'm going the manor to take a...well-deserved nap. 'Cause I haven't slept in like...three days. I need to think."

Amity watched as he reached out his hand, and Blitz's staff form flew to him. After mounting his palisman, he flew away without further argument or confrontation. Amity took a deep breath and sighed in relief, glad to see that he left peacefully.

Once Sturm was out of sight, Amity climbed out of the crater and looked at her friends. She locked eyes with Luz, Willow, Gus, King, and Eda, and gave them a small nod.

"I think he'll be okay. He just needs some time."

Sturm's flight over the forest was cut short, and he had to land soon after. He felt a nauseous sensation and sought support by leaning against a tree, taking deep breaths to steady himself.

He cast his gaze upon the surrounding area, and his heart sank upon seeing the damage. The once lush was now replaced by an ashen wasteland, the flames extinguished by the shockwave.

There he was. Alone. In the middle of the once beautiful creation of nature, now destroyed by the misuse of his gifts.

At least the bitter rivalry with Amity has ended at last. It made him a little happier. And yet...Sturm had lost by taking his revenge.

"I can't go on like this... I need help."