Storm's Hand (The Owl House AU)

Sturm was not known for liking the same things as other teens his age. Parties were one of the things he did not even remotely enjoy. He didn't even know why he accepted Skara's invitation to her birthday. He probably should have thought it through.

Skara's parents celebrated their daughter's birthday together during the day but were out of town for the night, so their daughter had the house all to herself. They knew she could host a party alone, so they allowed her to invite her classmates as long as she cleaned up the place.

In Sturm's opinion, she had invited too many friends. Sturm was antisocial, so naturally, he was rarely comfortable in the presence of others. The lighting hurt his eyes, and the music gave him an unusual urge to scratch his ears.

At least he was relieved that Amity didn't show up, and the food was good, specifically the sweets. But those were the only good things about it.

While the rest of the partygoers were occupied with other activities, Sturm, along with Skara, Boscha, and a handful of other classmates, sat in a circle with a bottle at the center (No worries, it never had any alcohol). Sturm was there because of Boscha's insistence.

"So what's the game again?" Boscha asked.

"It's my version of Truth or Dare!" Skara smiled, making Sturm cringe for a bit. "First, I'll spin this little bottle right here."

Skara reached over the bottle and made it spin. As it lost momentum, the bottle pointed at Amelia, the green-haired witch from the Plant Track. Everyone turned their attention to her before Skara continued to explain the rules.

"Now, the way that this works is that if the bottle is pointed at you, you get to choose anyone you want and ask them, 'Truth or Dare?'"

Amelia looked around, unsure of whom she could choose. Then her eyes landed on Sturm. It was the student she knew the least, so she thought it would be interesting.

"Uh, Sturm! Truth or dare?"

Everyone looked at Sturm, who was taken aback to be chosen so early. Regardless, he decided to play along.

"Dare?"

"You're like, super, super quick, right?"

"Yeah."

"I dare you to carry me and run outside as fast as possible."

Sturm closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, when everyone least expected it, the teen grabbed Amelia by the shoulders and zoomed outside. The second the two were gone, everyone else in the circle could hear Amelia's distant screams of excitement.

"WHOO-HOO! OH, YEAH!"

After a few short seconds, Sturm and Amelia returned to their respective spots, with the girl smiling euphorically from the adrenaline. Sturm's sudden motion created a gust of wind, making the furniture shake slightly.

"There. Happy?"

"Whoa, that was awesome!" one of the classmates smiled.

"Okay, Amelia. It's your turn to spin," Skara said, glad to see her friends having fun.

When the adrenaline mellowed, Amelia spun the bottle just like Skara. Eventually, the bottle pointed at the girl with the moon-shaped head, known only as Celine.

"Sturm, truth or dare?"

Skara was a bit surprised. She didn't expect the same student to get picked twice in a row. Even Sturm was surprised.

"Truth," he said, wanting to add more variety to the game and secretly wishing not to have his speed taken advantage of again.

"What is your greatest fear?"

"My secret chocolate bar stash being stolen," Sturm replied without missing a beat, causing everyone to chuckle despite the strange question. "What? I was completely serious. If that ever happened, I'd lose my mind."

Even if he was serious about it, Sturm still wouldn't have told her the truth. The less anyone knew about him, the better.

He wasn't lying about having a stash, though.

"Uh-huh. Sure," Celine said before spinning the bottle. When it stopped, Bo was up next.

"Okay, uh, Sturm, truth or dare?" Bo asked, causing Skara to get annoyed. Why was the guy the center of attention all of a sudden?

"Eh. Truth," Sturm shrugged.

"What's with the glove you wear all the time?"

"This?" the teen asked as he looked at the glove on his left hand. That was another truth he wanted to hide. "I, uh... I just like it."

"Is that why you wear it every day?" Bo asked.

"So what if I do?" Sturm asked, hiding his left hand in his pocket.

He was clearly not enjoying the game anymore. His powers were taken advantage of, and he was bombarded with personal questions. He didn't want to start drama by being rude, but he wanted an excuse to bail.

"Excuse me, I think I'll go get some soda. You guys can continue without me."

And just like that, Sturm got up and walked to the kitchen to drink. Skara was a bit relieved. She was getting peeved about Sturm having the attention when it was her birthday.

"Okay, I don't know what this was all about," Skara said. Bo gave her a strange look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's my birthday. Why is everyone focused on Sturm?"

"Because he's the one we know the least. It's about time he got to open up a bit, you know?"

"Right, right. Just spin the bottle," Skara said, briefly waving her hands.

Bo complied and made the bottle spin again. Sakra noticed the bottle was about to point at her as it gradually slowed down. For a brief moment, she was excited, but her excitement decreased when the bottle's top passed her and ended up in Cat's direction.

"Looks like it's my turn," Cat smiled. "Boscha, truth or dare?"

"Hmm. Normally, I'd choose dare, but I think I'll go with truth."

"Okay. Who do you have a crush on?"

Boscha flinched, and her face immediately turned red when she heard that.

"Can we switch to dare?"

"Nope," Skara smirked, eager to know her friend's crush.

"I have a few tiny crushes here and there. And... I guess Sturm's one of them."

When they heard the name, everyone went 'Oooooh', causing the three-eyed witch's face to burn even more. Skara, however, frowned at hearing that name. The guy wasn't even here, and he still managed to make the game about him.

"What? He kinda reminds me of myself."

"Is it because you can be a grump, too?" Bo asked, giving her a wry smile.

"Just... spin the stupid thing!" Boscha said, almost yelling.

Cat smiled and spun the bottle. After five seconds, it landed on Amelia again.

"Boscha, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Boscha asked, trying to avoid answering more questions about her crush.

Then, Amelia's smirk widened, and she tried to stifle her laughter.

"I dare you to ask Sturm to go out with you at Grom!"

If the 'Ooooohs' from before were loud, then these ones were even louder.

"A-Are you out of your mind?!" Boscha asked incredulously.

"Totally!" Amelia smirked. "And I imagine that if you back down, you will be out of the game!"

"Are you saying I can't handle a simple dare? I'm no quitter! You'll see," Boscha said, getting up and marching over to the kitchen.

Like she expected, Sturm was leaning on the counter, holding his soda. When Boscha entered, Sturm looked to see her puff her chest with a determined expression, not wanting to show any sign of worry.

"Hey, Sturm! Mind if I tell you something?"

"What is it?" Sturm asked before taking a long sip from his drink.

"I'd like you to go to Grom with me!"

The moment Boscha uttered those words, so many things happened at once. Sturm's eyes widened as he nearly choked on his drink. The three-eyed witch must've spoken louder than she intended because everyone on the first floor had heard her.

In a few seconds, everyone approached the kitchen to hear Sturm's response. Boscha was quite popular among those students, so naturally, everyone wanted to know.

Sturm had always wanted to be the center of attention, but these circumstances made him uncomfortable. But he kept a cool head, nonetheless.

"Whoa, that's way too sudden, Boscha. Ever heard of subtlety?"

"Do you accept or not?" Boscha crossed her arms, just wanting to get to the point.

Sturm looked over Boscha's shoulder and saw everyone's fish-eating grins. He briefly glared at them before realizing that causing a scene would not lead to anything good. Plus, he'd get a date, so at least he'd get something out of it.

In the end, Sturm shrugged.

"Sure. Why not?"

Everyone present lost their minds. They made so much noise that the neighbors most likely heard them. But amid all the cheering, Skara was the only one who remained silent. The girl felt like all the attention was stolen from her. And on her own birthday, no less.

It was the moment she felt something she rarely felt for anyone: Resentment.

The big day has finally come. Principal Bump had finally announced who would be this year's Grom King or Queen. And to the shock of almost everyone, Amity Blight was chosen.

Amity couldn't help but dread the night. Grom wasn't just some dance party. It was a ceremony meant to keep Grom, or Grometheus the Fear-Bringer, at bay. It was a monster that lived under the school.

Every year, the monster tries to break out, and a student has to defeat it before it can escape and invade the town. Ever the optimist, Bump holds a party and calls it tradition.

The worst thing is that Grom can read minds and shape-shift into an individual's worst fear. And Amity's, in her words, was very embarrassing.

When she explained the tradition to Luz, Amity got the idea to ask Principal Bump to take the title of Grom Queen away from her. As Luz returned to the Owl House, Amity went to the principal's office.

She knocked on the door and peeked inside.

"Principal Bump?"

"Ah. Hello, Miss Blight."

"Would you mind if I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course not. Please, have a seat."

Amity entered the office and closed the door behind her. She approached his desk and sat down.

"I'm here to talk to you about why I was chosen as Grom Queen."

"Ah, well, it was a recommendation from someone. I found this note on my desk," Bump replied, opening a drawer and pulling out a folded sheet of paper. "Part of me thought it was you giving a shot at self-promotion, but I guess I was wrong."

Amity took the paper and unfolded it, ready to read it. It wasn't handwritten as she expected. It looked like it was made on either a typewriter or a printer. Despite this, she read it in her mind.

"Dear Principal Bump,

It has come to my attention that you are struggling to select the proper candidate for this year's Grom Night. I understand the risks for whoever gets chosen. It is not an easy ordeal to undergo by any means. Especially considering how dangerous Grometheus seems to be.

So I have decided to choose an appropriate candidate in your stead. After careful consideration, I deduced that Amity Blight is the best candidate for Grom Royalty this year. As you probably know, she has been the top student in her class for quite some time until recently. The way I see it, she can prove her worth and talent by facing Grom while giving everyone a good show.

I hope you'll take my suggestion into consideration when the time comes.

Thank you."

Amity's heart dropped with every word. She was too stunned to theorize who could've written this.

"Principal Bump, I don't know who wrote this, but this is clearly a mistake. I'm not ready to fight Grom. If my worst fear gets revealed, I will surely be a laughingstock."

"Sorry, Amity. But you know the rules. The Grom Queen is the one who must face Grom."

"Sir, please! There has to be another way," Amity begged, something she never thought she'd do. Bump sighed.

"Look. I can't take the title of Grom Queen away from you, but you may pass it on to someone else. However, they have to be willing to take your place. So unless you find a replacement, you can't back down. I'm sorry."

Amity was about to protest again. But stopped herself, knowing she couldn't do anything. She couldn't think of anyone willing to switch with her, so her hopes had dwindled. In the end, she sighed.

"Understood."

Amity got up from her chair and walked up to the exit. However, she did not close the door. When she was about a dozen feet from the principal's office, she heard the door slam shut behind her.

For a moment, Amity froze before she turned around to see who closed the door. When she saw the person with their hand on the frame, Amity knew she should've guessed from the beginning.

It was Sturm, and he was sporting his infamous smirk of satisfaction. He got his hand off the door and crossed his arms as he gave a small chuckle.

"I wasn't lying about one thing: I know you'll give everyone a good show."

Amity wanted to yell at him. To tell him he was a horrible person for trying to put her through such a terrible thing. But she couldn't find the words. She kept staring at him silently, only imagining what he could do once her fears were revealed.

Sturm let his arms fall to his sides, but he kept smirking.

"Have fun."

And just like that, Sturm was gone as quickly as a flash. He ran past her, leaving a blur and a gust of wind behind. When he was out of sight, Amity sighed, feeling more alone than ever.

Grom Night was in a few hours. Sturm wasn't the type to feel nervous about social gatherings (probably because he avoided most of them). But he was a bit worried about being bad at dancing. He'd never danced with anyone before, let alone attending Grom.

Fortunately, he watched a few clips about the basics at the library to learn a few moves. Now, all he needed was practice. When he was sure no one was around, he entered Hexside's gym and took a dummy around his height.

He made the dummy place its hands on his shoulders, and he put his hands on its hips. Once he got in position, he took a deep breath.

"Okay. Here we go."

And with that, he imagined the music and began dancing with the dummy, making sure not to step on its feet. He began imagining being there at the dance, imagining being in front of Boscha. He could practically hear that girl's comments about his moves, saying his moves weren't half bad. At first, Sturm thought it was totally ridiculous. But eventually, he started to get the gist of it. It might have been awkward, but it was a start.

However, his little practice abruptly stopped when he heard a few strange sounds from behind.

He quickly turned around and saw Edric and Emira standing in the doorway, holding up their scrolls.

"Nice moves, Sparkles! I'm sure your date will love it," Emira giggled.

"Wonder if I'll get more followers on Penstagram with this," Edric smirked.

Sturm frowned at the twins as they kept recording. However, a second later, a mischievous grin crept on the red-eyed teen's face before zooming over to them, grabbing their scrolls.

"Yoink!"

And in the next second, he zoomed back to his original spot and shook the scrolls towards the teens.

"Hey!" Edric yelled.

"Give them back, Sparkles!" Emira added.

"Oh, I'll give 'em back," Sturm smiled. "After I delete the footage. Oh, and after you stop calling me Sparkles."

The twins rushed toward him, but Sturm laughed and ran past them with the scrolls. The twins chased after him. Sturm would occasionally stop to let the twins get closer, and whenever the two got too close, Sturm would dash a few feet further.

After a few minutes, he gave the scrolls back.

The moment had finally come. The sun had finally set, and it was time for the dance to begin. Skara was well prepared. She was very bummed out since her birthday party. Everyone seemed to ignore her after Sturm accepted Boscha's invitation. It was like she wasn't even there.

However, things became better when that bat-eared student from the Beast Keeping Track asked her out. For the first time in days, she felt happy. She and her partner arrived at the school wearing suits and bowties of different colors.

Upon entering the gym, the music hadn't started playing yet despite the presence of a few students.

"Oh, Batson. I'm glad you decided to ask me out," Skara started, holding onto her partner's arm. "I've been in a bad mood the whole week."

"No worries," Batson smiled sweetly. "I liked you for quite a while. And I figured some fun would do you some good."

"You're the sweetest guy I ever met, you know that?" Skara sighed.

"Heh. Then you must not know too many guys," Batson joked, getting a giggle from Skara in the process.

When they got to the dance floor, Skara looked back and saw Boscha enter the gym, wearing an indigo dress. However, she was on her own. Skara was glad to see her friend and was stunned by the pretty dress. The girl ran over to the three-eyed witch and held her hands.

"Boscha! There you are!" Skara beamed. "You look stunning!"

"Haha. I know I do," Skara smirked, placing her left hand on her hip. "You don't look half-bad yourself, especially your partner over there."

"Thanks!" Batson smiled, not seeming to notice Boscha's slightly condescending tone. "Say, did you come here alone?"

"No. My date should arrive at any moment," Boscha replied.

"How about a millisecond?" said a familiar voice from the right.

Boscha, Skara, and Batson all jumped and yelped in surprise. They looked to see who it was, and it turned out to be Sturm. The three teenagers neither saw nor heard him enter the red-eyed teen enter the gym.

Sturm was wearing a simple light gray suit and white shirt. However, he still had the glove on.

"Oh. It's you," Skara said, glaring at the person who ruined her birthday.

"Hey there, Sturm!" Boscha smiled. "So, no bowtie?"

"Yeah, I couldn't find any good ones," he replied.

"Wow. I bet it was hard work looking for a suit," Skara said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry?" Sturm asked, slightly bothered by Skara's passive-aggressiveness.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Skara said, looking away from Sturm and waving her hand. "Please, enjoy yourself. And make the party about yourself while you're at it."

"What's your problem?" Sturm asked again, getting closer to Skara with a confrontational expression. The girl turned around with an angry look.

"Oh, please. We both know that you'll do the same thing you did on my birthday. You'll just make yourself the center of attention."

Sturm looked at Skara and raised an eyebrow. He almost couldn't believe what he'd heard.

"Is that what you're upset about? Your party was five days ago. Get over it already."

"Get over it?! Do you know how hard I worked and how much I planned for it? And because of you, everyone acted like I wasn't there!"

"One, I never tried to take the attention from you. At least, not intentionally. And two, if your guests found a loner like me more interesting, then you were clearly doing something wrong."

That struck a nerve. Skara's glare intensified, and she clenched her fists as her anger began to boil over.

"Why, you-"

"Now, now. Calm down, Skara," Batson said, putting his hands on Skara's shoulder to calm her down. "Let's get you some snacks."

Batson pulled Skara away from Sturm before the situation could escalate. Sturm looked on at the girl with a blank look.

"Wow. What a child," Sturm said as he crossed her arms.

"Eh, I've seen her get like that before. It'll be over soon," Boscha said dismissively.

"Isn't she, like, your friend?" Sturm asked.

"She is. And she always listens to me."

"Why didn't you say anything when she talked to me like that?"

"I may like drama, but I prefer not to get dragged into my friends' problems," Boscha said, waving her hand slightly.

As she said it, music started playing from instruments that played themselves. The students that came asked their dates if they wanted to dance. And they did so, most of them being very awkward with one another.

Sturm and Boscha watched the others until they looked at each other. Boscha looked embarrassed, and while averting her eyes from Sturm, she lifted her hand to her date.

"Are we gonna dance or what?"

"Better than standing there awkwardly," Sturm replied, taking Boscha's hand and taking her to the dance floor.

Boscha put her free hand on her date's shoulder, and Sturm placed his hand on her hip. Boscha tried to take the lead by moving faster than Sturm, catching him off guard.

"Whoa, what're you doing?"

"Dancing to the music, what else?" Boscha replied, slightly irritated.

"You move like you need to go to the bathroom," Sturm said, causing his date to stop moving. "You've never danced before, have you?"

Boscha was about to give a witty reply but quickly stopped herself. He managed to point out something even she never realized.

"No... I haven't. I'm only into sports, so I never got the chance to dance with anyone," she sighed in defeat and looked away again. Sturm glanced to the side before looking back at Boscha and smiling.

"Would you like me to help you with that?"

Boscha flinched before looking back at Sturm. She paused for a moment.

"Sure."

Boscha let Sturm guide her movements. Remembering how he danced with the dummy earlier, the white-haired teen repeated the same moves. It was still awkward, but it was leagues better than what Boscha had in mind moments ago.

The three-eyed witch didn't want to admit it, but dancing with Sturm was much more pleasant than anticipated. As time went on, Boscha's smile grew. Before that birthday party and much before the dance, Boscha thought of Sturm as nothing but a loner she had a tiny crush on, but now, she knew that his aloofness, there was more to him.

Suddenly, as the two danced, the lights in the gym suddenly dimmed and the stage lights turned on, revealing Gus in a blue tux and holding a microphone.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted demons!" he began, getting everyone's attention. "It's almost time for our main Grom event. Please, please, take a seat. And be aware that the first three rows are designated splash zones."

Sturm and Boscha looked to the left side of the gym and saw a guest sitting in the first row, wearing a raincoat and opening an umbrella. The students cheered, but Sturm and Boscha stayed quiet. The two walked over to the bleachers to sit down, watching as Gus encouraged the crowd to applaud.

"I see we've got Principal Bump in the house!" Gus continued. "Now, sir, I hope you won't throw us in detention because we're going to raise the roof!"

The spotlight then went onto Principal Bump. He was sitting in the bleachers. He made a raising-the-roof motion with his hands and smiled nervously as the students kept cheering.

Even though he didn't cheer, Sturm now had a grin that refused to leave his face. He was waiting patiently for the real fun to begin. Boscha noticed his expression and became curious.

"What're you smiling about? That kid's material isn't THAT good."

"I'm not smiling about the kid. I'm smiling because I remembered something I did after you asked me out."

"What did you do?"

Sturm continued to smirk as he closed his eyes and leaned back with his hands behind his head.

"I made Principal Bump pick someone to fight Grom. And it's gonna be great!"

Boscha was confused, but Gus was about to answer her question about a second later.

"Now, introducing our Grom Queen. You know her, you love her... you've at least heard of her. Luz, the Human!"

The students cheered as the spotlight moved on Luz. Sturm froze for a moment.

"Excuse me. WHAT?!"

He saw Luz enter the gym after looking back and giving a thumbs up. How could this happen? He made sure that Amity would be the one to fight Grom.

"You made Bump pick that human? That's cold, I love it! I dislike her, too. I knew you'd make a great date," Boscha smiled, eager to see what embarrassing things that girl had to fear. Sturm, however, was less than amused.

"That's not what I- Urgh!" Sturm groaned, placing his hands on his face in frustration. "How many times did she botch my plans? She's getting on my nerves now."

A black-and-red pedestal with insect legs and a red button skittered onto the stage, and Gus pressed it. The ground rumbled, and the floor opened to Grom's underground arena, connected by a ramp.

Two walls with weapon racks rose from the floor on either side of Luz. She picked up a flail and placed an ice glyph on it, giving it a blue glow. She ventured into the arena and looked around cautiously. Then she heard something from behind. She turned around and saw a black slime slowly rise.

"There you are, Gromarama. Not too scary."

Grom split into several forms and turned into cats with disturbing human faces.

"Luz, help me./I'm a man./Make me human again." they kept saying, making the girl shudder in disgust.

"Ugh, so weird."

She swung her flail to gain momentum and slammed it to the ground. A giant ice pillar instantly rose from the floor and rocketed out the cats. The students cheered upon seeing Luz fend for herself.

"And there she goes, folks! Using that characteristic human magic to keep Grom at bay!" Gus announced. "And now, to hand things over to my co-emcee: King!"

The students cheered as King climbed onto the stage. He stopped paying attention to him and continued to look at Luz. The night was already ruined for him, and he didn't want King to make it worse with whatever lame material he'd prepared.

Boscha watched the fight with Sturm so she could watch Grom destroy Luz.

Grom had transformed into a giant version of Luz's phone. The screen showed a fat guy with a neckbeard tipping a white fedora and a message bubble that said 'M'LADY.'

"You're not coming from a place of intellectual honesty, so debating you would be pointless!" Luz yelled before slamming an ice glyph down, which created a sharp shard of ice that pierced the illusion and made it disappear. The students cheered again, seeing Luz's progress.

"Luz has lasted surprisingly long. But what form will Grom take next?" Bump announced, taking Gus's place as the emcee.

"Let's finish this! Human-style!"

As Luz tasted the brief victory, Grom rose behind the girl, towering over her. But as soon as Luz turned around, she froze when she saw that Grom had taken another form. It looked just like Eda but... different. More monstrous. And it crept toward her.

Sturm was surprised. He looked at Eda from across the gym and noticed some students were also looking at her. The Owl Lady groaned and hid her face with her head.

"Why would Luz be afraid of her own mentor?" Sturm thought.

Grom created a tendril, reached out, and touched Luz's head, making her eyes glow briefly. It then morphed into something new. There was a bright light, making Luz shield her eyes. She opened them again but was confused when she saw the form Grom took.

It was a door. The door that brought Luz into the Demon Realm. This got Sturm's attention.

Sturm watched as the knob briefly shook, and the door opened slowly. Then, he saw someone step out. It was a woman he had never seen before, but she bore a striking resemblance to Luz, only older.

"Mija?" she asked. Sturm looked at how Luz froze, shocked to the core.

"Mom! What are you doing here?"

Luz's mom stepped forward and looked around.

"Luz, what is this terrible place? Espérate un momento... this isn't camp. Have you been here all these weeks?" Then she gasped when she saw the flail in Luz's hands. "And is that a weapon?"

Luz tensed up and dropped the flail out of fear.

"I-I can explain!"

Luz had no chance. She saw her mother's eyes glow and seemed to tower over her.

"Mija... have you been LYING TO ME?!"

Suddenly, Luz's mother began to change her form. Her lower body was replaced by Grom's black, slimy form with four eyes, a huge mouth, and multiple limbs.

Luz stared at Grom, terrified. Then, her instincts kicked in, and she sprinted to the ramp to escape the arena. Grom followed after her. As soon as the monster exited its lair, Grom roared as it looked around at the other students.

Everyone screamed as they scattered, trying to escape. Boscha was one of them, and Sturm zoomed in the other direction to avoid being seen by the Fear-Bringer.

Sturm crept near the walls. And he saw the door. The exit was right there. All he had to do was walk out to be safe.

He reached out and was about to leave until he heard a scream from behind. Sturm quickly turned around and gasped at what he saw.

He saw Batson, Skara and Boscha holding each other as Grom approached them. At that moment, something stirred inside of Sturm. About a second ago, his only thought was to leave the gym, but now his mind was blank, and his body moved by its own accord.

He zoomed to the other side as Grom was about to grab the three teens. But Sturm intervened and pushed them out of the way. He may have saved them in time, but it was too late to save himself.

Grom used one of its limbs to grab Sturm's forearm. The white-haired teen tried to pull away, but Grom was too strong. The monster then grabbed his other arm before Sturm could use it to shoot a lightning bolt at it.

Grom lifted Sturm in the air as he struggled to break free. It then reached a tendril out and touched his head.

His eyes glowed, and everything went white.

When Sturm opened his eyes, he was no longer in the school gym. He was lying on a stone ground, and it was cold.

He was able to move again, so he tried to stand. As he got up, he got a good look at his surroundings. He was in the middle of a pedestrian street with old buildings on each side. He could see snowflakes descending gently to the ground, but the place looked bleak and dreary, with a thin but noticeable mist.

He saw dozens of tall, cloaked figures walking in every direction, each minding their own business and ignoring Sturm. He could not see their faces under the hoods.

The strange thing about it was that despite the dozens of people surrounding him, no one said a word. Sturm could only hear the wind and the footsteps made by the cloaked figures.

When he got up, the red-eyed teen began to tread carefully among the eerie pedestrians. He thought about trying to get the attention of one to ask where he was but decided against it. Something about those people just put him on edge.

When the street seemed to stretch on endlessly, Sturm heard something that broke the simplistic rhythm of the wind and footsteps. And it was right behind him.

"So cold... So hungry... So tired..."

Sturm felt the hairs on his neck stand on end as he turned around. He saw another cloaked figure, but it was different from the others. The figure was sitting on the ground and shivering with its head downcast. Its cloak was much dirtier, as if it hadn't been washed in a long time.

Curious, Sturm approached the figure. But when he got close enough, the person lifted their head.

Sturm's eyes widened in shock, and an overwhelming feeling of dread washed over him.

Whoever that person was... he had his face. But it looked older. The person spoke again.

"I have nothing... No one remembers me... I'm dying..."

At that moment, Sturm understood what he was seeing. The person in front of him was an older version of himself. But it was nothing like he had hoped. He dreamt of being powerful and known throughout the land. He dreamt of being respected, of being the subject of history books.

But here? He never achieved the goals he'd set for himself. He never joined the Emperor's Coven. Here, he was homeless and poor, and no one acknowledged his existence. And from the look of it, he would soon die. Forgotten.

It was as though he'd never existed.

This was not something Grom could just shapeshift into. It had to show him the whole picture by scraping through the darkest parts of his psyche.

Sturm hyperventilated as the dread started to overwhelm him. He could not believe what he was seeing. He began smacking himself, yelling in protest as he tried desperately to escape the nightmare. This could not be possible! He could not end up like this!

"No... No. No, no, no, NO, NO! NO! THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN! THIS CAN'T HAPPEN!"

Sturm fell to the floor when Grom released him. The monster hissed in pain as he got attacked. Batson, Skara, and Boscha cast their projectile spells to fend off Grom.

The monster retreated and hissed at the three witches. Grom then looked at Luz and remembered that she was the original target. The girl ran out of the gym, and Grom pursued her.

When the monster left. The three panted before Boscha turned to Skara and Batson.

"You two go on ahead! I'll stay behind!"

The two nodded and followed the group. Boscha, however, rushed over to Sturm, who was panting from stress, and he just woke up.

"You alright?" Boscha asked.

"I'm okay. I just... need a minute."

She helped him up as his knees shook. After a few deep breaths, Sturm managed to regain control of his emotions and get ahold of himself.

"Thanks for the save back there, by the way," Boscha said.

"Actually, I should thank you. You just saved me from a terrible nightmare."

"What was it about?"

Sturm was about to answer truthfully. But thought better of it. He thought the less she knew anything personal about him, the better.

"I'd... rather not say."

After almost thirty minutes, everyone came back with a celebration. Grom had been defeated, and Luz and Amity had been crowned as Grom Queens. Sturm stood next to the punch bowl with Boscha, holding a cup and glaring at Amity as everyone praised her and Luz. It took every bit of energy not to lose his mind. Boscha also glared up, but at Luz, thinking that that human did not deserve the praise she got.

The two couldn't help but get a sense of jealousy.

After the experience he got from Grom and seeing the worst possible outcome of his future, he mentally made a vow to never end up like that. The vision did not deter him. In fact, it motivated him even more. No matter what, he'd succeed, and Amity would be forgotten by everyone.

As the two looked on at the girls, someone got their attention.

"Hey."

Sturm turned to see Skara approach him with a regretful look on his face.

"I... just wanted to say thanks for what you did. Even after I was a complete jerk to you. I guess I was jealous that the attention got stolen from me."

"Heh. I get it," Sturm chuckled. "I feel that way more often than you think. But I should also thank you and Batson for saving my butt."

"So... you accept my apology?" Skara smiled, extending her hand to Sturm.

"Sure. We're square now," Sturm replied, shaking Skara's hand. Just then, Batson rushed in with a huge smile.

"Hey, Skara! Cat and Puffers are taking pictures for the Grom photo album! Wanna join?"

"Oh, you know I do, baby!" Skara grinned as she and her date ran together. Sturm and Boscha laughed at how silly the two were.

"I guess I'll take some pics, too. Wanna come, too?"

"You go without me. I'll catch up soon."

"Suit yourself."

Boscha then walked away. She got Bo and Celine to join her for the album. They took a few pictures, one with them posing, one with them making silly faces, and one with Mattholomule photobombing them.

Then, the girls, specifically Boscha, asked Sturm to teach that boy a lesson. This resulted in the Grom photo album getting a picture of the red-eyed teen throttling Mattholomule.