The angel of the owl house

Season 1: The Demon Realm

Chapter 15: No Crying in Grudgby

In the three days that followed Grom, Luz found her life on the Boiling Isles changing quite a bit, and almost entirely for the better. She and Amity were now officially dating, and both couldn't be happier about it, as were their friends. When they'd rejoined the dance party, their friends had pestered them for various details about their relationship, namely who had confessed first, if they'd kissed and so on, and with each answer, there were cheers and groans as they exchanged snails with each other. Eda ended up being the big winner, having correctly bet on who would confess first, who would kiss first, and how long it would take for them to finally start dating. It had Luz and Amity blushing, but both were too happy to be that embarrassed.

They'd danced the rest of the night, and both had received congratulations for beating Grom and finally dating from the other students. Edric and Emira had taken Luz aside and said she had their blessing to date their sister, as well as a big hug from them for saving Amity from the Boiling Sea. Similarly, Eda and King took Amity aside and gave their own blessings, though both were a bit more threatening, which Amity took in stride, understanding just how special Luz was to them.

Rasiel had ended up spending the rest of the party answering questions about angels so Luz could enjoy her time with Amity, and thanks to him, everyone who knew she was an angel also knew about her various adventures, excluding the one on the Knee and the battle with the Ice Wyrm. Rasiel didn't want his relation to the Black Tombs getting out, so he'd concealed that and passed himself off as the angel equivalent of an Oracle Spirit. The Hexside teachers were the most intrigued by him, but they ultimately decided to just let him continue to hang around Luz via her ring, sure that the honest child would never use him to cheat. In fact, now that most of the school knew Luz was an angel, they all knew she couldn't lie to them, so their trust in her word went through the roof!

After Grom finally ended (and everyone had a whole stack of pictures to take home with them), the newly evolved High Angel had kissed Amity good night and returned home, physically and emotionally exhausted, but happier than she could ever remember being. Luz looked forward to telling her Mami that she'd found love just like she had, even as she silently prayed that she'd have Amity by her side for longer than her Mami had Papi…

In the days that followed, Luz and Amity were practically joined at the hip, though they still kept up with their studies and hung out with their friends. Thanks to Luz's new mastery over ice magic, she now had all three elemental components of Healing Magic, replacing her old healing lotus with a more powerful Crystal Lotus spell. Since Ice was also the other component in Plant Magic, Luz's ability to produce plants had also increased, allowing her to create special crystal plant-life that resembled the plants that grew in the Divine Realm. Finally, the addition of ice magic had also given her a second elemental component for her illusion magic, making it much easier for Luz to cast them, though she still couldn't make anything but visual changes. However the primary power that her ice magic had given her was Barrier magic, allowing her to create effective magical shields that could resist huge amounts of damage, with fire alone being able to break through without much difficulty.

Besides that, things had changed a bit for their friends too. Skara had begun exchanging lessons with Luz, teaching her more about the Ocarina in return for Luz helping her improve her singing, Willow had begun learning to cultivate the crystal flora of the Divine Realm by caring for the plants Luz made for her (and unsurprisingly, she was becoming an expert), and Gus was learning ice magic of his own from Luz and Amity, wanting to further improve his illusions. Even Mattholomule had gotten involved, continuing his attempts to redeem himself after the Detention Pit incident by showing Luz how to apply some construction tricks to her ice magic, allowing her to make better ice constructs.

Then there were the twins and Multi-Trackers; Edric and Emira had ended up getting stood up to Grom by their dates (who hadn't liked the fact they'd each have to deal with the other twin on top of their date), but Emira had barely noticed, as she'd been completely enamoured by Viney. The other girl was strong and muscular, but also soft and kind, and Emira was knocked head over heels by her and had spent most of Grom flirting with her, and Viney had giggled and blushed, happily flirting right back as they danced together.

Edric had been a little more bummed that his date hadn't shown up, and that he'd lost the company of both his sisters, leaving him alone. Jerbo, who'd also lost the one friend he could dance with now that Viney was focused on Emira, decided to ask Edric to dance instead, killing two birds with one stone. Despite initially only spending the evening together because their other friends were busy, the two young men found they actually enjoyed one another's company a lot, and had become close friends, with a watching Barcus mentally planning to use his crystal ball to predict if the two would get together. He'd lost money on his bets on Luz's love-life thanks to her being immune to his predictions, but this was one bet he was sure he could win!

But eventually, things began to settle down and the school largely calmed down. Luz was a High Angel, but she was the same person she'd always been. She still wore her concealment stone to avoid outing her secret to those who still didn't know, so it was easy for all but her close friends to forget what she really was. All but her close friends, and a certain Grudgby captain…

The Friday after Grom saw the beginning of a new month, and for Boscha Alembic, this month was also the start of the new Grudgby Season! Since it was the premier magical sport, every semester (except the snowy Winter Semester) was the beginning of a new Grudgby Season, but the Autumn Season was the big one. The Spring and Summer Seasons were like qualifiers and there was prestige in winning them, but it was the Autumn Season that decided the year's ultimate champion. This year it was even more important, as the final match of the last season had been postponed after the Glandus team had gotten suspended, meaning they couldn't play, but now the postponed match was going to be played on the coming Sunday, and the winner would be declared the winners of the Summer Season AND get a huge boost in support and confidence right before the Autumn Season's first real game! What better way to start the season than by immediately winning the last one?

Boscha was determined to crush Glandus!

Boscha stood in her room before school, giving herself a pep-talk. "You are talented. You are a star! You may be hated, so long as you are feared! And most importantly, you are a winner! You are going to lead Hexside to victory! And the first step…"

She picked up a photo taken at Grom, that showed Boscha and all her friends. Cat, Amelia, Bo, Skara, Jeb, and Amity, along with all their dates were stood together, making faces at the camera. Boscha's three eyes focused on Amity; her predecessor as captain of the Hexside Grudgby Team: the Banshees, then shifted to the girl beside Amity. Luz Noceda, the school's High Angel.

"… the first step is getting some new recruits!"

Tossing the photo aside, Boscha finished her preparations and began heading to school. The townsfolk watched her go, and Boscha preened as she heard their words of praise and cheers. Most of Bonesborough were former Hexside students, so they naturally had a lot of pride and support for the Banshees.

When Boscha got to school, she found the place decked out flags and decorations in the yellow and blue of the Banshees' team colours, and a large banner celebrating their team. Boscha smirked as she walked to the top step and found her teammates; Skara, Cat, and Amelia waiting for her. It was tradition to start each new season like this.

"Ready girls?" Boscha grinned as her friends fell in behind her.

"Naturally!" Skara smirked as Cat and Amelia nodded.

Boscha grinned wider; "Good. You know the drill; captain goes first!" she declared, then marched forward and threw open Hexside's doors. "Hello Hexside! Your star has arrived! The grovelling line starts here!" she declared, pointing at her feet.

However nobody cheered or rushed to grovel at her feet. In fact, as Boscha looked around, she couldn't see anyone in the atrium at all! Usually at the start of a new season there was a big crowd to greet her, but this time there was no one!

"Where is everybody!?" Boscha snapped.

"Oh, they might be up at the plant track home room." Amelia said. "Willow wanted to practice with those crystal plants Luz showed her, so she's been handing them out to anyone who asks." the green haired girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a little daisy made from yellow and white crystal, resembling a carved jewel. "They're pretty popular, so a lot of people have been asking for them before class starts."

Boscha fumed. Once again, Willow was stealing her thunder! Ever since Boscha had gotten on the wrong side of Willow's Plant Abomination, it felt like the girl was taking everything from her, like when Amity had stopped hanging out with them, and started hanging out with Willow instead! Even Amelia was friends with the former Half-a-Witch! Willow's star was rising higher and higher, and Boscha couldn't bear the idea of it eclipsing hers!

"Let's go." Boscha scowled, marching off towards the plant track home room. As they went, Amelia and Cat began to look a little nervous, while Skara frowned.

"Girl, you know I'm your bestie, right?" Skara began, getting a nod from Boscha, "Well as your bestie, I've gotta warn you; if you're gonna mess with Willow then I can't help you."

Boscha froze and turned to look back at the bard girl; "What?"

"Yeah, Willow and I aren't exactly friends, but we're both friends with Luz and Amity. I don't want to start a big fight between us! And to be honest…" Skara looked down, "… I don't like being a bully. I've always got your back, Boscha, but I don't want to pick on people any more. A little teasing was fun, until I realised it was actually hurting people."

Boscha grit her teeth; "Fine, if you don't want a piece of this, then you can go do whatever." she said, continuing to head towards Willow.

Skara felt hurt, but she didn't want to ruin things with her bestie, so she kept quiet and headed off to her own class. Amelia decided to go with her, not wanting to mess things up with Willow or cross Boscha. This left just an increasingly nervous Cat to follow a furious Boscha.

Boscha was stomping by the time she reached the plant track home room, and scowled when she saw half of Hexside gathered around the room, watching as Willow produced some crystal flowers, with each student asking for different shapes and colours. Boscha's first instinct was to march over and begin making cutting remarks; such as Willow having to bribe people into liking her, but she wisely held her tongue once she saw that Luz, Amity, and Gus were sat with her. Gus was using his illusions to give the next person in line an idea of what they wanted before Willow actually had to grow it, while Luz and Amity were basically cuddling off to the side, giggling and being their usual sickeningly sweet selves.

The three-eyed girl cleared her throat and most of the crowd immediately got out of her way, letting her walk straight into the room and make herself known.

"So this is where everyone went." she said, keeping her temper in check by basically repressing all emotion so she sounded bland and bored.

Willow, infuriatingly, looked up at Boscha for a moment then promptly ignored her in favour of the pot of soil she was using to grow the plants.

"Hey Boscha, if you want a flower, you'll have to get in line." Gus said politely, gesturing to the back of the crowd.

Boscha scoffed; "Ugh, do you not know who I am? I'm the Captain of the Grudgby Team and today begins Grudgby season, which means anything I want, I get. And I want to be the first in line." she demanded, crossing her arms petulantly.

She didn't even want a flower; she was just flexing her influence. Neither Willow nor Gus looked impressed, but the person who was previously waiting immediately stepped back and let Boscha take their place. The three-eyed girl smirked, then ignored the line altogether and walked over to Luz and Amity.

"Forget the dweebs; it's you two I'm looking for." she said.

Amity raised an eyebrow, while Luz frowned. "My friends aren't dweebs, Boscha." Luz retorted.

"Whatever. I've got a proposition for you both." Boscha began, only for Luz to look away from her and return her focus to Amity.

"Sorry Boscha, but I'm too busy with my awesome girlfriend. Maybe if someone nicer wanted my help, I'd be willing to tear my attention away for a few seconds. It's kind of hard though, I mean have you seen this babe?" Luz grinned widely, taking Amity's hand and kissing the back of it.

Amity giggled; "You turn into such a flirt when you're being sassy!"

Boscha pretended to gag; "You two are sickening. Seriously, I want to talk to you."

"Boscha, Luz and I aren't going to help you right after you insulted out friends. Apologise to Willow and Gus and maybe we'll listen." Amity frowned. Her patience was waning as Boscha cut into her Luz time!

Boscha sneered, her cheeks reddening with annoyance and embarrassment as she slowly turned to Willow and Gus, the former smiling innocently at her while the latter looked a bit nervous. "Park, Porter; I'm sorry for calling you dweebs." she ground out.

Willow, loving seeing her old bully forced to apologise, was tempted to refuse to accept and further milk the situation, but she decided not to push it. Boscha was volatile when she lost her temper and she really didn't want her to set fire to the plants.

"Apology accepted. Here." Willow created a quick crystal lotus flower with red petals, and handed it to Boscha. "Consider it a gift. Go Banshees." she grinned, as her final words were parroted by everyone in line.

Gus accepted the apology too, and with the crowd now cheering for her and her team, Boscha's anger abated slightly, and Luz and Amity finally gave her their full attention.

"So what did you want, Boscha?" Luz asked.

"You said a few weeks back that if I wanted your help with Grudgby then you'd be willing, right?" Boscha began.

Luz nodded, realising where this was going; "You want me to try out for the Banshees?"

"I want both of you to try out for the Banshees." Boscha corrected.

Amity's eyes widened in surprise; she hadn't expected Boscha to try and get her back on the team! After she'd left the first time, Boscha had begged her to reconsider for quite a while, but eventually gave up. The fact she was trying again all these months later was surprising.

Before Amity could refuse, Luz smiled brightly; "I'd be up for that! I did say I was willing, and Grudgby seems like fun! What do you say Amity? Want to give it a try?"

Amity blushed; "M-Me? On a team with you? Running around in cute uniforms? Sweating!?"

She went tomato red, and Luz was tempted to kiss her to see if she could actually make steam come out of her ears, but she held back. "Of course! It'll be fun, don't you think?"

The lavender haired girl took a deep breath before she could get any more flustered, then looked suspiciously at Boscha; "Why do you even want the two of us on the team? You've already got a full team of three, plus one substitute. The maximum member of members a Grudgby team can have is five including two subs, so you'd only be able to recruit one of us."

Boscha nodded; "I know that. Skara has decided that if you two join up, she'll quit the team."

"What? Why?" Luz frowned.

"Skara doesn't actually like Grudgby. She only agreed to join the Banshees because Amity left and we needed another player, and she wouldn't refuse her bestie." Boscha explained, "She's been trying to get out of it ever since, but I won't replace her with a worse player, and we've had no one else that's any good! That's where you two come in."

Luz hummed; she'd known Skara was on the team, but she didn't realise she didn't really like the game. Of course, having already said she was happy to help, Luz was more than willing to try out, but she couldn't make that decision for Amity.

"I'll try out after school. But whether or not Amity does is up to her." Luz said.

Boscha briefly looked relieved and delighted, but schooled her features into a more acceptable smug smirk. She couldn't let the angel girl knew how much she actually wanted this after all!

However Amity just gave a non-committal; "We'll see." which made Boscha frown. The look on Amity's face didn't fill her with confidence, but there was no point arguing; if she did, Amity would just refuse outright and Luz might take back her own agreement too.

"Good. Luz, meet me on the Grudgby Pitch right after school. Amity, you come too if you decide to try out." Boscha said, before turning on her heel and marching out. Cat didn't follow her, having instead joined the line to get a crystal flower of her own. Boscha didn't notice however, and just headed to class; her plan was working perfectly! Soon she'd have a new teammate and could prepare to crush Glandus!

Meanwhile, the others continued their morning hang out until it was time to start heading to class. Luz gave Amity a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye to her other friends, then headed to the bard track. She spent the morning working with Skara, who seemed extra relieved that not only was Luz trying out for the Grudgby team, but that Boscha had managed to avoid causing a big fight again. When Luz asked if Skara really didn't mind leaving the Banshees, Skara had nodded enthusiastically; she really wasn't a fan of Grudgby or most magical sports, with her kind of athletics being more about staff racing and Flyer Derby.

Amity was busy with some extra-credit work for the oracle track during break, so Luz didn't get to hang out with her again until lunch, where they decided to enjoy a quiet picnic together up on Hexside's roof. Since both could fly (with wings or staff) and few others at Hexside could do the same, it made for an ideal place to hang out when they wanted to be alone.

"Good afternoon, Hermosa." Luz greeted, arriving at the rooftop to find Amity already waiting on a blanket, with a picnic basket prepared.

Amity giggled and pulled Luz into her lap; "When are you finally going to tell me what that means?" she asked, hugging her girlfriend.

Luz grinned mischievously and rubbed the tip of her nose against Amity's in an Eskimo kiss; "If you want to know, you'll have to learn Spanish."

"I'd love to, but my teacher is terribly distracting." Amity grinned, kissing the smaller girl's cheek before finally releasing her and letting Luz sit beside her.

The two began to eat the food Amity had packed, and discussed their days so far. Since Amity was multi-tracking in abominations and oracle magic, she spent the first four periods of the day in the oracle track with Professor Trium, and the last five in the abomination track with Professor Hermanculus. Even without her mother forcing her into it any more, Amity had opted to stick with it and was actually learning a lot; while the talent she'd inherited from her father was superior, she had still gotten some of her mother's skills too. Amity also didn't say it, but she wanted to continue learning both magics because they were the only two that Luz couldn't use, so if they worked together, they'd have all nine magics at their disposal.

As Luz told Amity about her own day so far, the topic went to her conversation with Skara, which brought things back to Grudgby.

"Oh yeah, have you given the try-outs any more thought?" Luz asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. She didn't want to push Amity into doing something she didn't want to do.

Amity frowned and looked downcast, making Luz worry; "I don't know… I'd rather not to be honest."

"Hey, if you don't want to try out then that's fine! Do you not want me to try out either?" Luz asked.

"I don't mind. I don't have a problem with you trying out, I just… I've got my own hang ups about it." Amity sighed.

Luz leaned into her; "Would you tell me about it? Maybe it'll make you feel better? Boscha said you used to be on the team."

The lavender haired girl took another bite of her food as she thought about it, then swallowed thickly and nodded; "I wasn't just on the team. I… used to be the Captain of the Banshees."

Luz gasped softly; "Before Boscha?"

"That's right. It was last year; Boscha, Amelia, and I joined up as soon as we entered the Advanced Class and the old team graduated. Back then, Cat was the substitute, and Skara hadn't joined yet." Amity looked nostalgic as she spoke; "We were a great team. We were powerful and skilled with magic; we won the league in both the Spring and Summer Seasons, and were shoo-ins to take the Boiling Isles Junior Championship Title. Then in the final game, we played Glandus. We had decided on a plan, and it was a great one that carried us almost all the way to victory! But I… I still wasn't a great person back then."

She rubbed her arms like she was cold, and Luz put an arm around her comforting. "I wanted to show off, so I decided to change the plan at the last second and use the Thorn Vault to score the game-winning goal. It worked, but it also went disastrously wrong. Boscha and Amelia got hurt, and Cat couldn't heal them on her own, so medics needed to be called in."

"Oh Amity…" Luz whispered sympathetically.

"We won the championship, but I couldn't feel good about it. I'd pushed my teammates into a plan that got them hurt… I never played again after that day. Boscha took over as captain, Cat became a starting player, and Skara joined as the new substitute." Amity finished.

The young angel frowned; "Amity, it's okay if you still don't want to play, but you know you're not that person any more, right? The fact that you regret your mistakes proves that you're a good person."

Amity smiled and gave Luz a kiss on the cheek in gratitude; "Thank you, Luz. And I know I'm not like that any more; I wouldn't have landed such a cutie for a girlfriend if I was." she said flirtily, making Luz blush and giggle.

The two separated, and Luz lay back to watch the clouds go by; "It's still a shame though. I'd have liked to have at least one friend on the team with me. Amelia is Willow's friend, and I'm just acquaintances with her, and I barely know Cat at all. Then of course there's Boscha… It's a shame that Skara's quitting."

Amity nodded, then suddenly smirked as an idea came to her; "Actually, I think I know someone else who might be willing to give it a try…"

[After Class]

Boscha paced in front of the Grudgby Pitch, now dressed in the Banshees signature uniform; dark blue shorts, pauldrons, and chest guard with yellow trim and white fang-like spikes. Hers also had a fuchsia shirt and a matching gem on the chest guard, as well as matching war paint below the eyes. Cat and Amelia watched her from the bleachers, also dressed in their uniforms (though with their shirts, gems, and war paint being in their signature colours; purple for Cat and green for Amelia).

They were waiting impatiently for Luz to show up, but when the girl finally did show up, it was not what they were expecting.

Luz was dressed in the training version of the Grudgby Uniform, which was a lighter shade of blue, lacked the spikes, and had a white chest guard. Luz's had also opted for a white shirt, a yellow gemstone, and white war paint. But it wasn't Luz's uniform that threw Boscha and her teammates off; it was her company.

Instead of Amity, Willow was stood beside Luz, also wearing the training uniform with a green shirt, gemstone, and war paint.

The Banshees stared dumbfounded, making Luz grin; "Sorry guys, but Amity really didn't want to try out. She's off teaching Gus some more ice magic, but she recommended Willow try out instead! You know how crazy strong she is, so we figured it would be okay." she said, a look of pure innocence on her face.

Boscha scowled at the plant-loving girl; "Are you actually serious about trying out?"

Willow nodded; "I may not like you Boscha, but I wouldn't sabotage the school team just to get back at you. I'm only trying out for a substitute position so I can keep Luz company, but since my magic is similar to Amelia's, I can sub for her if she needs a break."

And with my healing, I can sub for Cat!" Luz chirped, waving to the girl in question. Cat smiled and waved back, relieved to have Luz's support; Boscha's game plans were rough, and while they were effective, they usually resulted in Cat needing to work harder to heal everyone.

Boscha eyed the two girls for a moment, then nodded sullenly. "Fine, whatever. But neither of you are on the team yet! You need to pass some trials before I'll let you on the Banshees!"

Willow rolled her eyes, while Luz punched the palm of her hand confidently; "Bring it on!"

The Captain snapped her fingers, and Amelia and Cat took up positions on one side of the pitch while Boscha had Luz and Willow take positions with her on the other side.

"The first trial is the most basic of basics; even you two couldn't screw this up. Take these balls…" she summoned a trio of floating Grudgby balls for each of them, "...and score some goals! First up is short range, so get as close as you want to score. Cat and Amelia will try to stop you."

Luz grinned and immediately got stuck in, sticking the three balls together with some ice, then charging towards the goal. Amelia tried to block her with some vines, but Luz just blasted her way through with a light beam, then shot a smaller bolt of light in front of Cat's feet, making her squeak and back up a step, interrupting the spell she was about to cast. Luz then jumped up and tossed the three balls through the triangular ring.

Seeing this, Willow went next and summoned up some plants to swallow her and her three balls. She then had it burrow to below the goal, then pop out and spit the three balls through the ring while Willow herself watched Amelia and Cat for any signs of a counterattack. The two recruits then returned to Boscha, smiling confidently.

Boscha just nodded stiffly and summoned three more balls for each of them; "Next is mid range. Don't get closer than Cat and Amelia are." she ordered.

This one was a little trickier, especially since it meant they couldn't go behind the others' defences, but both managed it. Luz did it by using ice pillars to launch herself and the balls into the air (she couldn't fly since her Grudgby gear hadn't been enchanted to let her wings pass through), then used carefully aimed blasts of light to get them into the goals. Cat managed to block one by conjuring bandages from her hand, grappling the ball away at the last moment, but Luz had snatched the ball back with a vine, then repeated the shot by using two light blasts; one to launch it in a seemingly random direction, then a second to ricochet it into the goal. Willow scored the goals by tossing the balls as hard as she could at Amelia, who responded by catching the balls in a web of roots from the ground, which Willow had then forcibly taken control of before using them like tentacles to toss the balls through the goal.

Amelia and Cat looked impressed, but Boscha wasn't done yet. She summoned the final three balls for each of them, then said; "Finish it with long range. You're not allowed to go into the opponent's half of the pitch at all!"

Luz and Willow exchanged nods, deciding to work together for this one. First, Luz placed both hands against the ground and coated the opponents' side of the pitch in ice, making Amelia and Cat slip around as they tried to deal with it. Willow then created a line of Spore Shrooms on the edge of their side of the pitch, creating a thick cloud of yellow spores to obstruct the others' vision, and the spores were blown over the entire frozen half of the pitch by Propeller Poppies; large red flowers that rotated their petals rapidly to produce gusts of wind to launch their seeds. While Willow was setting this up, Luz had cast a simple light spell and shot it over to the goal so that she and Willow could see it through the fog of spores. With their preparations complete, Willow grew a series of Bouncing Bellflowers known for their rubbery petals and had them bounce her three balls all the way to the goal while Amelia and Cat struggled to even see, let alone mount a defence. Luz also used a plant to score the goals, summoning up a trio of giant Artillery Azaleas, which launched their seeds like cannonballs by igniting their gunpowder-like pollen. Luz fed her three balls to the flowers and watched as they closed up tightly, like giant pink cannons, then with one last spell, they ignited their pollen and fired the balls through the goal. She actually only managed to get one of the balls through the goal on the first try, but after using some vines to retrieve the missed shots, Luz tried again and eventually got the second ball in on her second try, and the third ball in on her fourth try.

With the required goals scored, Luz and Willow dispelled their plants and ice to clear the pitch, then grinned over at Boscha. The three-eyed girl nodded approvingly, even as she was frowning. She'd honestly expected Luz to be a purely support player, but she'd proven better than she'd thought; if Boscha refined her aim at long distances, she'd make a decent shooter. But Willow was shockingly good. Her hand-eye coordination was superb, and her mastery of her plants gave her a level of accuracy with them that far outpaced the likes of Luz and Amelia. It was infuriating to again be reminded how much Willow had risen, but Boscha wasn't going to turn down a useful tool.

"Alright, you did good enough there. Next up is defence! You have to stop three goals from shots at all three ranges, starting with long range. Stay on your side of the pitch." Boscha ordered, having her teammates collect the balls Luz and Willow had been scoring with.

The rest of the try-outs continued in that vein for about two hours as Boscha really put them through their paces. They had to defend the goals (which both girls found a lot easier than scoring goals, since both had access to wide range blocking with plants and barriers), then on supporting their teammates as they tried to score or block goals, then general support (which Willow struggled with, but Luz was great at with bardic spells and healing), and then on manoeuvrability; passing the ball around the pitch and running, jumping, and diving around to get where they needed to be. Willow was the best there, as Luz felt slightly awkward without being able to use her wings, while Willow was shockingly agile!

"All that time spent dodging carnivorous plants!" Willow had grinned when Luz asked for her secret.

Finally, the try-outs were over and Luz and Willow sat together on the bleachers, sweating and panting as they gulped down water happily given by Cat and Amelia.

"You guys were great! I knew you were stronger than I thought Willow, but I had no idea you were good at Grudgby!" Cat complimented.

"Neither did I! I've only played a few pick-up games with my Dads. But I am pretty tough!" Willow grinned, flexing the muscles in one of her arms. She was a plump girl, but beneath that was thick muscle honed from years of working with the dangerous flora of the Boiling Isles.

Amelia looked to Luz; "You were pretty amazing too! If we can get your gear enchanted so you can use your wings, you'll be unstoppable!"

"Hehe thanks!" Luz beamed; "Grudgby is surprisingly fun! Hey, do you think if we ask Skara, she'll agree to play one last game so we have enough players for a 3 VS 3 game?"

As the girls were chatting, Boscha was reviewing their performance. Willow was a skilled forward player and good at executing plays, while Luz was a great defender and supporter. To be honest, Willow was better with plants than Amelia, and Luz was better with healing and defence than Cat, so having them join was a no-brainer. Boscha only hesitated because she didn't like the idea of helping Willow continue to rise higher! If things continued like this, she might outshine Boscha herself! That couldn't be allowed to happen!

'On the other hand…' Boscha thought with a slowly growing smirk, '… what better way to keep her beneath me then by making her my subordinate?'

With a new plan in mind, Boscha headed over to the others to announce her decision. "Well, you both did acceptably, so I'm offering you spots on the Banshees. Are you in?"

Luz smiled and nodded happily; "Sure!"

Willow shrugged; "Since Luz is in, I'll join too. But I'm warning you Boscha; I won't take any bullying from you. If you start trying to pick on any of us, I'll be out and I bet Luz will come with me."

The High Angel nodded in agreement, and while Boscha inwardly fumed at the threat, she outwardly nodded; "Yeah yeah, I'm not going to sabotage my team just because I don't like you, Park. Now we've got the make-up game with Glandus on Sunday to decide who the winner of the last season is, so we'll meet up here tomorrow to practice! Make sure you're here by 9AM!"

The Banshees, new and old, nodded and got up to go to the locker room. They showered, changed, then headed home, with Luz promising to meet up with Willow the next morning before going to practice.

As Luz arrived at the Owl House, she found the yard out front in a state of disarray; a makeshift Grudgby pitch had been drawn in the dirt, and triangular goals had been set up on either end. There were also holes in the ground, which Luz suspected were from Hooty burrowing around. Curious, Luz walked through the front door to find Eda, only to instead find they had guests.

Eda and King were sat together with Lilith and Amity, drinking tea and looking through an old photo album.

"Welcome home, Luz." Eda greeted, "Come pull up a seat and grab some tea!"

"Uh, sure!" Luz said, slightly bewildered, "Hey Lilith, Amity! What are the two of you doing here?"

"Miss Lilith was waiting for me at my house when I got home from helping Gus; she was planning on coming here to talk to Eda and thought I might like to come along so I could visit you." Amity explained as Luz took a seat beside her.

Lilith nodded; "Indeed. I was coming here to try and convince Eda to finally join the Emperor's Coven and thought it would be nice to bring Amity along. Imagine my surprise when her siblings told me that you two were dating now."

Luz and Amity both blushed, and Lilith smiled; "Don't take that as me disapproving. I think you both make an adorable couple. I just would have liked to have been told by you and not someone else."

"Sorry, Tia Lily." Luz began, making Lilith felt warm and fuzzy inside, "We weren't trying to hide it. We only started dating after Grom on Monday, and we haven't seen you since then."

"I understand." Lilith said, reaching over Amity to pat Luz on the head, "I have been very busy lately. At least I got something good out of today."

Luz looked over to Eda; "I'm guessing Tia Lily didn't convince you?"

Eda laughed; "Of course not! I challenged her to a Grudgby game instead and won, so now she's got to sit here with us civilly. I figured you'd be home soon and would like to see your "Tia Lily" again."

Luz giggled; that explained the stuff outside. Amity smirked and added; "Eda didn't even cheat! Though that's probably because you cleaned out her cheat box!"

The young angel looked confused, so Eda pulled what looked to be a lunch box out of her hair and opened it up to reveal it was empty save for a note Luz had written.

"Oh, that thing. There was mouldy food in there, so I figured it was just a lunch box. I put the stuff that wasn't old food in the chest in your room." Luz grinned completely unapologetically. She wasn't going to apologise for stopping Eda from cheating!

"It's not like I needed it in the end, so I'll forgive you." Eda said playfully, making her sister roll her eyes.

King then piped up; "Forget Eda's cheating for a second; Amity told us that you and Willow were trying out for the Hexside team! How'd it go?"

Luz put up two fingers in a victory sign; "We both got on the team! We're just substitutes, but we're officially members of the Banshees!"

They all congratulated her with pats on the back (and a kiss in Amity's case). "Great job, Kid! You're a real chip off the old block! You know, I was the star player when I was in school." Eda said, sliding the photo album over to Luz. It was full of old school photos of Eda, Lilith, and plenty of others Luz vaguely recognised, like young Alador and Odalia, as well as a young Raine. Included among these were pictures of Eda and Lilith in Grudgby gear, holding trophies.

"Whoa! You looked so cool, Eda! And you were the captain, Tia Lily?" Luz asked.

"I was. Sadly my loss to Eda proves I've gotten rusty." Lilith replied.

The Clawthorne sisters began to reminisce, and regale their apprentices with tales of their youth, especially centred around Grudgby. They stayed so long that Luz was able to convince them to stay for dinner too, getting to enjoy her aunt's and girlfriend's company for a while longer. However as they talked, Luz began to notice Lilith was watching her strangely every now and then, making her wonder if she was doing something wrong.

Lilith and Amity decided to leave after dinner, but before they left, Lilith finally revealed the reason for her odd looks.

"By the way, I wanted to ask you something before I leave, Luz." Lilith said, turning back to her niece; "Why do you call my sister by her first name? Surely Mother, or Mom is more appropriate?"

Luz flushed and began twiddling her fingers nervously; "I use names like that for my Mami back in the Human Realm, and I haven't known Eda for as long, so I guess I just haven't gotten used to it yet. Maybe one day though… I would like to."

Lilith smiled understandingly, and Eda, who knew Luz was telling the truth about wanting to, felt her heart soar.

"I see. Well I won't judge; I happen to know Eda calls our mother by her first name too when she's angry with her, so I was wondering if you'd had a falling out. But if everything is fine, then I'm glad." Lilith said, ruffling the girl's hair; "I'll try and get some time off to come and watch your game on Sunday. I expect it will be quite exciting!"

With that, Lilith left. Amity went with her, giving Luz a quick kiss goodbye first, and promising to come to her practice and game to cheer her on.

Once their visitors were gone, Eda insisted on sitting Luz down and asking her all about the try-outs, while King listened eagerly, loving stories about his family winning games and battles. Rasiel was also finally able to come out of Luz's ring, since he'd had to stay hidden while Lilith was around. He was a bit upset that he'd missed the try-outs since Luz had taken his ring off when changing into her Grudgby uniform, but he was so fascinated with the game that he didn't stay upset for long. When Luz was finally done recounting the day's events, Eda decided to surprise her with a gift.

"Here, I think you deserve a little something for getting on the team!" Eda said, pulling out her old Grudgby jacket. "I wore this when I was your age. I've taken pretty good care of it, so make sure you do too!"

Luz took the jacket gratefully and immediately tried it on. It was a lot like a letterman jacket from the Human Realm, with a dark brown torso and tan sleeves. The letter E was embroidered on the left breast and a gold star was stitched onto the right breast.

"Thank you Eda! I'll take good care of it!" Luz promised.

"Good! It's older than you are!" Eda joked. "I'll enchant it later tonight so your wings will pass through. You'll need to bring home your uniform after training tomorrow so I can enchant that too, unless you want to do it."

"I'll handle that." Luz smiled, "You and King will come to my game on Sunday too, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it!" Eda nodded.

"Heck yeah! I beat those brats when I came to school with you, and Eda beat Lilith, so now you've got to win a game too! Then Team Owl House will be the ultimate champions of the Isles!" King declared.

Luz giggled; "I'm not sure it quite works like that, but you do you little brother." she said, stooping to kiss the top of King's skull.

She smiled broadly; she had a good feeling about training the next day!

[The Next Day]

Luz awoke bright and early on Saturday so she could get herself washed, dressed, and fed before she was expected to meet up with Willow and Amity and walk to training together. She left Rasiel's ring behind with Eda, since she wasn't supposed to wear jewellery while playing and she didn't want to leave him in the locker room all day. When she arrived at the school gates, she found Willow to be in a fairly neutral mood, and Amity cheerfully looking forward to seeing Luz in the Grudgby uniform, especially after getting a brief taste of the look when Luz showed up in Eda's jacket.

However all of their moods took a turn for the worst when they arrived at the Hexside pitch and found Boscha pacing with a grumpy expression. Cat, Amelia, and Skara were waiting with her, already dressed in their uniforms (Skara's being accented with red) and looking nervous. When Boscha saw Luz and Willow approaching, she stalked over with a growl.

"You're late!" she yelled.

Luz blinked, while Willow looked at her watch; "It's still 8:50AM. We're ten minutes early!"

"Don't sass me Park! Everyone is expected to be at practice 15 minutes before it's due to start so you can change and get warmed up!"

Willow's eye twitched; "Then maybe you should have mentioned that yesterday!"

Boscha growled; "What did I say about sassing me!?"

Before the girls could come to blows, Luz put herself between them; "Whoa there, let's calm down!" she said soothingly, "Boscha, we really didn't know we had to be here that early. We're new to the team, remember? Just give us a minute to change and we can warm up and be ready to start at 9, just like you wanted it."

The three-eyed girl sneered, but nodded her agreement and sent Luz and Willow off to change. Once they'd left, she looked back at Amity and narrowed her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Amity?"

"Watching my girlfriend practice. Got a problem with that?" Amity said shortly, narrowing her eyes on Boscha.

"Tch, so long as you don't distract Noceda. I need her focused on the game, not on you." Boscha shot back, then stomped away to join her other teammates. Amity went and sat on the bleachers, and soon after Luz and Willow emerged in their Grudgby uniforms, which had kept their personal colours but had otherwise been updated to the same design as the rest of the Banshees. Luz briefly went over to Amity to hand her Eda's jacket to watch over, and receive a kiss of good luck, then joined went over and reported to Boscha.

Boscha looked at her watch; "Five minutes left before practice begins, so I guess we'll have to cram the usual ten minute warm up into half the time! Now everybody move it!"

For the next five minutes, Boscha really put the Banshees through their paces. Their "warm-up" was more like an intense (if bite size) work out in which she made them all run laps around the pitch, do sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, and something called Spell Reps, in which they had to repeatedly draw spell circles over and over without casting the spells themselves to speed up how quickly they could cast. It was gruelling and the Banshees hated every minute of it, which didn't help anyone's mood. The one saving grace was that Boscha hadn't exempted herself; she'd done every bit of the same workout, so at least her team could feel confident she wasn't just being malicious.

Once the workout was over, Boscha began the real practice at 9AM on the dot. Boscha had Cat, Amelia, and Skara running drills, while she herself focused on training Luz and Willow on the way the Banshees did things; terminology, hand-signs, specific plays and strategies, and what they were expected to do at each moment. She was short with them, though not quite rude, and to her credit it was clear Boscha knew her stuff and was passionate. However she was also very demanding and repeatedly veered close to being a bully when her two newest recruits didn't immediately grasp what she was teaching them. It was making Luz nervous and Willow angry, and seeing Luz nervous made Willow angrier, while seeing Willow angrier made Luz more nervous, causing tension to grow rapidly between the three.

Things continued like this through most of the day. Boscha worked Luz and Willow hard until lunch time, then begrudgingly let them take a break to eat before getting back to work again. They spent the afternoon joining the others in their drills and then having a series of short pick-up games in which Boscha and the new recruits faced Skara, Cat, and Amelia, with the ultimate winner being decided by who won the most games. It was a close contest, but Boscha's team won, yet despite their victory, Boscha was unsatisfied with all of them.

"Come on! That was pathetic! How are we going to beat Glandus and start the season off right if we're playing like that!?" Boscha snapped.

She pointed to Luz; "Noceda, you're not playing seriously enough! Show some brutality! This is Grudgby, not whatever prissy angel sports you played back home!"

Luz frowned. She was taking more of Boscha's vitriol than normal because she didn't want to disappoint Eda and Lilith by quitting the team, but she was starting to get mad. What was the point of playing a game that she wasn't enjoying?

Next Boscha pointed to Cat and Amelia; "Cat, you let in at least three goals I know you could have blocked! Are you just screwing around, or do you just want us to lose!? And Amelia, you keep letting Park take control of your plants! If you can't beat her with them, then stop using them! You're just making your opponent stronger!"

The two girls wilted; in truth, they were exhausted. Boscha was being harsher than normal and working them way harder, and they simply didn't have the stamina to keep up with her!

Boscha didn't say anything about Skara, since she'd already officially left the team and was only helping out with training as a favour to her bestie. Instead she turned to Willow with narrowed eyes, and everyone else on the team could see in that moment that this wasn't going to end well.

"And you, Park. Are you actively trying to sabotage us, or are you just incompetent!?"

Willow growled; "Watch it, Boscha! I'm not going to let you push me around any more!"

After facing down Odalia Blight, the likes of Boscha was nothing for Willow to fear.

"No, you watch it! Or better yet, spend less time watching and more time playing!" Boscha demanded, "You barely moved from your spot in that last game! Heck, I bet Amity moved around more in that game than you did, and she's just a spectator!" she pointed over to the bleachers, where Amity was watching with a scowl and wearing Luz's jacket.

"In case you forgot, Boscha; YOU put me on defence! My job was to block our opponents from getting to the goal! I do that with plant magic, and I can make bigger and stronger defences if I stay rooted to one spot!" Willow yelled, pointing to her feet, which had little glowing green vines wrapped around them, creeping out of the ground and draining some of her magic to fuel their growth. "And the only goals that got past me were Skara's when she used fire magic, which I wouldn't have been able to block even I was running around!"

Boscha went red in the face as her anger peeked; "Don't talk back to me! I'm the captain here! You all do what I say!" she screamed, getting in Willow's face.

Willow fought back the urge to punch the three-eyed girl in the mouth, but her self control was slipping. Luz and Amelia could feel vines and roots writhing beneath the ground as the bespectacled girl struggled to control herself, so Luz acted quickly to mediate once again.

"Boscha, you can't get mad at Willow for obeying your orders. And Cat and Amelia are exhausted! Skara is too! If you work us any harder today, someone's going to get hurt and we'll be too tired to fix them up in time for the game tomorrow! Let's take a break and get some food. It's almost dinner time anyway." Luz said, plastering a smile on her face. It was almost 6PM by this point, and they'd been training almost all day; her own magic was doing okay since she'd gotten a healthy boost after becoming a High Angel, but the others were all waning. Even Boscha was tired, which was making her testier than usual.

The others all agreed, and Amity came down from the bleachers to join them.

"I think that's a good idea. A good captain knows not to overwork their team." Amity said, glaring coldly at Boscha.

This sent Boscha's temper soaring ever higher, and she stomped her foot furiously; "No! You can take a break when you're winners and not a second before! If you want to eat, you better stop screwing around!"

Cat and Amelia looked dejected, while Skara frowned at her oldest friend with disappointment in her eyes. She shook her head; "No Boscha, I've had enough. I'm taking Cat and Amelia to get some dinner; you can do whatever."

The bard girl then herded her exhausted teammates back to the locker rooms to change, leaving just Boscha, Amity, Willow, and Luz on the pitch. Boscha watched them go with a stunned expression, then turned back to the other three with a snarl.

"Now look what you've done! Was this your plan, Blight!? You ditched me for Park, then sent her and your girlfriend to sabotage me!?"

Amity looked at her like she was insane; "Literally why would I bother doing that!? You asked Luz to try out, and I asked Willow to try out in my place because I thought you two might finally start getting along!"

In truth, it had been kind of a rushed plan; since Willow had managed to befriend Amelia and Luz had befriended Skara, Amity had thought that maybe she could channel Luz and try to help Boscha become a better person by setting her up with some good influences. Willow was fairly popular now and a top student to boot, not to mention strong; everything Boscha valued! Plus seeing Boscha's more devoted side would also let Willow see her as more than just a bully! It all made sense in Amity's head, but she'd underestimated how much bad blood existed between the two, and while Willow was at least willing to try for hers and Luz's sake, Boscha was not.

"You're making the same mistake I did as captain! If you keep going like this, then you're just going to get your teammates hurt!" Amity scolded.

"Mistake!? What mistake!? We won that game and the championship, but a few little injuries and you decide to quit! I had to pick up the slack and rebuild our team after you left us! Then you basically ditched us a second time to hang out with Luz-er and Half-a-Witch! Now you want to tell me how to be captain!? Get real Blight! I don't need your advice and I sure as heck don't need your pity!" Boscha roared, absolutely seething.

Her insulting words were met with angry silence from the three girls, who glared back at her. Finally, Willow shook her head and said; "I've had enough of this. Sorry Luz, Amity; but I'm done. I won't spend another minute helping this bully on her power trip."

She began to stalk off, while Boscha spluttered, and Luz and Amity exchanged looks. The two nodded grimly then began to follow Willow.

"I quit too. Eda and Tia Lily will be disappointed, but I joined to have fun and help out, not be driven into the dirt and verbally abused." Luz said, scowling at Boscha.

The three-eyed girl gaped as the others walked away. She couldn't let this happen! Skara had already quit the team and wouldn't agree to re-join, especially since she was mad at Boscha now! Losing Willow was already infuriating, since she'd turned out to be a great player and it stung Boscha's pride to have Willow call her out, but she couldn't afford to lose Luz too! Bardic magic was important for a lot of her strategies, and Glandus' star player was an oracle witch this year, meaning Luz would completely negate a third of the enemy team! She couldn't be allowed to quit!

"W-Wait! You can't just quit!" Boscha shouted, making the three girls turn and glare at her.

"Yes she can, Boscha." Amity frowned, "Why should Luz stay on a team with you when you treat her and her friends like this?"

"B-Because… Because…!" Boscha's mind raced. She needed to say something or do something! Anything! Her failure to think of something resulted in Amity, Luz, and Willow continuing to walk away, ignoring her completely. Anger and humiliation burned inside Boscha's chest as she felt her power and control slip away from her. In a moment of desperation, she took the one option she could think of.

"Because if you quit, then I'll report your secret!"

The three girls froze and slowly turned back to Boscha. Willow and Amity looked furious, while Luz's eyes were wide with panic. "W-What?"

Seeing this, Boscha felt a little control return to her, making her smirk; "If you quit, I'll report that you're an angel to the Emperor's Coven!"

Luz gasped, while Amity and Willow began to stalk towards the three-eyed girl; "Why you evil little-!" Willow began, ready to punch the girl.

"Uh uh uh, do you really want to attack me right now? If you do, then everyone's favourite little angel gets a one way trip to the Emperor! There are rumours that he's interested in them; who knows what he'll do to her?" Boscha smirked. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt her conscience rebelling against her, but she blocked it out.

Willow grit her teeth, and Amity pulled her back a step as she glared at Boscha; "And why would anyone believe you?" she asked frostily, "No one else at Hexside would back you up, and if you tried to make them, even you'd become a pariah. The teachers have agreed to keep it a secret, so if you spill it, they won't stand up for you when the rest of the school is out for your blood!"

"Please, as if I'd need protecting! Besides, my Mom is friends with a Captain from the Emperor's Coven; she'll believe me and get Luz arrested for her connection to the Owl Lady. Then all it takes is one interrogation and the Captain will know it's true! Angels can't lie after all." Boscha smirked.

Willow bared her teeth as her eyes glowed green in anger; "You're not as popular or protected as you think, Boscha! Half the school hates you for being a bully and the other half only lets you get away with it because you're the Grudgby Captain and from the Alembic family! But no one will lift a finger to protect you from a Blight like Amity… and no one will be able to protect you from me!" she threatened, the ground around her rumbling as the roots beneath began thrashing around.

Boscha felt a brief spike of fear, backing off a step before conjuring a flaming Grudgby ball in one hand and summoning a vial of an unknown potion in the other. "T-Try me, Park! But you better hope I don't get back up again, because then everyone on the isles will know Noceda is an angel!"

In truth, Boscha was bluffing. She hated Willow and wasn't exactly a big fan of Luz or Amity, but she wasn't actually willing to out Luz's secret. The rumours about the Emperor's interest in angels varied from using them for potions ingredients, to dissecting them to learn how they related to the Titan (since Belos himself had claimed they were servants of the Titan), to using them as a power source for something big. Few of the rumours were pleasant (likely due to lingering distrust in angels that was left over from the Savage Ages) and even the pleasant ones, like the Emperor wanting an angel successor, could spell bad things for Luz if she was actually captured and delivered to him. Whether she was chopped up, imprisoned, or brainwashed, Boscha was sure Luz wouldn't get through the ordeal unscathed, and no matter how angry and desperate she was, the three-eyed girl wasn't going to doom the girl to a fate like that.

But of course, Luz and her friends didn't need to know that. Boscha stomped down the guilt in her chest and smiled cruelly.

"So what's it gonna be, Noceda? It's me or the Emperor." Boscha threatened.

Luz paled and lowered her head dejectedly; "Fine… you win, Boscha." she said miserably.

"Luz!" Willow and Amity both cried, only for the angel girl to shake her head.

"Beating her up won't fix anything. It'll just get you both in trouble. And we can't exactly do anything else to silence her!"

"I can think of a few things…" Willow muttered darkly, imagining getting her flowers some new fertiliser.

"As can I." Amity added, imagining a crate with air holes being shipped to some distant land.

Boscha gulped at their expressions, but Luz shook her head vehemently; "Okay, there's nothing we can do to silence her that would be worth it! We can't stoop to her level!"

"So you're just going to stay on the team with her!?" Willow exclaimed.

Luz nodded glumly; "I don't have a choice… if the Emperor finds out what I am, he'll come for me. Even if he doesn't want to do anything too terrible to me, there's no way Eda will just let him take me and the Emperor's Coven is already after her. Plus you and everyone at Hexside could get in trouble for harbouring me. If putting up with Boscha means keeping everyone safe, then I'll just have to deal with it."

Boscha grinned, while Willow and Amity exchanged angry frowns. "Fine." Willow growled, "I'll stick around too. I can't just let you deal with her on your own."

Luz smiled gratefully, and Amity agreed; "I will as well. I may not be a member of the team any more, but I can at least support you both."

"Good! Now since you both know your place…" Boscha began, making Willow strongly consider decking her, "… I'll be nice and let you have your break. But be back here in an hour! We're training until the sun goes down!"

The other girls gave Boscha a scathing look, then stalked off, leaving the three-eyed girl to get some food alone and try not to let the guilt of what she'd just done get to her.

The rest of the Banshees returned within an hour and got back to training, but Skara, Cat, and Amelia immediately noticed that things had changed between the others. Luz and the others didn't say anything, but it was obvious from their sullen and angry expressions that something had happened. Boscha worked them hard for the rest of the evening, and actually treated them semi-nicely the whole time; though whether this was because she was in a good mood after re-establishing her dominance or simply trying to be nice out of guilt was a mystery even to her.

When the sun finally went down, Boscha had her team line up in front of her to address them. "Alright, we've actually made some decent progress today! If we perform at our best tomorrow, we'll wipe the floor with Glandus!"

Cat and Amelia cheered tiredly, while Luz stood in silence and Willow glared. Boscha ignored them all and finished up by saying; "Get to bed early tonight; I want everyone fresh and ready! The game starts tomorrow at 1PM, so make sure you're here and warmed up by 12:30! Now dismissed!"