Guitar Strings and Flower Petals

Five Days

As Willow stepped into Hexside on Monday and scanned the halls, all she could think was that the upcoming Glandus Grudgby match might well be the most hyped-up event that she'd seen at Hexside. Not that it was at all unusual to see people getting into the spirit of competition between the two rival schools - there had been plenty of matches between the two in the past, and a similar atmosphere had enveloped Hexside before.

What was unusual about this particular event was just how all-encompassing it seemed to be this time around.

In every corridor, on nearly every wall, door, and series of lockers, everything was given a yellow-and-blue accented shine. Banners and posters of a banshee, beating up a phoenix, covered in slogans like 'Hexside Rules,' and 'Glandus? More like Glan-Dust!' adorned the walls and lockers. People wore shirts with the Banshee's colours, or with the name and logo on them. Willow had seen about two dozen different people with face-paint on before her first class had even begun. An immense, overwhelmingly energetic atmosphere had enveloped the school, as the anticipation for the match had finally reached a fever pitch.

And it was clear to Willow, Gus, and Amity that Luz was loving it.

The human smiled her way through the halls, her eyes darting around the halls as she watched all the school spirit unfold.. "This is so cool!" Luz's finger directed towards a sign of the banshee sucking out a phoenix's soul. "Oh, that signs so cool!!" She pointed towards another, this time the banshee screeching the phoenix's flame out. "So's that one! She turned around, smiling as her eyes caught another poster. "And that one is...-" Luz stopped, her face contorting into disgust as she realised her finger was NOW directed to a poster that overtook an entire wall... with Boscha, in full Grudgby uniform, smirking down at the Hexside students and staff as she held a ball up with one hand. "...Okay, that one, I can do without."

Equally uncomfortable with the display, Willow did her best to ignore it, instead focusing on her friend's boundless energy. "I see you're getting into the Hexside spirit." She chuckled.

"Of course I am! You kidding, Willow?" Luz answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She clenched her hands into fists and held them in front of her. "My school back on Earth never got into competition this much! Hexside versus Glandus - The two most bitter of rivals, fighting it out on the battlefield of Grudgby, in a winner-takes-all battle to the... well, not death, but humiliation, at least."

"Not death yet, anyway." Gus said, matter-of-factly.

An extremely brief pause followed as Luz just sort of... looked at him, like she was trying to figure out if he was joking or not. From the expression on her face, she seemed to conclude that no, he wasn't joking.

Apparently, competition in the Human world wasn't quite as severe as it was here, Willow thought to herself.

"...Oh, look!" Luz, rapidly attempting to ignore... that, pointed towards a bulletin board, filled with crudely drawn art pieces, clearly created by very young children. "Even the Baby Class is getting into it!" She put her face up to one picture in particular, trying to figure out what exactly it was depicting. "So cute! Look at Boscha, holding up that... person's... detached head..." She chuckled nervously as she realized what exactly it was a drawing of. "Heh. Wow, uh, look at - look at all that red jam the student spilled on this one, heh..."

Amity cleared her throat, awkwardly. "Uh, Luz? I don't think - That's not-"

"Please let me keep some shred of innocence."

Willow, attempting to steer the conversation in a less macabre direction, smiled, and clapped her hands together. "So! Your first real Glandus game, huh, Luz? Are you excited?"