Well, I'm back with The Owl House, which is owned by Dana Terrace and Disney; and The Mask, which is owned by Dark Horse Comics and New Line Cinema. I only own my OCs Strix Aluco Clawthorne and Selwyn, the dragon.

Luz, armed with Eda's staff in one hand and a light spell in the other, confronted the huge cave goat demon who laughed at her. "Foolish child. Leave this place before you meet your demise."

Luz did her best impersonation of the Good Witch Azura and said, "Do not underestimate me, Garlog. For I am the good witch, Luz, hunter of monsters. Now eat this sucka- what?" Before she could blast magic at the demon like a bazooka, she took another look at it and realized just how small and puny he actually was. She picked the demon up and looked at him. "You're Garlog?" She took out the demon's wanted poster from her pocket, which had a scary illustration of him on it. Well, he certainly looked less threatening in real life. "This is pathetic," she deadpanned.

"Small I may be, but you will soon know fear when I lay waste to all that you-" Before he could finish his sentence, King swallowed him whole.

Luz scolded him, "King, drop it now. Drop it now!" King shook his head and took off running. "Drop it! No! I'm not gonna play right now! King!"

After managing to save Garlog from King and trapping him in a bottle, Luz returned to the Owl House and tapped a finger on the bottle. "Boop!" She sat down and turned on her phone's camera. "Hola, Mama! You haven't heard from me in a while. It's been a week and a half since the petrification ceremony. A week and a half since I..." She laughed awkwardly. "...destroyed the portal home. I had to. Emperor Belos was going to kill Eda and Strix if I didn't hand it over. But I couldn't let him use it, so I blew it up with some magic fire...?" She paused and muttered to herself, "She's not gonna understand any of this. That's okay, Luz. Just keep moving forward." She said out loud, "This world is filled with inexplicable magical wonders, like this portal key! I don't know if it contains magic, but I'm gonna study all I can, and find a way back to you. A-And look!" She lifted up her right leg to show King clinging to it. "I have friends to help me."

"I'm never letting you go! You're never returning to the human realm!"

"He doesn't mean that."

"YES I DO!"

Luz pointed the phone to Eda, who was practicing magic with her son. "This is Strix Aluco Clawthorne and his mother Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles." Eda tried to cast a simple telekinesis spell to pour apple blood in her mug, but the bottle exploded in her face instead. Strix sighed and used an ice spell to freeze all the apple blood, then took out a broom to sweep out the ice crystals.

"Or at least she was until her curse overpowered her and weakened her magic. She's doing her best now."

Luz pointed the camera to Lilith, who was putting her Emperor's Coven uniform in a suit case. She now wore simple black trousers and boots and a beige T-shirt with a low battery icon on the front. Luz narrated, "Strix and Eda were cursed by her own sister, Lilith. And she spent her entire life looking for a way to undo it. It's still hard for everyone to trust each other, Strix especially, but maybe with time we can all become friends."

Hooty burst in the window and hooted loudly, scaring Lilith as she slammed the window in his face.

"Even though Eda gets frustrated, she's found new ways to make up for her lost powers."

Eda finished constructing a harpoon with a fishing net attached to it. "Check it, Luz! A new hunting weapon. I will call her the Stab-Catcher."

"Without the portal, Eda has no human garbage to sell. So we've resorted to working odd jobs to keep food on the table."

"Hey, King, did you know that apple is a hat?"

"Really?" King picked up the apple and put it on his head.

When Luz saw the bull's eye right behind him, she knew at once what Eda had in mind. "King! Hey, no! King!" She dropped the camera and grabbed him before Eda could throw the harpoon.

"This week we're bounty hunters. Next week we could be anything. So, Mom, please don't be scared. I'm growing more and more every day, and I'm gonna do my best to become a full-fledged witch, and get home to you safe and sound. Te quiero, Mama. Te lo prometo, regresaré a casa pronto."

Strix walked behind her as she stopped recording. "Uh, Luzer? You know that without the portal, that camera can't send anything to the human world, right?"

Luz exhaled in frustration. "First of all, don't call me Luzer. Second, I know it can't, but it gives me some peace of mind." It was then she noticed Strix's wet clothes. "So, how's that chariot wash scam of yours coming along?"

"Not doing great," he admitted as he used a small fire spell to dry himself off. "Another bum took off without paying. Seriously, I have to remember to take their money first before I-"

"LUZ! STRIX!" The kids looked outside to see Lilith and Eda packing all the little demons they caught in a cart. "Time to bring these bad boys to market!"

Lilith shook some feathers off her sleeves and grunted in annoyance at her sister. "Eda, do you own anything that isn't covered in feathers?"

"I had to deal with a curse for 30 years, so I think you can handle a few feathers."

"And I had to deal with the curse for... Oh, I don't know, the day I was born," Strix growled as he gave Lilith the stink eye.

The marketplace had gone through quite the change in the last week. A statue of Emperor Belos was erected in the middle of the town square, propaganda posters were slapped on the walls of stands and buildings and there were more guards than before on patrol. "Wow, the Emperor is really taking over," said Luz.

"I see it too, Luz. And I'm trying to stay civil." Eda kicked a man decked in Emperor's Coven apparel into the street. She placed all the captured demons in front of the bounty hunter stand with a proud smile. The man running it gave her a single coin. "Your payment."

"A single snail?!" Eda asked, outraged. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Sorry. I wasn't done yet." He snapped the coin in half and gave one half to her.

"You can't do this to me! Do you know who I am?!"

"Yeah, you're Eda the Owl Lady. What are you gonna do? We all know you're powerless now."

"BUT I'M NOT!" Strix shouted and he slapped a fire spell glyph on the shopkeeper's stand and activated it. He didn't even have a chance to scream as the stand was incinerated. Strix faced the crowd of onlookers and growled, "Anyone else?!" They took one look and ran off.

"Strix," Eda hissed. "What part of 'trying' to stay civil do you not understand?" Strix coughed. "I heard that! You called me a hypocrite and you are absolutely right! But we have to keep it on the down low! Just in case you-know-who is nearby," she said quietly, pointing to a scary poster of Walter that said, "We know where you live."

Lilith chuckled. "Don't worry, sister. At least my image still commands respect and fear." She pointed to a recruitment poster with her face on it...which got promptly burnt by a garbageman.

"You're a traitor," King reminded her with a laugh.

Strix laughed as well. "Respect and fear? Not anymore, Aunt Lily!"

Lilith shouted at the garbageman, "What's going on?! This is anarchy! Who told you to do this?!" As if responding to her, posters flew up and slapped themselves on a wall next to her. On the posters was a picture of a young man wearing an Emperor's Coven uniform and golden owl mask with the sentence, "The Golden Guard says 'Join the Emperor's Coven today!'" beneath him.

Luz took a look at one of the posters and asked with curiosity, "The Golden Guard? Did you know him in the Coven, Lilith?"

"Unfortunately, I did. He always got special treatment because he was the 'genius teen prodigy'. But he's really just a brat. If he's in charge... vomit." Eda's sister tore the poster off the wall, crumpled it and threw it in the garbage, only to have the poster fly back in her face.

"Hey, I know," exclaimed Luz, ever the optimist. "What we need is a confidence boost. Why don't we take on the biggest bounty we can find? It'll be great!" She went to a job board called Greg's List and looked at the ads. "Hmm. 'Lost Cerberus.' No. 'Witch cackling lessons?' Heh, heh. Uh, but maybe not today." Then she found an ad that seemed right up their avenue. "Aha! There's something called a 'Selkidomus' ravaging boats up and down the coast. We'll be on a high-seas adventure."

"Ooh, and with a price for one million snails?" asked Strix as he read the poster. "Count me in!"

"Hmm...no," said Eda. "We gotta keep a low profile while my powers are weakened. And we need fast cash. How about this guy?"

Luz looked at the poster her mentor pointed to. Its pictured showed a tiny demon with a lollypop in its hand. "The Abominable Cutie Pie?"

"And for six hundred snails?" Strix questioned. "Have we really sunk that low, Mom?"

"No, no, no. I hear it's very dangerous. And look, there he is!"

The little demon from the poster climbed all the way to the top of the statue and said in a squeaky voice, "You'll never catch me!" BANG! "Augh, he got me," he screamed as he fell.

Strix blew smoke out of his gun's hole and put it away. Luz frowned and peeled his skin off, revealing a green, skull-like face. "You're still wearing this thing?! What happened to no longer needing it," she asked as she tore the Mask off.

"What? Old habits die hard," said Strix as he took it back from her.

They stopped their argument when they overheard Eda speaking with Lilith as she packed up the cart. "Things aren't looking great, Lily. This bounty hunting stuff isn't putting food on the table." Lilith tried to speak, but with her face covered by the poster, could only mumble. Yet Eda understood what she was trying to say. "Oh, I'm sure Luz and Strix could handle bigger bounties, but if we wanna eat we don't have the luxury to mess up even once."

Lilith mumbled another question to which Eda responded, "No apple blood. I spent the money on griffin eggs for Luz. There's not a lot she can digest here so I make sure to have her favorites around."

Luz made a look of guilt as she watched her mentor and Lilith leave. "This is awful."

Strix noticed this and said, "Luzer, don't you dare feel like this is your fault."

"But it is my fault! Eda wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me. Maybe it would be better if I never came here."

Strix grabbed her by the shoulders and said, "Hey! Look at me! Don't think that! If you hadn't been here, I would still be that loser who couldn't cast a single spell, Amity would still be a bully to Willow and Gus wouldn't have gotten the confidence he needed. Besides," he said as he tugged on his wings. "The curse would have taken over even if you hadn't come here. It was inevitable. I mean, before I found that Mask, I was actually prepared to live the rest of my days as a monster with Mom. And then you showed up. You coming here did everyone a favor."

Luz took the poster for the Selkidomus bounty and made a look of determination. "I can't change the past, but I can still change the future. I'm gonna help Eda and prove that I'm more than just a burden."

"Count me in then. I mean, you need someone to look out for you. Can't have you get eaten or killed."

"And because you don't want to deal with Lilith right now, huh," asked King.

Strix sighed. "I'm not used to having Aunt Lily in my house. I just need time."

At the harbor, Luz slammed the Selkidomus poster on a barrel. "The Selkidomus hunt. I want in."

The ship's captain, Salty, looked at the poster and asked skeptically, "You think you can handle this, squirts?"

"I can handle anything."

The kids and King were given sailor outfits and boarded the ship, unaware of Salty nodding to the figure watching their every move through one of the ship's windows. A window that had an Emperor's sigil on it.

Meanwhile, back at the Owl House, Lilith managed to get the poster off her face by burning it off. Now, she was looking at was left of it with a look of sadness. Joining the Emperor's Coven was something she had always dreamed of, but now that she saw what the coven truly was for the first time, she regretted her stupid decision of joining in the first place.

She was snapped out of her funk by Eda. "Hey, Lily! How do I look?" She was wearing belts with potions attached to them.

Lilith's only response was, "Uh..."

Eda plopped down on the couch next to her. "Getting scammed at the market was such a bummer, but it gave me an idea on how to earn a little more cash. You wanna come? I may not be at full power, but I can still make potions!"

Lilith pushed her away. "I am quite fine, thank you."

"Aight. Have fun wallowing in self-pity and feeling bad for cursing me and my son. Byeeeeeee!"

Lilith sighed as she brushed ashes off her hair. "I guess I deserve this. There's gotta be a way to make it up to her." Her eyes wandered to the book shelf, then stopped when she saw a potions book. A smirk formed on her face as she got up and grabbed it. "Edalyn isn't the only Clawthorne with a talent for potions." She opened the book and tore out a page that contained the instructions for making a scrying potion. "Ooh. I bet she would love a peek inside the castle."

"New roomie check-in! How's my bestie doing?" Lilith screamed at Hooty's sudden appearance and dropped the page on his face. "A scrying potion!? Lulu, you're trying to spy on your old buddies? I can help! We can find out their crushes. We can give them cute couple names!"

Lilith pushed him away with a shout, "NO! I can do this alone. Don't follow me! And don't call me Lulu!"

Hooty watched her go. "A good friend would respect her wishes, but a better friend would help no matter what!"

Back at the ship, Luz, King and Strix were smiling as they felt the salty sea breeze blowing in their hairs. Now THIS was an adventure. "When we defeat the Selkidomus and get a boatload of snails, Eda won't have to worry about money for a long time," said Luz.

"King wanna cracker!"

"Peanut butter or cheese," asked Strix.

"All hands," called out Salty. "Alright, crew. The Selkidomus has been ravaging the coastline. It was last seen in the Simmering Shoals. You know the drill, 'Snag the quarry, get the money galore-y.' We all do the work, we all get a cut."

Everyone cheered. "I have many debts!" one sailor said.

"Till then, keep everything shipshape. This ain't no pleasure cruise." He tossed Luz and Strix a mop and a bucket. "Don't be a burden, sea squirts."

Luz smirked at him. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me."

The kids' first chore was to scrape the barnacles off the ship's underside. They used a plant spell to conjure vines that lowered them down. Luz hissed at them before using King's horn to scrape them off. Strix meanwhile, used a big pickaxe instead.

The chore Luz had to do on her own was to feed coal to the ship's engine. But she used a different method instead: use a fire spell to feed the ship's fire, causing the ship to gain more speed. The captain was impressed.

Strix's chore was to prepare the crew's grub. Making sure no one was looking, he slipped the Mask on. Then he donned a chef's outfit and hat and began to cook.

When Salty and the crew came down to the galley, they were shocked to find a feast fit for a king. "Ta da!" Strix said with a bow. The crew feasted like kings, praising his cooking abilities. Except for Luz, who noticed the Mask slightly poking out of his pocket.

Later, Luz was doing a dance for the crew. Except she wasn't dancing, she was trying to get a crustacean off her back. She flipped it off and Strix kicked it out into the sea.

Salty gave them a friendly slap on the back. "Well, ye had me confront my own biases and I got nothing but respect for ya now, squirts. I mean, sailors."

Luz gave him a salute and said, "Thanks, Salty. You make me feel like a real part of the crew."

"Well, that's because you arghhhh!"

Strix said, "Normally, I would shove a bar of soap in your mouth for making such a horrible pun, but in this case, I'm just too happy to care!"

The crew cheered. King booed at Salty's pun. A parrot with a human hand for a head suddenly snatched his cracker. "Hey, that's mine, you feather duster!" Suddenly, a wave rocked the ship, making the crew stumble and King fly into the captain's quarters. He slammed on the door, trying to get out. "Oof. Hey, King want a cracker!" Then he saw something on the captain's table that was even better than a cracker: Kraken Crisp cereal! "Ooh!" He hopped onto the table and started munching on some creal. That's when he noticed a letter underneath the cereal box and when he saw the seal on the envelope, his eyes widened. "Huh? Is that the Emperor's sigil?"

He turned on the lights and what he saw made his heart stop. Trophies, weapons, armor and other artifacts all bearing the Emperor's sigil. "This ship belongs to the Emperor? Oh, boy. I gotta tell Luz and Strix!"

Suddenly, a teenage boy's voice said. "Unfortunately, you won't have the chance." It was the Golden Guard from the propaganda poster. King screamed as a fabric was wrapped around him.

Meanwhile, Lilith was having the time of her life getting pummeled as she tried to find the ingredients for the potion. "Okay," she said in an exhausted tone as she walked in the forest. "Next is fire bee honey." It didn't take long to find a fire bee nest, but when she tried to take one step toward it, they were alerted to her presence and prepared to attack. Quickly, the tried to defend herself with an ice spell...but could only conjure up a small ice cube. She ducked behind a tree just as the bees tried to sting her.

She let out a grunt of frustration as she punched the ground and said, "How can I get Fire Bee Honey without ice magic, or porcuspine quills without a sleeping spell?" She cried a little as she asked, "Who am I without magic, without a Coven?"

"Without friends?"

Lilith looked up to see Hooty sticking his head out of the ground. "I SAID -"

"You don't know how to get those fire bees, but I can help," said Hooty.

She pushed him away. "No! I don't want your help. I told you not to follow me!"

"If I were you, I would-"

"YOU WOULD WHAT?!" screamed Lilith with anger. "Because it doesn't matter. You aren't me. You're just some kind of weird bird-worm. You have no idea what I'm going through." Hooty made a look of genuine hurt as she continued, "I have to do this alone, because if I can't... what kind of witch am I?"

Hooty began to sink back into the ground. "Sorry, Lulu. I mean, sorry, Lilith."

"Now, let's try this one more time," Lilith said as she picked up a big stick.

Back on the ship, Salty peered through his telescope. "We're here. The Simmering Shoals. Eyes peeled, mates." One sailor took the command a little too literally. They passed by the burning remains of a ship; some sailors took off their hats in respect. "She's close," said Salty.

Suddenly, something rocked the ship with such a force that everyone was knocked off their feet. "Mother pus bucket," jabbered Strix. "Did we just hit a rock?!"

"Nay," said Salty gravely. "That was alive and moving."

Luz looked over the side and saw it. "She's here!" Swimming toward the ship was the dorsal fin of the Selkidomus, a creature resembling the Loch Ness Monster's ugly younger cousin. The sailors threw harpoons at it, but it responded by rising its body out of the water and shoot its pufferfish-like pricks at them. One ended up decapitating a sailor, who simply put his head back on.

Strix noticed that the creature heading straight toward them. "She's gonna ram us!" Thinking quick, he took out a bunch of fire glyph cards and activated them before throwing in the water around the ship. Sensing the sudden increase in temperature, the Selkidomus swam away from the ship.

Luz used her ice glyph cards to stop the sea monster's movement before using plant glyphs to wrap it up in vines. She and Strix pulled and tugged on the vines, but it was too heavy. "Help them out, boys," barked Salty. "Put your backs into it!" With a great heave, the crew brought the beast to the ship and Luz tied the vine to the cleat. "I did it," she cheered. Strix coughed loudly. "I mean, WE did it."

"Thank you, Luzer."

"Don't call me Luzer."

Suddenly, a bomb was thrown at the ship, rocking it and releasing the creature. Through the smoke, Luz and Strix could make out the figure of someone wearing a tricorn hat making off with the reward money. "Is that a- a ghost pirate?" asked Salty, afraid.

"We'll he's certainly doing his job," said Strix. "He's making off with the money!"

The thief jumped off the ship onto a speedboat and headed to a nearby island. Luz summoned a boat-shaped block of ice. She and Strix jumped on, then propelled herself with a fire spell after him. On the ship, Salty watched and laughed a hearty laugh. "Show that specter what for, kids!"

The kids headed for the shore with the thief in sight. The ice had melted to barely support their feet. They lost their balance and were sent flying, colliding into the thief who dropped the money at the shore. It opened up, spilling its contents as a wave came to wash it all away.

"The money," the kids and the thief cried out.

"Wait, I know that voice," Strix said suspiciously. He walked over to the thief and knocked his hat off, revealing "he" was a "she". "Mom?! What are you doing here?!"

Eda made a sheepish chuckle. "Hi, son."

"Don't 'Hi, son' me! Why are you attacking our ship?! And where are your legs?!"

Eda's legs hopped out of the speed boat and reattached themselves to her knees. "It's called 'disguising your tracks'. Now, why were you two on that ship to begin with? You coulda gotten killed!"

Before the kids could respond, someone jumped out of the water and landed in front of them. "That can be arranged."

Strix immediately recognized the stranger before them. "Hey, you're that kid from the poster!"

"Kid?" asked the Golden Guard, offended. "I'm a teenager, thank you very much! And you are all criminals. What's about to happen should be relatively painless, if you just do what I say."

"And why would we do that?" demanded Luz.

"Because none of you can use real magic."

"You don't know that!" snapped Eda.

"Maybe not, but I do know you're standing on a plant that eats flesh." Luz, Strix and Eda looked down and realized they were ankle deep in digestive juices. They jumped out and hopped around to cool their feet. The Golden Guard laughed before saying, "Okay-the human and Strix will remain a sailor to repay all the money she lost, while his mother the Owl Lady will be arrested, again, for attacking one of the Emperor's ships."

Luz looked at her mentor. "'Emperor's ship'?"

"They're the only ones worth robbing." She asked the masked boy, "Why are you guys hunting the Selkidomus? It's a peaceful creature, and you're provoking it!"

The Golden Guard just shrugged his shoulders. "The Emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders."

"Well, I'm just gonna smack you around a bit!" Eda tore off her arm and swung it like a baseball bat, but the Golden Guard tripped her and made her land on her face.

"Leave Mom alone!" Strix pulled out a pair of ice glyphs and threw icicles at him, only to suddenly feel a stinging sensation in his eyes. "AUGH!" He wiped his eyes, crying out, "Did you just kick sand in my face?!"

Luz tried to burn him with fire glyphs only to be tripped and crash into Eda.

"How about... I leave you dangling above the Boiling Sea!?" The Golden Guard used his staff to lift them up into the air and above the steaming water. "Around these parts, just the steam is enough to cause third-degree burns." But then he laughed and dropped them back on the ground. "But I don't have to be that mean. No-one will have to be a sailor or get arrested, if one of you follows those Selkidomus tracks and slays the beast. Here! I'll help!" He produced a sword with his staff.

Strix shouted, "Kiss off, you brown-noser."

The Golden Guard let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, you're making this difficult... Go, or I drown the bird." He lifted up the fabric off the birdcage he was carrying, revealing King was trapped in it. Then he covered it back up.

"Ah, it's dark now," said King as he began to snore.

"Seriously, King," asked an outraged Strix. Then he made a scoff and said, "Ah, go and drop him, kid. We can always get a new pet."

King stuck his head out of the cage and shouted, "I beg your pardon, I heard that!"

"Really? Okay." The Golden Guard tossed the cage over his shoulder and Strix stretched his arms out and caught it. "Yep, I just called your bluff. And you still have an illegal magic artifact."

Stix's arms snapped back into place as he tore off his skin, revealing his Masked form. "So what if I am? You just lost your bargaining chip!"

"But I do have another leverage. See this?" The Golden Guard held up a small button in the shape of the Emperor's sigil. "His Majesty has given us in his Coven a new device and a new rule. If we were to encounter you wearing that Mask, we just have to press this little button and we can summon Lord High Executioner Walter any time we want." Luz, Strix and Eda's eyes widened with fear while King covered the cage with the fabric and shivered.

"Yeah, I had a feeling that would be your reaction," he continued. "So, here's what's REALLY going to happen. You WILL kill the Selkidomus and you WILL present its corpse to me. If not, I will summon Walter who will have you all executed on the spot." Luz rubbed her neck. "What's it going to be? Oh, and leave the thing in the cage. I don't want to be without a bargaining chip."

Strix sighed and conceded. "Fine. Luzer, let's do this."

"Fine," Luz said as she picked up the sword and followed the Selkidomus' tracks into a cave.

"Luz, wait," called out Eda. "Strix!"

Meanwhile, Lilith was surrounded by the entire colony of fire bees. "I am not one to be trifled with, bees. I am a witch... unhinged!" She swung the stick around, only for it to catch fire. She tossed it aside and for the first time, she realized she was in way over her head. "I can't do this alone. I need help!"

Suddenly, Hooty popped out of the ground. "I'm here for you, Lulu. No witch is an island. Now face my wrath!"

Lilith was impressed and made a giddy sound as she clapped her hands. She ducked just in time as fire bee honey splatted on a tree behind her.

"Uh, maybe we should think this over," said Strix as he, Luz and Eda went further into the cave and discovered the beached remains of a ship. "I mean, he could be bluffing."

"No, he wasn't bluffing," said Luz. "I KNOW he will do it."

"Look, I know us weirdos have to stick together but..."

"But what?!" Luz snapped at Eda. "Because you stuck with me, you lost your magic. You almost got turned to stone, and now you can't even afford your apple blood because you're worried about what I need to eat." Eda made a hurt look. She heard that, huh? Suddenly, they heard a rumbling roar from below. "It's my fault all this happened. That's why I've got to do this alone. I'll make it all up to you, Eda the Owl Lady. I promise." And with that, Luz jumped down.

"LUZ!"

The girl landed on the Selkidomus' head. The creature flipped her off and puffed its throat, prepared to fire its pricks at her. Before it could launch its attack, a lasso pulled her behind a large pile of kelp and held her upside down. A Masked Strix, dressed as a cowboy, tipped his hat. "Howdy, little lady."

"Strix! Let me go!"

"You know what, all day long it's been 'Me, me, me'. Well, guess what? Now it's my turn! So you just shut up and listen to me," he said as he untied her. "Going on a suicide mission is not helping anyone! If anything, the only thing it's doing is make you look even more like an idiot."

Luz frowned at him. "Is that supposed to be the pep talk?"

"He is telling the truth, kid," said Eda. "You helped me find King's crown when you barely knew me. You saved me and Strix from turning to stone and you even got us talking to my sister again. So, unfortunately for you, our lives are pretty great, because we're friends with Luz the human. Now, your guilt-ridden brain is clouding your judgement. There's gotta be a way out of this, where no one has to get hurt."

Suddenly, they heard a squeaking sound. They turned around and saw... "Whoa. Didn't see that coming," said a surprised Strix. There, in a pile of kelp, sat the last thing anyone expected to find: a baby Selkidomus.

This gave Luz an idea. With a sly smirk she asked the Owl Lady, "Eda, do you want to learn your first glyph?"

Back on the surface, the Golden Guard was playing with King in his cage. He lifted the shade. King woke up and spun around. "Weh?" He dropped the shade. King sighed in relief. The Golden Guard lifted the shade. King woke up and spun around. "Weh?" He droped the shade. King sighed in relief. The Golden Guard lifted the shade. King wakes up and spun around. "Weh?" He dropped the shade. King sighed in relief.

The Golden Guard chuckled. "You're actually weirdly endearing."

"No, I'm not," King mumbled in his sleep.

Suddenly, the Golden Guard heard sounds of fighting. He saw shadows on the wall of Eda, Strix and Luz fighting the Selkidomus. Luz slayed the creature, and began dragging its head into the Golden Guard's view. He gagged and said, "Oh, that thing smells awful. Why are you touching it with your hands? Gross."

"You're gross. Now give me King."

"Actually, he smells pretty bad too. Take him." He tossed Luz the cage, waking King in the process. "Thank you for your service. You can find your own way home. And try to stay out of trouble. The Emperor is not a merciful man. And Walter even less so. So tell your friend, if we don't have that Mask, there WILL be blood." Then he made a cheerful "Bye!" and vanished.

Luz blew a raspberry at him. She let King loose and they looked back at the cave. What the Golden Guard thought was the Selkidomus' corpse was actually just a pile of seaweed brought to life by Eda's plant glyphs. Right now she was practicing the light glyph magic with a big smile on her face. "I get how you felt," she said to Strix. "When you started doing this."

He took the Mask off and put an arm around her shoulder. "It's the best feeling in the world, ain't it?"

"It sure is. My first glyph, Luz. Did I do good?"

Luz nodded her head. "Yeah. You did great." The baby Selkidomus appeared and hopped its way toward Luz who gave it a cuddle. "Baby! Awww!"

King made a frightened look. "Wait, what is that?"

"Don't worry, King," said Eda. "Once the mother saw we weren't a threat to her baby, she calmed down." She said to the mother, "This area is dangerous. You need to move further out into the sea."

The Selkidomus nodded her head before upchucking golden ambergris. Dollar signs appeared in Strix's eyes as he jumped into it. "Ha, ha! We've struck the treasure of the sea, Luzer!"

Luz made a disgusted face. "Uh... gold? Tuna?"

"It's selkigris," said Eda as she rubbed some on her face. "Ah, people pay big money for it at the Night Market. Ah, feel that money, Luz."

Luz tried to get her to stop her from rubbing it on her face. "No, Eda! Stop!"

"Luxuriate in it. What, you don't like to luxuriate? There's a whole pile of luxury right in here," said Eda as she grabbed Luz.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Too late. Eda tossed her into the pile. "Move over!" She jumped in, then King followed her.

"Eda!"

Everyone laughed.

Back at the Owl House, Lilith was applying the final ingredients for the potion, all the while having a conversation with Hooty. What happened today really made her rethink about being alone. "I'm sorry for sending you away before. It's hard for me to ask for help." She rubbed ointment on his face, which was swelled up from the bee stings.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for being all nosy-nosy. But hey, Lulu, every friendship comes with its ups and downs. Right, best friend?"

"I'm not commenting on that, Hootsifer."

Hooty made a happy gasp. "A nickname? Hoot!"

The potion in the cauldron began to bubble. "The scrying potion, it's ready," said Lilith with anticipation.

A tired Eda, Strix, Luz and King walked through the door. "We're home," Eda mumbled. Then she tripped on Hooty.

"Eda, come here. I have a gift for you. To prove that I'm trustworthy, I'm giving you a peek inside the Emperor's castle."

The cauldron showed an image inside the Emperor's castle. Two guards greeted each other.

"Sup?"

"Sup."

Strix raised an eyebrow. "Is this happening right now, Aunt Lily?"

"It is, nephew!"

"What are we supposed to do with this?" Luz asked her.

"Whatever you want. Don't you see? These troops don't know what to do with themselves. So, go crazy. Pull whatever pranks your heart desires. They're clueless without me."

Eda laughed, proud that her sister was becoming like her. "Oh, Lily, you couldn't have been more right. And that Golden Guard... what a chump. Oh, I'm in a good mood. Who wants to get takeout and draw faces on Hooty?"

The kids and King cheered. "Yay! Me, me, me! I do! Yeah! I'm in!"

"I'll protect you, Hootsifer," Lilith whispered.

"Alright, what do we wanna eat?" asked Eda.

"Anything but seafood," said Luz.

"Can we have some chicken, please?" asked Strix.

"Crackers," said King.

"We're not ordering crackers," said Eda.

"Bees!" suggested Hooty.

"I'm fine with whatever," said Lilith. "Things are starting to feel right again."

If they had stayed a little longer, they would have seen the image change to that of the Emperor inspecting the large portal almost being finished. By his side was Walter, who was sticking bamboo under his nails, not even flinching. He only stopped and looked up when he felt like he was being watched. Without even turning around, the Emperor said, "Knock-knock, human."