Eight years ago...

Eda was running down a forest trail, carrying a sleeping Strix on her back. It was starting to rain boiling rain and they needed to find shelter fast. They spotted a ruined a building and Eda ran in. Suddenly, she felt a presence. She brandished her staff and pointed at...whatever it was. "Who's there? Reveal yourself!" The creature approached them and Eda gasped.

Luz and Strix were in the living room, studying their new glyph combos. Truth be told, it was the only thing they could do to take their minds off the fact that Strix's curse was worsening; the proof of it was the amount of feathers he was sprouting. Although he insisted that they should not worry about it...yet, that didn't stop Luz, Eda and Lilith from occasionally watching his every movement, much to his annoyance.

Suddenly, King interrupted their thoughts by barging in. "Luz, Strix! I need your help! I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion."

"The bunny?" asked Strix. He glanced over to the stuffed animal, who was holding a knife. "That's...creepy."

"In a minute, King. I'm getting so close to figuring out this glyph combo."

King put his hands on his hips and frowned. "It's always glyphs and portals with you these days. What about King?"

"What about me?" asked Strix. "What am I, chopped liver."

"No! I want Luz to help!"

"Well."

"Why don't you ask Lilith for help?" Luz suggested. "She was in the Emperor's Coven. She has more experience with unruly mobs than anyone."

Lilith was sitting at the coffee table, concentrating very hard to make a perfect glyph. "Watching the ink dry is the best part," she said with a mad giggle.

Strix looked at her, disturbed. "Get a life, Aunt Lily."

Hooty came in with a big mug in his beak. "A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu."

Lilith smiled and patted his head. "Well, Hootsifer, you truly are a gem. How do you always know what to do?"

King whispered to Luz, "What's going on? Is Hooty blackmailing her?"

"Oh, I think they're actually friends. Isn't that nice?"

Strix was amazed. "I've never seen her get this close to anyone."

Luz closed her notebook and held up a glyph. "Okay, this will work for sure. Now you see me..." She slapped the glyph onto her chest and vanished, much to Strix and King's surprise. A second later, she came back. "...now you don't. Oh, I guess it only lasts as long as I hold my breath. Still pretty cool, huh?"

King clung to her leg like a lost puppy. "Don't ever do that again!"

Lilith saw the whole thing in amazement. "Do that again! How ever did you accomplish it?"

"Well, since you guys discovered that we can make new spells by combining glyphs," Luz explained as Strix yanked King off her leg. "I've been experimenting. I got the invisibility idea from your history books, Lilith."

"Fascinating! As the lead historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, my aid could be very helpful in-" Lilith was interrupted when she tripped and stumbled onto King's pile of plushies.

"AN AMBUSH! MEN, DEFEND YOUR RULER!" King threw a plush frog at Lilith, which was blocked by Hooty. He fell into her arms, making a dramatic performance. "I'm done for, Lulu."

"Hootsifer, this is make-believe."

"Ah, to die in your arms. Avenge me. Bleh!"

Strix rolled his eyes. "Always the over dramatic one." King charged at Lilith with a plastic knife but Strix picked him up. "Yoink!"

"Put me down! The King of Demons yields to no one!"

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Historically, demons have never been united under a single rule until Belos. There's no such thing as a 'King of Demons'."

King threw the knife at her. "Blasphemy! Clearly, you know nothing of my reign of terror. Allow me to tell you."

"Here we go," snarked Strix.

"I was once the mighty King of Demons. I was beloved almost as much as I was feared. But one dark day, an evil spell was cast transforming me into this!"

"Oh? What happened to your 'crown of power'?" asked Hooty.

"A trifle! That was just to test Eda, Strix and Luz's dedication to me! They passed. My real crown is still out there. But when I shrank, my memories got, uh... fuzzy."

"He's been like this when he was little," groaned Strix. "He just makes up a new part of his origin story."

"I DO NOT MAKE UP! I remember plenty! I remember armies bowing before me, being served the greatest of feasts, and falling from a massive height as that evil hex shrank me. One day, I'll return to my rightful place...and all shall fear me!"

"You see what I had to put up with all these years?" asked Strix as he set King down. "Even when I was a child, he would order me around, but I always came out on top."

"You were three times my size!"

Luz picked him up and cuddled him like a puppy. "Aw, you're gonna be such a good tyrant. Who's the scariest demon king? Who is it?"

"Me! It's me!" King exclaimed triumphantly.

"Your dedication to this farce would be charming if it wasn't so sad," said Lilith.

"Don't blame me for your ignorance. I'm not a liar, and I can prove it." King stormed off down the corridor and slammed the door behind him.

Lilith made an offended sound. "He called me ignorant. Me!"

"Stop it, you guys," said Luz. "This story is really important to him, so the least we can do is play along."

"Play along? I've never played along with it," said Strix. "I always thought of King as a pet, nothing more."

"You don't know! He could have been!"

"You mean indulge his silly fantasy?" questioned Lilith.

"Yeah! I'm a house of principles! You're asking me to lie? Hootrageous," shrieked Hooty.

"Could you please just go with it? For his sake?" pleaded Luz.

At that moment, King returned, carrying Eda and Lilith's staffs. "All right, you three shall regret ever doubting me. We're going to my castle!"

Strix snickered at Luz's widened eyes. "Oh, this is going to be good."

"What's wrong, Luz?" teased Hooty. "I thought you said we should just 'go with'-"

"Go with him! I said we should go with him, right? How could I forget what I just said?" Luz asked nervously as she took Eda's staff.

Lilith took her own staff. "My historical expertise is being questioned, and I will not allow it. Hooty, would you like to accompany us?"

Hooty gasped excitedly. "I-I'll get ready!" What happened next? Well, somehow Hooty managed to transfer himself from the door to a birdhouse. Honestly, it's best you don't know how. "Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!" The front door to the Owl House that he was a part of had a circular hole with visible pulsating organs and veins.

Luz dry heaved at the sight, King teared up a little, Strix's face turned green and ran to vomit in a bucket and Lilith put a hand on her chest, taken aback.

Trying hard to forget what they saw, Luz put on her cloak and Strix placed the Mask in his pocket. But then, against his better judgement, he decided to leave it. The kids, Lilith and King hopped onto the staffs and took off into the sky.

Eda stepped out of the shower, towels wrapped around her body and hair. The first thing she noticed was how unusually quiet it was. "Hmm? Where'd everyone go? Man, they made a mess in here. Oh well. It's been a while since I had room to put my feet up." She lied down on the couch, detaching her feet. Before she could get a good sleep, she saw a note attached to one of King's plushies.

It read, "Off to my real castle! Don't wait up! Love, your favorite demon overlord."

Eda's eyes widened. "Oh, no! Not again!" She got off the couch, only to fall on her face, forgetting she took off her legs. Quickly, she put her legs back on, got dressed and ran into the garage. "Dragon! Wake up!" She slapped Selwyn awake, earning an annoyed growl. "Oh, shut it, lizard! We gotta get after King!" She hopped on Selwyn's back and they took off into the sky.

Night was almost upon the group as they followed King's direction. Strix had already fallen asleep and was resting his head on Luz's left shoulder. "Ew, he's drooling," said Luz.

Hooty, who was riding on Lilith's back, complained, "Are we still flying? It's been hours."

"Should we call it a day? Or perhaps a night?" Lilith laughed. "Hooty, your sense of humor is infectious." Hooty made a proud smile.

King pointed forward. "There it is!"

Strix awoke and wiped the saliva off his chin. "Huh?" His eyes widened when he saw the island. It was shaped like a cylinder that had been broken open and in the center of the island was a building shaped like an obelisk-like tower that was broken off at the top.

Lilith was shocked to see it like Strix. "This island shouldn't be here. It's not on any of the maps."

"It's always been there when I looked for it," King said smugly.

They landed at the beach and looked forward at the vast jungle before them. "After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms, and she carried me away. Like a wittle baby," explained King. "Unfortunately, I had to share the ride with Strix."

"Wait. I was with Mom?" questioned Strix.

"You were asleep the whole time! Clinging to her back like a tick!"

"Awww..." Cooed Luz. She grumpily gestured at Lilith, Hooty and Strix to follow.

"Fine," said Lilith and made an unconvincing, "Awww..."

"Not happening, Luzer."

Hooty gasped and pointed with his beak. "Look!" They followed his direction and saw the huge obelisk in the center of the island.

"Ah, home sweet home," said King as he walked forward with Luz and the others following him. "That tower is certainly intriguing, but- Oh!" She tripped over a tree root but Hooty extended himself to another tree to balance her. "Thank you, Hootsifer."

"My pleasure!"

"But couldn't we have landed a little closer?"

"The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in. Plus, now I can dramatically do..." King pulled a bush out of the way. "...this!" Before them was a large, keyhole-shaped structure.

"Ooh. A door fit for a tyrant," said Luz in marvel.

"That's me!"

Strix said nothing and looked like he was starting to doubt himself. Had he been wrong about King this whole time?

The door was blocked by rocks, so there was no going in the easy way. "I'll find you guys another way in," said King as he dug into the rocks. "Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle!"

Lilith looked at the strange, bullseye shaped symbol on the door's edges. "Huh. What a strange material. And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this."

Hooty scoffed. "Ha! I've seen better graffiti. I've got better graffiti on me." He showed off Luz's signature and three Cool S's.

"Luz, Strix, look! This predates any language I know. King's story may be a fake, but these ruins are a history mystery."

Strix looked at the symbol and wondered out loud, "If it isn't I think I owe him an apology."

Suddenly, the rocks gave way, clearing the passage. King poked his head out and asked, "Eh? What's a mystery?"

"Uh..."

Luz slapped Strix's mouth and said, "The only mystery is how Lilith can be so smart and so wrong at the same time. Academics, am I right?"

"You so are. Come on in."

Lilith and Strix gave Luz a dirty look, and she sheepishly smiled back. The two climbed over the rocks and into the tower. They used light glyphs to make their own lights and examined the room, which was littered with rocks stacked to make the same figure of something with two or three round rocks as a body and a crescent-shaped head placed horizontally.

King presented the room, "Ah, the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes. The taste was cold and bitter, but I bet yours would be sweet, Luz."

"With all the sugar I eat, it better be."

Luz suddenly thought she saw one of those crescent-shaped pillars move, but when she tried to see with her light, she saw nothing. "Can't believe your eyes, huh? My castle does have that effect," said King.

Luz gulped a little. "Yeah. So much wonder."

Strix shook his head. Then he looked forward and saw something that made him gasp and walk a chamber. "Strix?" Luz and Lilith followed after him. "Nephew, what is...it..."

"I definitely owe King an apology," Strix said as he gazed at a mural of a creature who looked an awful lot like King.

"These carvings, they're ancient," said Lilith.

"Wh-what does that mean?" questioned Hooty.

"Well, if I've never heard about this ruin, let alone this entire island, who knows what other parts of history we scholars have missed?"

"Are you saying..."

"That he may actually have been..."

"THE KING OF DEMONS?!" Lilith and Hooty exclaimed at once.

Strix put a hand on his head and rubbed his temple. "Oh, no! If he was right about this, he'll never let me live it down! I can just picture him doing the 'Strix Was Wrong!' dance until I graduate from Hexside!"

King stood atop a pile of rocks, making a heroic pose. Behind him was another mural of the horned creature fighting off another monster with a spear. "Ah, my kingdom. I, uh..." He wiped away a tear. "I got some bone dust in my eye."

Luz saw a hole in the ceiling that was plugged up by rocks. "What was up there?"

"I-I can't quite recall. I just remember a muffled roar, probably some minion praising my name."

"Well, uh... wanna head back? This is all so cool, but Eda's probably on her third cup of apple blood by now, and the last time, it was real hard getting her off the roof."

Suddenly, Strix pushed her out of the way and bowed before King. "Your Highness! Forgive me for doubting you! I am not worthy! I am a worm! A worthless worm!"

King gave him a surprised look. "'Your Highness'?"

Hooty bowed next to Strix. "Your Majesty! It's me, faithful ol' Hooty. You know I was messin' around with you the whole time, right?"

Luz was confused. "'Your Majesty'? WAH!" Lilith pushed her aside.

"It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value," she said. "Perhaps you could tell me more about them."

"I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales," King said smugly. "Am I using that word right? Regale?"

Luz dusted herself off and got back up. Suddenly, she heard a hissing sound coming from a dark corridor. "Uh, guys? Are you hearing this?"

But the others were too interested in King to hear what she said. "I'll show you where my throne used to be. It was made from the teeth of my enemies and... Ha, ha! Boy, was it awkward to sit in."

Luz shook her head and went down the corridor herself. The walls were lined with recesses containing stone figures, resembling the little ones in the foyer, partially covered in fleshy goop. "What are these things?" She stopped by one with its hand sticking out. Grossed out, she walked by it, but then she came back. "Just kidded. I'd never leave someone hanging. Up top, buddy." She high fived it, resulting in it falling apart on her. On the ground, Luz looked up and sees countless other figures in recesses toward the ceiling. She shined her light and saw that one of them was empty. Suddenly, she heard a hissing noise behind her. She turned and noticed a figure running away. Luz chased after it.

Meanwhile, King was showing off the murals to his "loyal subjects". "And that's how I would annihilate my enemies. Who needs due process, am I right?"

"What about that one?" Strix asked, pointing to the mural of the demon with the spear.

"Uh, it's hard to remember. But that handsome devil looks familiar, huh?"

Suddenly, Luz came running up to them. "Tour's over! We gotta go! Now!"

"What? Why?" asked Strix.

"There's so much to learn," said Lilith.

"This environment is not conducive to learning," said Luz. "It's conducive to death!"

"Ah, you saw the horrifying monstrosity room," King shrugged off. "Don't worry, they can't hurt you."

The hissing was heard again. Everyone looked up and sees a fleshy rock monster, alive, crawling along the ceiling. It rotates its crescent-shaped head down to look at them. "That one can," shouted Luz as she grabbed King. "Let's go!"

The creature blocked her path and grew a set of claws. She swiped at her, but Strix used a plant glyph to pin it to a wall while Lilith used an ice glyph to make sure it stayed there. "Dang, Aunt Lily, you've been practicing!"

"You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive, nephew!"

The monster broke free and gave chase, running along the walls and ceiling before again pouncing in front of Luz, Strix and Lilith. It stood tall, turned its head and changed its left arm into an axe. It prepared to strike, but an explosion at the head put it on the ground. Eda jumped in from the rocks, wearing belts armed with explosive potions.

"Mom!" exclaimed Strix. "What are you doing here?!"

"Get out of here! I'll hold it back and meet you outside."

"Eda!" shouted Luz. "We can fight it together!"

"You can't beat this thing. Go!" Lilith and the kids nodded to each other and took off running outside. Eda armed herself with another potion. "It's been a while. Miss me?"

The group ran outside, stopping just outside the entrance. Hooty shouted, "More running, less stopping!"

"Edalyn said to wait here," said Lilith.

"We can't let her fight it alone! We have to go back!"

"Mom's tougher than she looks, Luzer! You know that!"

Everyone heard explosions from within. They all looked at the door with frightful anticipation, a terrified King clutching Luz. Eda walked out, clutching her a wound on her shoulder. Lilith ran up to her and helped her up. "Edalyn! You're hurt. What of that horrible creature?"

It climbed up and hissed, brandishing an axe-arm. It swung down on Eda and Lilith, but a blue forcefield appeared the tower and the outside. The axe-arm went limp on the outside of the barrier, and the monster pulled it back inside. Eda smirked. "It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now."

"That thing must be guarding this place against intruders," said Luz.

"But it's my castle," said King. "How could we be intruders?"

"Unless it's not your castle at all," said Strix.

"Of course it is! My face is literally on the walls! Luz, tell him!" But then he noticed the look of hesitation on her face. "You don't believe this is my castle either." She turned away from him, feeling shame. "Luz, you think I would lie to you?"

"King, I..."

"You aren't lying," said Eda. "You just don't know the truth." She sat down on a rock as Lilith bandaged her arm. "It's time for me to tell you how we really met. Eight years ago I was looking for a place for me and Strix to hide from the Emperor's Coven. I never knew this place existed and it just... appeared out of the mist. So, I landed. Now, I was one hot tamale, but the boiling rains were even hotter. I needed shelter. But when I found it... I wasn't alone."

She brandished her staff and pointed at...whatever it was. "Who's there? Reveal yourself!" The creature approached them and Eda gasped. It looked like a tiny little puppy wearing a horned skull cap. She lowered her staff and watched as the puppy placed a crescent-shaped stone on a pile of rocks. "Did you make all these? What are you?"

"I assumed you were just some stray dog. But then...that thing was gonna kill the three, so I picked you up and bounced."

Eda grabbed King and held him in her arms and flew out of the ruins. Approaching its magical boundary, the monster fashioned its limbs into a bow-and-arrow and fired at them. The stone arrow hit King, breaking off his left horn and rendering him unconscious. Eda, having fallen off her staff, continues her escape on foot, grabbing King and his broken horn. In the process, little Strix awoke and screamed, "Mommy!"

Another arrow flew by their heads and nearly hit Strix. Holding both him and the puppy close, Eda got back on her staff and flew off the island.

"Against my better judgment, I took you home with me. I'd gotten you the collar, 'cause... well, that's what you do when you get a new pet. But then..."

Little Strix watched in awe as his pet...whatever it was, stacked books and toys into piles like the ones Eda saw on the island. He finished making a pile and made a proud pose for the boy, who just laughed. "Who do you think you are, a tiny king with a tiny army?"

"K...K...K...K...ing...?"

Strix's his wing feathers ruffled. "Mommy! Our pet! He talked!"

"What are you talking about," Eda asked as she came into the room. "There's no way he can-"

"King... King!" The little creature squeaked as he fell on his posterior.

Eda was just as shocked as her son. "It spoke," she gasped.

"Told you!"

Eda smiled warmly and patted his head. "Yeah, that's right. A king. You know what else kings do? They command armies and eat delicious feasts."

Strix burst out laughing. "Him?! A pipsqueak like him? Yeah right!"

The creature got angry at him and shouted, "I AM KING! I AM KING!"

"Ooh, listen to his voice," Strix said as he picked him up. "Alright, King it is." He snuggled him up and smiled at him. "Welcome to the family, our little King." King made a "Weh!" sound and cuddled up to him, making him laugh with joy.

"Until the day Strix learned magic, that was the happiest I had ever seen him," Eda said. "And that's how you got the idea you were some despotic overlord. Oh, but you were finally happy. So I kept playing along with it but Strix never stopped teasing us about it."

Strix sighed. "So I was right. He was never a king of anything." He looked down at the little demon with a sad look.

King's body started to tremble. "Y-You're lying," he shouted at Eda.

"I'm not," she said as he reached into her hair and pulled out the missing half of King's left horn. As he took it from her, he looked as though he had an epiphany. "My army, my feasts, my life..." He screamed and threw the horn away. "AAH! No! Keep that thing away from me! It's messing with my head!"

"King, it's gonna be okay," Luz tried to calm him down.

King pleaded, "Y-You're all just making fun of me, like usual, right? Strix, this is just your usual taunting right? Y-Y-You don't really mean all those things you said about me not being a king, right? I'm not a delusional imbecile, right?!" Strix couldn't bear to look at him. "No! No, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He burst into tears and ran off into the jungle.

"KIIIING!" shouted Strix, chasing after him.

Luz followed close, calling out the little demon's name. Lilith shook her head. "I can't fly. The tree cover is too dense. I regret ever playing a part in this."

Hooty started bawling like a baby. "Is this what regret feels like? I HATE IT!" He bawled even louder; Lilith patted his head.

Luz sat on a rock and began crying. "I lied to him, even thorough I knew he trusted me. Now, he's all alone."

"For now, let's split up," said Eda. "This island is small, and he's even smaller. He can't have gone far." She put a hand on Luz's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find him."

"KIIING! KIIING?!" Strix called out. He made his way out of the jungle and found himself back on the beach. At last he found King, sitting on a log and crying. He sat next to him. "Hey."

"You were right, Strix. I'm no king. I'm nothing."

Strix got up and knelt in front of him. "Did nothing teach me everything there is to know about demons? Did nothing stay by my side and made me laugh at crazy antics? Did nothing help me and Luz become witches? Did nothing-"

"I get what you're doing, but it's not working."

"Okay, so you're not a king. But you're still my p..." He stopped before correcting himself. "My family. Eda loves you. I love you. And Luz..."

"Loves you too." They both turned to see Luz. She sat down next to King and said, "I'm sorry I lied about what I believed."

"Everyone lied! And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it! I... I don't know what to do, Luz! I can't tell what's real and what's fake!" He buried his face into Strix's chest and sobbed. Strix patted his head as tears of his own fell down his cheeks and landed on it.

Luz was about to cry with them, but then a thought crossed her mind as she looked back at the tower. "Something's not adding up. One of your memories is falling, right?"

King removed himself from Strix and wiped his eyes. "Probably another stupid thing I made up!"

"No! What if that's a real memory?"

"Why does it matter?"

"You said you remember a roar from up in that shaft. Maybe that's what you fell from! Eda and Strix found you in those ruins. There's gotta be a clue in there about where you came from."

"I don't know, Luz. What if the story gets worse?"

Strix scoffed. "It can't be worse than my story. And besides, back then you were alone. You have us now. You have a brother. Whatever we find up there won't change that. So, what do you say?"

He and Luz extended their hands to him. King thought it over, then took them. "Okay," he said as he climbed on top of Strix's shoulder.

The trio returned to find the Clawthorne sisters. "King!" Eda ran up to hug him, but stopped when he glared at her. "You're mad at me. I get it. I would be, too. I'm so sorry, King."

King poked her on the cheek. "Boop! No more secrets, okay? You have to promise me."

"Only truths. I promise."

"Great," said Strix. "Now, before we leave, there's one last thing we need to check out."

Inside the castle, the monster was maintaining one of the little rock statues when it suddenly reacted to something unseen. It hissed and looks back. It saw an exploding potion being tossed and got hit. Lilith flew in on her staff, aiming Hooty like a bazooka. Special delivery... PAIN!" Hooty fired a potion out of his mouth, and it hit the monster again. Suddenly, something invisible flew low past it. Luz took a deep breath in, and she, King, Strix and Eda reappear on her staff, just like the glyph spell the showed off earlier.

"You sure they'll be alright?" asked Eda.

"Hooty knows what to do," Luz said as she, King and Strix hopped off the staff.

Eda looked again at his sister and Hooty fired the potions at the monster. "Are you sure they'll be alright?" She flew up and placed a potion on the plugged up hole in the ceiling and flew back down to the kids and King. "You ready?"

"I always wanted to do something like this," Luz said as she held up a fire glyph.

Hooty called out to Lilith, "They're in place!"

"Hold your breath!" she said as she activated the invisibility spell.

The monster hissed and looks around confused before getting hit by the invisible Lilith. As Luz aimed the glyph at the overhead potion, the monster grabbed Lilith by the head, turning her visible again. Just then, Luz changed the paper into a fireball and flung it toward the potion. It hit, blowing the hole in the ceiling open.

"Fly, fly, fly!" she shouted.

They started going up the hole, with Lilith producing a glyph to light the dark tunnel. The monster gave chase. Our heroes soon reached the end of the tunnel. And what did they find? Nothing but a bare circular room. "NOTHING?!" exclaimed Strix. "We came all this way for nothing?!"

Everyone got off the staffs and start exploring. King heard hissing, looked down the hole and saw the monster coming in fast. "IT'S COMING!" King shrieked and ran as the monster swiped its arm and had our heroes cornered against a locked door. Strix cursed himself for not bringing the Mask this one time. King backed into it, and his touch triggered a medical reaction. "Huh?" The door opened, causing everyone to fall backwards into a secret room. They hurriedly closed the door as the monster reached toward them, causing its goopy hand to get cut off. Everyone took in deep sighs of relief.

"Huh, I think we're safe... for now," panted Eda. "But how did we get the door open?"

King looked at his paw, confused.

Lilith was in awe at the room they were in. "This room is old. Very old."

They began exploring the room, which was decorated with decaying plants and a skylight on the ceiling with a strange spiral symbol. The walls were covered with murals of those strange crescent heads. In the middle of the room was a golden pedestal with the remains of a broken eggshell at the top. "I knew there was something up here!" exclaimed Luz with excitement. "I'm like the mystery whisperer. The butler did it, magnifying glass, secret door."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Strix.

Lilith examined the walls. "It looks like that creature was made to guard whatever was in here."

"King, does any of this feel familiar to you," Luz asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think I know how to jog my memory. Eda, I'm ready." He held out his paw.

"Are you sure?"

"I am." Eda handed him the broken half of his horn and placed it on his stump. He gasped as memories came flashing into his mind. "I remember a deep roar."

The egg vibrated to the sound of the roar, followed by the sound of an explosion.

"And then, something happened...but I was too small to do anything. So, I went back to sleep. And the next time I woke up..."

The eggshell started to crack, and a slit of light shines through. King reacted to the light and reached for it. The baby emerged from the egg and tumbled down the pedestal. He opened his eyes for the first time and saw the castle's mysterious symbol on the skylight. He pulled himself across the room until he reached the door. It magically reacted to his touch and opened, revealing the monster behind it. The two looked at each other. The monster picked up King, cradled him and walked to the shaft. It dove down the hole with King in its arms, and King reached for the light from the top as it disappeared from view.

"King..." Luz said.

King took off the horn and looked down at it. "That roar. It meant 'son'. I don't know how I know that, but I do. Someone called me their son. Luz, I think it was my dad!"

Luz recalled the murals of the giant horned demon. "Maybe that was him on all those wall carvings."

Suddenly, the monster burst into the room and was about to strike them when King stood in front of it and commanded it, "Stop!" And to everyone's surprise, it listened and bowed before him.

"Wait, does this mean..."

"That thing was defending King from us this whole time?" Eda finished Strix. "Huh. Alright."

Lilith snapped a picture of the murals on the wall with an instant flash camera. "Oh, sorry. Were we discussing important revelations? I'll... Ahem, I'll just... do this later." Chuckling sheepishly, she hid the camera behind her back, prompting Hooty to eat it.

Luz knelt down to King's level. "Maybe you weren't exactly the King of Demons, but..."

"I was important to someone." King sniffled a little. "If... If he's out there, I want to find him. I'm not that old! It could be possible!" He sniffled again. "Would you help me?"

"I'd do anything for you, buddy," Luz said.

"Then... can we keep him?" King pointed to the monster.

"No." was everyone's response.

Hooty pulled everyone into a group hug. "Yeeeees!" he sang.

The group returned to the Owl House and Hooty returned to his usual spot in the front door. Don't ask how. Please. In Luz's room, King carved the skylight's symbol onto his collar's tag. "Whatcha doin' there, King?" asked Strix.

"That symbol was all over that tower. What if it's my name?" Luz glued the broken horn together. "Aah... gooey!"

"Sorry," she said as she wiped the excess glue off.

King glanced at the lifeless monster sitting in the corner. "It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins. I liked having a big, scary minion."

"Yeah. Too bad," Luz said, looking unnerved by it. Seriously, why did he have to bring it in her room?

"Guys, is it okay to still call me 'King'? It feels kind of weird when I'm not the king of anything."

Strix held him close and nuzzled his cheek. "You'll always be our little King, my brother."

King's eyes lit up. "Brother. I like being called that."

"And you'll always be the king of my heart. That's good enough, right?" asked Luz.

"Yeah! Goodnight, Luz." He lied down and Luz kissed his forehead. "And Francois." She kissed the stuffed rabbit's forehead. "Now, Jean-Luc." Yeah. No, that was not happening. "Bummer, looks like I'm all out of kisses. Maybe next time. Goodnight!"

"Wait for me," Strix said, chasing after her.

King held the rabbit close and fell asleep.

The kids met the Clawthorne sisters in the living room, studying the strange symbols they found in the secret chamber. "I've never seen markings like this," said Eda. "Hmmm... Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language?"

"And those old carvings," said Lilith. "Who were they depicting?"

"Any ideas, 'mystery whisperer'?" Eda asked Luz teasingly.

Strix looked at the photos. "Well, the guy with the spear is obviously King's dad, I think. But who he's fighting...I can't tell."

"I don't know either," said Luz. "But whatever we discover, we'll be there for King... no matter what."