Hunter had left the pub and was walking down the street on his way back to the Owl House, his family troubles still on his mind.
"No matter what I do or where I look, I just can't find anything that'll tell me who my family is", Hunter said, "it could be years before I find anything that might really help me."
As he rounded the corner, he bumped into none other than Luz and Amity.
"Hunter, there you are", Luz said, "where have you been?"
"We've been looking everywhere for you", Amity said, "what have you been doing all afternoon?"
"Oh, hey, girls", Hunter said, "I was doing a little searching."
"For what", Luz asked.
"A spell", Hunter said.
"What kind of spell", Amity asked.
"One that can reveal who a witch's family is", Hunter said.
"A witch's family", Luz asked, "that's an interesting thing to look for."
"What's got you so interested in looking for something like that", Amity asked, "who's family are you trying to find out more about?"
Hunter remembered that Luz and Amity told him they wanted to help him with his problem, and he knew he couldn't find out who his family is on his own, so at last, he took a deep breath and spoke to them.
"Mine", Hunter said, "I'm trying to find out who my family is."
He told the two girlfriends all about how he wanted to know more about his family, from how he developed this interest following the previous night's church service to his failed attempts to find a spell that would help him with it.
"So you want to figure out who your real family is", Luz said.
"That's right", Hunter said, "after all those years of being lied to by your father, it's time for me to find out what my real family line is."
"Well, we're with you every step of the way", Amity said, "we'll figure out a way to solve this problem together."
"Thanks", Hunter said, "you guys are real friends."
"Don't mention it", Luz said, "now let's head back to the Owl House and see what we can come up with."
The three teenagers began walking back towards the Owl House, chatting with each other along the way.
"Do you girls really think we can come up with a way to find out who my family is", Hunter asked.
"If we could figure out that Amity is Eda's biological daughter, I'm sure we can figure out who your birth family is", Luz said.
"I sure hope so", Hunter said.
Little did the trio know that they were being spied on by a group of mysterious witches, but Luz felt a strange feeling overcome her that she couldn't shake.
"Hey, guys", Luz said.
"Yeah, Luz", Amity asked.
"Do you ever get the feeling that we're being watched", Luz asked.
"I guess some people get that feeling a lot when they're living on an island that's the dead body of a giant creature", Hunter said.
"I'm not talking about the Titan", Luz said, "I mean something else."
Amity and Hunter were both curious why Luz was feeling that way all of a sudden, so they looked around for anything that seemed out of the ordinary, when suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping filled the air.
"What was that", Amity said.
They continued to look around some more, when they heard the sound of leaves rustling nearby, and as they looked in the direction it had come from, the same mysterious witches who had been watching the group appeared behind them, and the trio of friends turned around to find them standing there.
"What the", Luz asked.
The witches were wearing outfits similar to those worn by Coven Scouts in the Emperor's Coven during Emperor Belos' time as the emperor, but their capes were dim gray and their masks were different from the Scouts, being ivory-colored with no lower halves, exposing the wearers' mouths, and also had a strange symbol on them.
"Hello, human", one of the witches said, "human's friends."
"Who are you guys supposed to be", Luz asked.
"We are members of an organization known as the True Magic Coven", another witch said, "and our goal is to bring about a new age of greatness to the Boiling Isles."
"What do you guys mean by 'True Magic'", Amity asked, "and what kind of age of greatness are you trying to bring to the Isles."
"I see you're curious to know more about us", the first witch said, "while we would love to answer your questions that you have..."
"We're not going to bother, since our boss ordered us to kill you three", a third witch said.
"Kill us", Hunter asked.
"That's right", a fourth witch said, "you see, he's got big plans for the Isles, and you three pose a serious threat to them."
"So, naturally, he wants to get you out of the way as soon as possible so you won't be a problem going forward", the first witch said.
"I see", Luz said, "there's just one tiny mistake you guys made about me."
"And what's that", the first witch asked.
Luz made a spell circle that made several fireballs fly past the witches.
"I'm not an ordinary human anymore", Luz said.
"Oh, that's right", a fifth witch said, "she got her heart replaced with a witch heart."
"It doesn't matter", the first witch said, "we can still take her and the others out no sweat."
"Not if I have anything to say about it", a voice said.
The witches turned around and saw a figure clad in a white cape and white mask standing with two other witches dressed similarly.
"Uh oh", the second witch said, "it's the Emperor!"
"That's right", the Emperor said, "all of you are under arrest for conspiring to take over the Boiling Isles."
"Emperor, please", the first witch said, "our leader only wants to bring true peace and harmony to the Isles."
"By destroying the current way of the world to make way for his twisted ideals", Lilith asked.
"His ideals are anything but twisted", the third witch said, "his vision of the future is one where all witches are equal in power."
"And no one is more powerful than anyone else", the fourth witch said.
"As I said, his ideals are twisted", the Emperor said, "now, my associates and I will escort you to the Conformatorium at this time."
"Sorry, Emp", the first witch said.
He made a spell circle and fired a blast of magic that sent the Emperor flying backwards into a tree, prompting the other two witches to rush over in that direction.
"That's not going to happen", the first witch said.
He was about to make another spell circle, when he got hit by a blast of magic and fell to the ground unconscious, and the other witches turned around to see that Luz had fired it.
"She took out Alex", the second witch said.
"That's right", Luz said, "and which one of you wants to be next?"
"You heard her", Hunter said, "step right up if you want to throw down."
The remaining witches looked at each other, then ran towards Luz and her friends to begin fighting them, and soon, the battle was underway, with Luz and Amity fighting them using their magical abilities and Hunter using the glyphs that Luz had given him, and pretty soon, the trio turned and looked at each other, all three of them having the same thing on their minds.
"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking", Luz asked.
"I sure am", Amity said.
"Me too", Hunter said.
"Then let's do it", Luz said.
Luz, Amity, and Hunter all summoned their witches staffs, and then used them to magically lift the evil witches up into the air.
"Okay, guys", Luz said, "here we go!"
The three got together in a circle and bunched the witches together in one group, and then, concentrating their magic all together, they shot the witches high into the air, and when they began to fall back down towards the ground, the trio used their staffs to catch them before they hit the ground and set them down in a pile on top of Alex, the first witch.
"Nice work, guys", Luz said, "looks like all that practice really paid off."
"It sure does", Amity said.
It was then that the Emperor got up and walked over to Luz and her friends.
"Very nicely done, children", the Emperor said.
Then, she removed her mask, revealing herself to be none other than Lilith Clawthorne, who had been appointed Emperor of the Boiling Isles following the end of the war and the fall of the old Emperor's Coven.
"Thanks, Lilith", Luz said.
"Just doing what we can to help my aunt with her job", Amity said.
"I appreciate that", Lilith said, "my associates will see these scoundrels to the Conformatorium."
Lilith's subordinates, who were both members of the new Emperor's Coven, picked up the evil witches and carried them away.
"I'm glad that's over", Luz said, "what are the chances someone would try and kill us like that?"
"Do you even know what our lives are like", Amity asked, "at this point, this kind of stuff is routine for us."
"Good point", Luz said.
"So, Lilith", Hunter said, "what were you doing all the way out here, anyway?"
"I was actually on my way to Edalyn's house", Lilith said, "I've been so busy with my duties as the Emperor that I thought I'd take a night off and join you all for dinner."
"That sounds good", Luz said, "we'd love to have you with us."
"Yeah", Amity said, "it's been a while since we last got to spend some quality time together."
"Wonderful", Lilith said, "in that case, lead the way."
Lilith walked with Luz, Amity, and Hunter towards the Owl House, and as they made their way there, a thought popped into the latter's head.
"Lilith must have access to all kinds of stuff as the Emperor", Hunter thought, "maybe she can help me find out who my family is."
