"I can't believe you seriously convinced me to do this." Hunter groaned, grabbing the pin from his bin so he would be invisible to the Collector and putting it on.
"I mean, you still agreed." Luz shrugged, grabbing her own pin, "Now, you stocked up on glyphs?"
"With all the ones we drew earlier, it'll have to be a war for me to run out. And considering the plan you told me, I doubt that'll be necessary."
"I have learned that when you don't have magic naturally, it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. Now, you figured out where Eda's room is?"
"Yep. You sure this is a good idea? You can always just ride on Flapjack with me."
"Look, we'll be in and out. Eda won't even notice we're gone and took Owlbert. And if she does her anger will be defused with us bringing back at worst some information and at best King. Now let's go."
Luz and Hunter quietly walked out of the room, trying to not wake anyone up. Once they got out, they grabbed an invisibility glyph so anyone who was awake wouldn't see them. They crept through the halls and got to Eda's room.
Since she was basically in charge, she got to have her own room.
Luz quietly opened the door and looked for Owlbert. She saw him asleep, sitting on a perch on Eda's desk. Luz went over and grabbed him carefully.
"Okay, please be quiet, Owlbert. It's just me. I just need to borrow you for a bit, okay?" Luz whispered before he could start making noise and potentially wake Eda up.
He looked a bit nervous but nodded and let her bring him out of Eda's room. Luz tucked him under her jacket so nobody would see him, then tapped her foot on the ground three times, signaling to Hunter that she was good to go. As they left, they rounded a corner and nearly ran right into Emira and Alador, the former of which was wearing some medical things and the latter looked mostly like they remembered, except his hair was much shorter.
"We need to tell her sooner or later." Emira said.
"She just got back. She doesn't need to know." Alador sighed.
"She'll start asking questions sooner or later!"
"She doesn't even know Odialia and I are getting divorced. She doesn't need to know this yet."
"Dad, Mittens isn't some fragile little girl. She fought Belos, fled the Collector, and spent months in another realm. She's almost as good as you at abomination magic, has probably learned some wild magic from Luz, and helped make a portal. Why can't you just tell her that-"
"Because if I have to tell her that means I have to accept what's happened!" Alador yelled, shocking Emira, Luz, and Hunter.
Alador saw Emira's expression and froze, before sighing and taking a few breaths.
"I'm sorry for yelling," he softly said, "We've both had a long day. I know Amity is strong. But I'm not. Please, don't tell her yet. Goodnight, Emira."
"Goodnight, dad."
Emira and Alador walked right past Hunter and Luz, before splitting off into different directions. As their footsteps faded away, the invisibility also vanished.
"What do you think they were talking about?" Luz quietly asked.
"I don't know, and I don't think we should try to figure it out. Amity's family issues are her business, not ours. Now come on. This was your plan."
Luz nodded and the both grabbed another invisibility glyph and activated it just to be safe. They walked out past the flesh demon guards and out into the woods. By the time they got to the coast of the island, the time was already up for their invisibility. Since they were far away from the tower, they didn't bother going invisible again.
Hunter summoned Flapjack and Luz pulled out Owlbert, they got on their staves and took off in the direction of the Isles. It took a few hours, but eventually they got back to the isles. They kept a high altitude so they'd be able to be unseen by anyone on the ground, and also be able to get the best view of the landscape to find the Collector's hideout.
It didn't take long for it to come into view.
"You think that's it?" Hunter sarcastically asked.
He and Luz approached a massive building that seemed to resemble the owl house, but simplified.
"The Collector did say to play Owl House, they'd need an owl house." Luz shrugged.
Hunter and Luz landed on the poarch and slipped between the cracks of the massive door. They walked along the floor, searching for any sign of life.
"This feels like I'm in one of my favorite movies. "Dear, the children got in my shrink ray". Or like that time Tibbles nearly killed me, Gus, Willow, and King at a carnival."
"I'm not even going to ask who Tibbles is."
Hunter and Luz wandered through the house, not finding anything. They had searched the entire first floor, but nothing.
"We still have the upstairs. We'll definitely find something up there." Hunter assured, seeing Luz start to get disheartened.
Instead of trying to climb the massive steps, they both got back on their staves and flew upstairs. They checked the hall closet and bathroom, but got nothing. However, when they looked at Luz's room they found a wall of people in strange bubbles.
"Oh my Titan." Luz whispered.
"It's okay, we'll save them all eventually. Do you see King?"
Instead of answering, Luz flew up to the first person she recognized.
"Tinella Nosa. Are you okay? What's going on?"
"Wuz? You're hewe! It's just wike I warned! The higher being has awived to make us theiw plwythings!" She said.
"I know, I know. Look, do you have any idea how we can get you out of here?"
"No. I don't."
"What about King? Do you know where he is?"
"He's hewe, but not in this woom. I know he's awound this pwace somewhewe. Pwese, save us, Wuz the Human!"
"Wait, the human is here?" Someone in a different bubble asked.
"Tell her to get us out of here!"
"Where are all her friends? You know, the super powerful witches?"
"Yeah! Where are your powerful witch friends?"
Everyone started yelling over each other, demanding Luz explain things, begging to be free, wondering why the human had to be the one here when she was the only one with no magic.
Luz began to panic, the massive room felt like it was closing in on her. Her heart was pounding and started to hurt.
"I-I'm sorry. I can't save you all right now. Please, just quiet down. We're trying to not get caught." Luz said, voice wavering.
"Maybe if she gets caught real witches will come and save her!"
"Wasn't she in the Head when that kid arrived? This is her fault!"
"Yeah! Why are you even here!"
"I-I'm sorry. I assure you, this isn't my fault. I can come save you later."
Nobody was listening to her and just got louder and louder. Luz was getting too overwhelmed. Too many loud noises. Everything felt like it was happening at once.
She felt her grip on Owlbert start to loosen and she began to slide off. Hunter saw and teleported over to her, helping her stay stable. His smile and him being there helped relax.
"Shut up!" Hunter yelled, making the noise quickly quiet, "Hey! In case you don't recognize me, I was the Golden Guard. Now, I'm a good guy now but trust me, if anyone else blames Luz for things that are entirely Belos' fault or out of her control, I'll break you out of those bubbles so it won't be the Collector that kills you, it'll be me. Now, little demon with a skull head. Anyone know where we can find one?"
After a long silence, someone piped up.
"I think they're in what's supposed to be the Owl Lady's room." A person with long pinkish-red hair and glasses said.
"Thank you. What's your name?"
"Lynn. You might know my daughter, Boscha. If you find her or my wife, Jen, tell them I'm safe and I love them."
"Of course. Thank you so much." Luz said, flying over to her bubble, "I just got back from the human realm, but I can definitely check the roster at the hideout to see if they're there. I'll let them know as soon as I can if they are."
"Thank you, Luz, right? I was a classmate of Eda in the Potions Track. Now, you probably have a mission you're on. I'll let you get back to it."
Luz smiled and waved goodbye to Lynn before flying back to Hunter who was waiting by the door.
"So, you excited to see King again?"
"I'm not checking in with an old friend, I'm saving the demon who's basically my little brother from imprisonment. But yes, I am excited. We just need to hope the Collector doesn't come back." Luz laughed.
Luz and Hunter slipped out the door and began flying to Eda's room. As they went, Hunter noticed Luz's happy expression falter.
"You okay? Things got intense back there."
"What? I'm fine! Really, I am."
"Okay. But, just so you know, I don't think any of this is your fault."
Luz didn't respond for a bit, instead just staring ahead. After some silence, she turned back to Hunter, with a small grin.
"Thanks, Hunter. You're a great big brother."
Hunter was taken aback by the compliment, but thankful.
They got to Eda's room and slipped inside. It was mostly empty, having none of Eda's furniture except her nest and her windows showing a perfect view of the full moon. In the center, high off the ground, was a light blue bubble inside was a lone figure curled up into a ball that Luz instantly recognized.
"King."