Amity looked out at the endless sea of the Atlantic Ocean from the ship Aunt Eda had chartered to bring them to the diving site and she flapped her arms in excitement. It was a habit she'd tried so hard to train herself out of over the years. People looked down on her for it. Never mind that she wasn't hurting anyone. Oh, no, heaven forbid she should be allowed to indulge in a harmless behavioral quirk. Under ordinary circumstances, she wouldn't have done it in public. The vice president, for example, as steadfast as an ally as he was, held such behavior in contempt. But now? Now Amity didn't really care anymore. After all, Aunt Eda didn't really care about tradition.

"Ah, that's Lily all the way," Aunt Eda said from behind her. Amity let out a yelp and jumped surprisingly high into the air. "She always used to do that when we were kids." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes. Amity did her the courtesy of pretending she didn't notice. "Lily cared so much about appearances, she denied all the stuff that made her happy."

"She wasn't like that with me," Amity said. "She always encouraged me to follow my dream wherever it took me. Maybe losing my father gave her perspective."

Aunt Eda did not look convinced. "Maybe. I don't know. I can't see Lily marrying anyone except for the sake of convenience. That sort of thing never interested her very much."

"In the absence of evidence, I would like to assume they were in love," Amity said, more harshly than she had intended. She did not like the idea she only existed because of convenience.

Aunt Eda gave a somewhat sad smile. "Sure, kiddo. Sure. Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad she got her act together. Anyway, we are off to a great start! The gang's all here and we're gonna have the adventure of a lifetime!"

The clopping of boots was heard as Odalia trudged towards them, a cruel expression on her face that she quickly turned into an obsequious one as soon as she saw Aunt Eda. "Ah, Mrs. Pines. How enterprising of you to see us off. I promise to return home with results."

Aunt Eda smirked. "Good news, blondie. I'm coming with you!"

Odalia gave a sickly, unconvincing smile. "Oh, how…lovely. Mrs. Pines, there's really no need to personally oversee the project. I assure you, I have everything under control."

"I'm sure you do," Aunt Eda said, a trifle snidely. "But I'm still coming along. Gotta get in that aunt-niece bonding time!" She ruffled Amity's hair. Amity gave only a token protest. She really liked Aunt Eda a lot. She was glad to be spending time with family again, especially someone who knew her mother.

Odalia gave Amity a fearsome scowl, which was quickly wiped off her face when she noticed Aunt Eda watching, and then stormed away. "Are you sure we can trust her?" Amity worried.

"Look, Odalia is a mercenary," Aunt Eda explained. "She is loyal to the highest bidder, and there ain't many higher bidders out there than me. As long as I sign her paychecks, she'll do whatever I ask. I trust her to act in her self-interest, and that means following my orders." Amity shrugged. She'd trust her aunt for now, but she'd be keeping a close eye on Odalia nonetheless.

Aunt Eda suddenly swept Amity into a hug. "Kiddo, I'm so glad you're here. I'm really glad we finally get to spend this time together. I know this is kind of a long shot, but I don't care. No amount of money is too much to spend for my family. I love you. I know, it's weird; we've only spent a few days together, but you're my niece and I love you."

Amity opened up her mouth to reply, but before she could say a word, she was suddenly lifted up into the air and swept into a nearly bone shattering hug. Before her was…well, it was hard to say what it was. Her eyes told her that she was looking at a perfectly ordinary human being, a man in his forties with nondescript features. But her mind told her that she was, in fact, looking at some hideous owl like monstrosity that definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt shouldn't belong on this plane of reality.

"HI THERE!" a voice that would haunt all of Amity's worst nightmares until the end of time shrieked. "I'm Hooty and this is my son King!"

Amity looked next to Hooty after finally being put back on the floor and saw a boy who couldn't be much more than eight years old. King just scowled at her. Amity was happy to ignore him if that's what he wanted; she was not a fan of kids. "It's nice to meet you, Hooty. You're the cook?"

"Cooking, entomology, fourth wall breaking, this guy right here can do it all," Hooty bragged.

"Fourth wall breaking?" Aunt Eda asked, scratching her head in confusion.

"Yeah, like this!" Hooty turned his head and looked straight at you. That's right. That was not a typo. He looked at you. "Don't forget to leave a kudos, bookmark, and comment if you like this fic, readers!"

Amity took a few step backwards. "What asylum did you find this guy in?" she whispered.

Aunt Eda's face turned distant, her eyes swimming with haunting memories. "There are some things we just should not know, Amity. Some things we should never know. All you need to know is that Hooty's cooking is the best in the world. The absolute best. I don't exaggerate – well, not unless I'm trying to sell a con, that is!"

"I'd be happy to tell you my life story!" Hooty said enthusiastically. "My first word was hoot –"

"Actually, we're very busy, gotta go!" Amity said in one quick breath and ran off.

Amity desperately hoped the rest of the crew wasn't going to be as eccentric as Hooty was. She wasn't sure her sanity was going survive the voyage if that was the case. She hurried over to the elevator and rode it down to the depths of the ship, where the Owl House, the submarine Aunt Eda had built, was waiting.

And it was an absolutely amazing sight. Amity had long been a devoted fan of the works of Jules Verne. She could practically recite Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas from memory, and the Owl House made the Nautilus look like a rowboat in comparison. It was absolutely gigantic, almost as big as the ship it was stored in. Amity's mouth dropped open in total shock. Aunt Eda had made this whole ship for her. It was an absolutely gargantuan symbol of the sheer depth of the belief Aunt Eda had in her. A shiver went through her. She knew right then and there, in her bones, that they were going to succeed. They were going to find Atlantis.

Amity hurried over to the ship at a near run and then proceeded to collide with a man a few years older then her. He was blond and had the most curious shade of magenta for his irises. "Hi there! You must be Amity. Hunter Deamonne."

Amity shook Hunter's hand firmly. She liked him almost immediately. He seemed like a decent, caring individual, and Amity had long considered herself a good judge of character. "I'm the demolitions expert around these parts. When we run into obstacles, I'm going to be the one who obliterates them. With fire! I absolutely love fire. Blowing things up is the best."

"Uh…"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Oh, there I go again. My wife Willow always says I'm way too enthusiastic about my job, but honestly, if you can't love what you do, why are you even doing it?"

"I do feel the same way about archeology," Amity admitted.

"Oh, you must have seen a lot of cool things in your job," Hunter said with a wide smile on his face. "You'll have to tell me all about them later. I wish I could stay and chat, but I've got to bring these boxes onto the sub. They're filled with all sorts of fun things, like gunpowder, and nitroglycerin, and TNT!" A manic look filled his face. "Oh, and paper clips. Or as my friend Gus calls them, paper clorps! Nice to meet you!"

Well…as long as Hunter stayed away from blowing her up, Amity was willing to overlook his disturbingly enthusiastic attitude towards explosives, she decided. At least he wasn't as horrifying or as insane as Hooty. Aunt Eda had clearly chosen her team of specialists with an eye towards finding people as eccentric and unconventional as she was. Amity wasn't quite sure Mom would have hired these people, but she probably would have been among their number back when she was alive.

"She sure is something, isn't she?" Aunt Eda said as she walked over towards her, Odalia by her side. There was an unholy glint in Odalia's eyes Eda didn't like at all.

"Yes, I'm sure this will be a very enriching voyage," Odalia said and then threw her head back and laughed maniacally.

Aunt Eda nodded as if this wasn't alarming at all. "Ah, Odalia and her evil laughter. Classic. Well, we all need a hobby."

"Eda!" a voice called out and Amity turned to see an individual of about Aunt Eda's actual age with hair dyed mint heading towards them. "So sorry. I was almost late. That'd…well, that'd certainly make things awkward, wouldn't it?"

Aunt Eda chuckled softly, a fond look on her face. "That it would, Rainestorm. Amity, meet my ex Raine Whispers, our radio operator. Raine, this is my niece Amity."

Raine gave her a firm handshake. "So nice to meet you. Your mother and I were friends as kids. I'm so sorry for your loss. I was so sad when Lilith and Eda drifted apart."

"She never mentioned you," Amity said. "Uh, if it's not too hard on you, do you know why the two of them grew apart?"

Raine looked over at Aunt Eda, who nodded. "Well, after your aunt got sick, your mother fell in with a cult leader. A man named Philip Wittebane."

Amity knew who Wittebane was. He was quite infamous. His family had been among the most prominent loyalists during the Revolutionary War. Losing that status had led Wittebane's forebears to try to destabilize the United States using any means necessary, including devastating terrorist attacks. Wittebane himself had disappeared eighteen years ago after leading a failed conspiracy to bomb the White House and hadn't been heard from since.

"Lilith was convinced Wittebane could cure Eda's sickness and kept on trying to pressure Eda to join him. But Eda refused to betray her country and submit to the clutches of a maniac."

"I can't imagine Mom being involved with a monster like that," Amity said. "She…hurt people?"

Raine and Aunt Eda shared a nervous look. "She hasn't been formally accused of any crimes, no," Raine said cautiously. "Eventually, Lilith saw Wittebane for the maniac he was and severed ties with him, but by then the damage had been done."

Aunt Eda sighed deeply. "I should have done more. I shouldn't have given up on her."

Raine put a hand on her shoulder and gazed into her eyes. Aunt Eda blushed furiously. "What's done is done," they said gently. "Right now, Lilith is watching this and probably waking everyone in heaven up with her squeals of excitement."

Odalia cleared her throat. "As scintillating as this conversation is, it's time to go. Now if you'd care to pry yourself away from my employer, Mr. Whispers – AHH!"

Odalia had screamed because Aunt Eda had grabbed her by the throat with both hands and lifted her into the air with seemingly the same effort she'd use to lift up a paper clorp – er, clip. "Let me make one thing really clear, Odalia," she hissed menacingly. "You will treat Raine with the proper respect they deserve as a member of this team. You will use they/them pronouns for them and you will use the title Mx. for them, or I will rip you limb from fucking limb. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Dead silence descended upon the platform for a full twenty seconds, and then Eda started shaking Odalia. "Yes, Mrs. Pines," Odalia ground out, hatred filling her voice. Aunt Eda dropped her to the ground. "Mx. Whispers, proceed to your station. Now." She trudged off, gnashing her teeth in impotent fury.

"Ah, it's always fun to put that gal in her place," Aunt Eda said, almost nostalgically. "I think that's half the reason I keep her on the payroll, so I can give her what I yearned to do on a regular basis back when we were kids and I was dirt poor."

Amity shrugged. "I'd just as soon we left her behind."

"Don't let her get you down, Mittens," Aunt Eda said. "This is history in the making. Everyone's gonna know our names. Well, a lot of people know my name already, but now they'll know my name for something that isn't illegal."

"Please stop talking now," Amity muttered.

But Eda was right. This was going to be an epic voyage, the likes of which Verne could barely envision. And Amity would be remembered for all eternity as the one who discovered Atlantis. The Shepherd's Journal had been everything Lilith had thought it would be and more. It was basically a step by step guide to finding the lost city. The only strange thing was that part of its pages looked like it had been carefully removed. Even more frustratingly, by Amity's estimation, it was the part of the Journal that discussed precisely what the power source that Atlantis had used to fuel the engine that was its empire.

As soon as the Owl House had safely descended, Amity hightailed it to her cabin and started looking carefully through the journal to see if she could figure out any clues about the missing pages. As such, Amity didn't notice when someone entered his room until he was staring her right in the face. Amity let out a shriek and threw the book into the air.

"Bow down before the King of Dirt!" King, Hooty's son, said in a tone that was so grandiose that Amity almost reflexively did just that.

"Hi, I'm Amity," Amity said and held out her hand. "It's great to meet you! I'm not 100% sure this expedition is a great place for a kid, though…"

King looked at her like she was crazy. "I told you, I'm not a kid; I'm the King of Dirt! Dirt and digging are my dominions! I'm the excavation expert. I get paid in belly rubs and stuffed animals, and in exchange, I make sure we dig in the right places."

Amity opened her mouth to dispute his claims, but then it occurred to her that "hiring" a kid to do the work a full grown adult should be doing just for the sake of saving money really did seem like something Aunt Eda would do. "Uh, well, as I said, it's nice to meet you, but I really need to get some rest."

"None shall rest before paying proper tribute to the King of Dirt! I demand you tell me a story!"

"Uh, well…"

The door opened before Amity could think of a polite way to tell him that she wasn't a babysitter and absolutely hated telling stories to children. A man she recognized from the dossiers Aunt Eda showed her walked into the door. "Hi there. King's not bothering you too much? I'm Dr. Gus Porter, by the way. Medical expert."

"He's not really part of the crew, is he?" Amity whispered.

"He knows his stuff, as odd as it sounds," Gus said. Amity's heart sank. This had to be illegal, and was probably immoral as well when she thought about it. She was going to have to have a stern talk with Aunt Eda soon. "I'm supposed to be looking after him, but he kind of got away from me, didn't you, you rascal?"

"The King of Dirt doesn't need an escort!" King said and stalked out of the room, sulking all the way. Gus followed King out with an apologetic smile and a wave. Amity quickly locked the door before any more unexpected visitors could come in.

Fortunately, no one else interrupted her all afternoon and she finally emerged from her quarters when it was dinnertime. She met the last of the handpicked specialists there, the steady and strong Willow Deamonne, who happily chattered away about various plants while her utterly besotted husband watched with awe. Despite looking like indefinable slop, the food was incomparably good. Hooty lived up to his reputation and then some. Every bite was like a symphony of flavor in Amity's mouth.

After dinner, Amity summoned everyone for a meeting so that she could inform them about the most alarming of the findings she'd found in the Shepherd's Journal. "The way to Atlantis is guarded by a sea serpent. The word was thought to translate to leviathan, but I believe basilisk is a better translation. According to legend, Princess Vee was once a kindhearted, harmless creature until she was captured by the evil King Jacob of Hopkinsia and experimented on, turning her into a savage beast. Which, again according to legend, kickstarted Atlantis's campaign of conquest, which culminated in the gods deciding to sink the city as a punishment for their hubris."

Odalia scoffed. "What nonsense. There's no such thing as sea serpents, let alone basilisks."

"Says the woman who's leading an expedition to a legendarily mythical city," Willow snarked.

Amity could practically see steam coming out of Odalia's ears. She knew the only thing preventing Odalia from acting against her was the presence of Aunt Eda, who was giving her a highly unamused look. "Can this creature be reasoned with?" Raine wondered.

"The legends are inconclusive," Amity admitted. "Hope for the best, plan for the worst, I suppose."

"Some basilisk is no match for our firepower," Odalia sneered. "We will obliterate this creature if it dares to challenge us."

King stood on a chair. "When will we DIG?!"

"We're not actually going to be digging," Amity said apologetically.

"WHAT?!"

Amity cleared her throat. "Can we…why do we even have a kid here?"

"Cause he's our digging expert," Aunt Eda said, a trifle sheepishly.

Amity did a face palm. "Right. I had hoped he was joking about that. Never mind." She explained to everyone how they would be able to reach Atlantis through an air pocket and that no digging would thus be required.

"You said there'd be digging," King told Hooty.

Amity could have sworn she saw Hooty's eyes glow slightly and him levitate just an inch or so into the air, but no one else appeared to notice and it ended as soon as it arrived. "There, there, King. You'll still have a lot of funny lines and the readers will appreciate us both."

"I don't know what that means, but it makes me feel better!"

"Hey, Amity, come over here and take a look at this," Aunt Eda called out.

Amity, grateful for any excuse to get away from the eldritch chef, hurried over to the windows. She let out a gasp at what she saw before her. There was a plethora of wrecked ships from just about every era she could possibly think of. Atlantis aside, this discovery alone could have made her world famous. "Wow," she breathed. "You think the basilisk was responsible for this?"

"Well, as much as I hate to agree with Odalia on anything, I don't really believe in basilisks. It's far more likely this is just an unusually stormy part of the Atlantic."

As if on cue, something slammed into the side of the Owl House.