"Before we begin," Gus said, "there is an issue that needs to be addressed. There is an imposter among us!"

"How sus," Luz said solemnly, and then devolved into giggles.

Vee shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I thought you were all cool with me," she said, her voice sounding like the was on the verge of tears.

"What? Oh, not you, Vee!" Gus held up the plastic bucket in front of Camila's seat. "I'm talking about this! This is not Dr. Everton Q. Pinkerton VII!"

Luz laughed. "Oh, that! Yeah, I put Everton –"

"That's Dr. Everton Q. Pinkerton VII to you, missy!" Gus snapped. "Show some respect."

"It's a bucket, Gus," Luz said flatly. "Anyway, I put…that dude away. Mom's gonna need a bucket for this one, and I didn't want it getting ruined." Camila gulped. What was going to happen? More limbs being removed? Hooty removing his skin or something?

Gus scowled at her. "Well…I suppose that's nice of you. But respect my bucket, Luz! Dr. Everton Q. Pinkerton VII is the hero we all deserve!"

"Sure, Gus," Luz said. "Sure."

-THEME SONG-

[In the present, Luz is at the Owl House. She is studying and experimenting with glyphs in a notebook.]

Luz: Hmmm...

[She starts drawing a glyph, but scribbles it out. She makes a frustrated grunt. King dives through, tumbling books over.]

King: Luz, I need your help! I think Francois is trying to start a rebellion.

Luz sighed. King just wanted her attention. Her love. And she'd completely ignored him. Some big sister she was.

[Pan to the couch, covered in King's plushies. Francois, his pale pink bunny, is sitting in the center on a pillow. After a beat, a jagged dagger with a red gem on the hilt falls out from behind him.]

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

King: It's always glyphs and portals with you these days. What about King?

Luz winced. She had a good very good reason for being so obsessed with glyphs and portals, of course. She wanted to become more powerful so the next time she faced off against Belos, she wouldn't do so pathetically. Not that that had done her any good in the end. And as for the portal, with the end of the camp drawing near, Luz was terrified of Camila thinking she was missing.

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

Gus scoffed. "We were not an unruly mob. We were fighting for justice!"

Hunter pointed at his tooth gap. "Uh, hello? Looked pretty unruly to me!" Willow whistled conspicuously.

[Lilith is kneeling at the desk, extremely focused on drawing a glyph with a red paintbrush. She's bent over, eyes only a short distance from the paper. Her hair is messy and the whites of her eyes are huge, with tiny irises.]

"Yeah…she wasn't fairing so well," Luz admitted. "Being away from the life she'd known for decades was hard on her. And the guilt for cursing Eda…and the knowledge that everything she'd done to help Eda was pointless…was eating her alive."

Camila nodded slowly. For the sake of Luz (and to make up for her anger scaring Hunter), Camila was trying her best to try to consider Lilith's perspective and find some place in her heart for forgiveness. The trouble was, she hadn't yet located it. To the best of Camila's knowledge, Lilith hadn't even expressed any remorse for her actions.

"Did she ever apologize for trying to kill you?" Camila demanded.

"Um…well, not every apology is made with words…" Luz hedged. In truth, Lilith had never apologized for everything, though Luz knew the guilt was destroying her. She could sense a kindred spirit.

Lilith: [Giggling giddily.] Watching the ink dry is the best part.

"Yeah…not even I'm that much of a nerd," Gus said. "Not even Hunter's that much of a nerd."

"I'm not a nerd," Hunter said immediately. "Right, everyone?"

There were some muttered, indistinct words from the group. "There's nothing wrong with being a nerd, Hunter," Vee said eventually.

"But I'm not a nerd!" Hunter said, and gave out a huff. "This is just like when Azura was ostracized from her fellow light witches because she happened to read books about magic that was slightly grey."

"You realize you're not helping your case when you say things like that, right?" Amity said.

[King grunts in disapproval.]

Hooty: [Giving Lilith a mug.] A fresh cup of tea for my favorite cup of tea. That's you, Lulu.

Oh, lovely, Camila thought sarcastically. Her two least favorite denizens of the Owl House were getting along now. She hoped they wouldn't have any on screen bonding adventures.

[Lilith smooths her hair, and her eyes are back to normal.]

Lilith: Hootsifer, you truly are a gem. [Pets his head.] How do you always know what to do?

Thank you, Luz, Camila remembered herself saying to Vee, thinking she was Luz. You always know what to do. There was going to have to be a reckoning on how badly she'd screwed up as a mother by failing to recognize the imposter in her midst sooner or later, wasn't there?

King: [Whispering to Luz.] What's going on? Is Hooty blackmailing her?

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

"No, it is not nice!" Camila snapped. "It's a disaster!"

[Closes her book and stands up, holding a glyph.] Okay, this will work for sure. Now you see me... [She slams the glyph to her chest and vanishes. King gasps. Lilith looks up. Luz reappears.] ...now you don't. Oh, I guess it only lasts as long as I hold my breath. Still pretty cool, huh?

Camila clapped her hands. It was indeed pretty cool! Luz had discovered invisibility magic and she didn't even need some dumb cloak like Harry Potter. And just think of the possibilities! She would be able to sneak past coven guards who were after her. It made her much safer…though if she knew Luz, she'd probably just use it to get herself into even more danger.

[King rushes and clings to Luz's leg.]

King: Don't ever do that again!

[Lilith stands up in amazement.]

Lilith: Do that again! How ever did you accomplish it?

Luz: [Shaking King off her leg.] Well, since you guys discovered that we can make new spells by combining glyphs, I've been experimenting. I got the invisibility idea from your history books, Lilith.

Camila's mouth dropped open. Luz must have gotten very desperate – and been very devoted to the idea of returning to her side – if she was resorting to reading history books. Luz was notorious for despising learning history. She even refused to learn about the legends surrounding the founding of the town, despite the fact that the story of the Wittebane brothers – and how they were lured to a magical land not unlike the Isles and never returned – would very much have appealed to her.

[Lilith stands up and begins walking to the side.]

Lilith: Fascinating! As the lead historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, my aid could be very helpful in—

Hunter scoffed. "Some historical scholar she was. She couldn't even tell the history Belos presented was a farce!" He was still angry at Lilith for calling him a brat when he'd done nothing to her. Oh, and trying to kill Luz, of course, but that was a secondary issue. Pretty much everyone had tried to kill Luz at some point, including him.

[Lilith stumbles over the tower of King's plushies, toppling them.]

King: An ambush! Men, defend your ruler!

"He's asking the plushies he thought were plotting against him to defend him?" Hunter said. "Some ruler he was. That's just inviting them to kill him and make it look like an accident."

"He's eight, Hunter," Luz pointed out.

[King tosses a nearby plush at Lilith. Hooty blocks it, and dramatically falls into Lilith's arms.]

Hooty: I'm done for, Lulu.

Lilith: Hootsifer, this is make-believe.

Hooty: Ah, to die in your arms. Avenge me.

Camila hoped Hooty would succumb to some psychosomatic style death, but, alas, it was not to be.

[Hooty droops and sticks his tongue out, his eyes becoming Xs (i.e. he plays dead). King tosses another plushie at Lilith's head.]

King: The King of Demons yields to no one!

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

Camila wasn't so sure. That was exactly the sort of thing Belos would have tried to erase all evidence of to make himself look more impressive and powerful, wasn't it?

[King throws yet another plush at Lilith's head.]

King: Blasphemy! Clearly, you know nothing of my reign of terror. Allow me to tell you. 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!

Camila knew that no one probably believed him, but she was reserving judgment. She wouldn't have put it past Belos to turn his rival into some cute animal instead of flat out killing him just for his awful sadism.

Hooty: Oh? What happened to your "crown of power"?

King: A trifle! That was just to test Eda and Luz's dedication to me! They passed.

Luz smiled fondly. She was glad to have King's trust. Not that she'd done much to deserve it…

My real crown is still out there. But when I shrank, my memories got, uh... fuzzy.

Lilith: How convenient. A hole in your memory for each hole in your story.

Hooty: Nice one, Lulu! Up top!

[Lilith "high-fives" Hooty's face, giving him a black eye.]

Camila snickered.

King: Hey, I remember plenty!

[Back to the illustrations of a monstrous King, which depict what he describes.]

I remember armies bowing before me, being served the greatest of feasts...and falling from a massive height as evil hex shrank me. One day, I'll return to my rightful place...and all shall fear me!

[Luz grabs King and gives him a belly rub.]

Luz: [Like talking to a puppy.] Aw, you're gonna be such a good tyrant! Who's the scariest demon king? Who is it?

"I should have taken him more seriously," Luz lamented. "He just wanted respect. I know what that's like all too well."

"Oh, Luz, you're too hard on yourself," Camila said. "He's a kid. He acts like one too. And you clearly love him. You're a good sister."

King: [Laughing.] Me! It's me!

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

Camila guffawed. Talk about projecting! Lilith had spent so much time dedicated to the farce that was Belos and his deranged lies that it destroyed her relationship with her sister and almost got an innocent child killed and Eda permanently transformed into the Owl Beast.

King: Don't blame me for your ignorance. I'm not a liar, and I can prove it.

[King storms off into a corridor.]

Lilith: [Offended gasp.] He called me ignorant. Me! [Hooty shakes his head in disapproval.]

"Please, you could fill several books with the things you didn't know," Hunter muttered.

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

Lilith: You mean indulge his silly fantasy?

Hooty: Yeah! I'm a house of principles! You're asking me to lie? Hootrageous!

Luz: Could you please just go with it? For his sake?

[At the doorway, King is struggling to get back through with two long poles in his arms. They fall, and he holds them vertically and walks through. They're Eda and Lilith's staffs.]

"Oh, this isn't going to end well," Camila predicted. Luz nodded.

King: All right, you two shall regret ever doubting me. We're going to my castle!

Luz: Uh...

Hooty: What's wrong, Luz? I thought you said we should just "go with"—

Luz: Go with him! I said we should go with him, right? How could I forget what I just said?

"At the very least, you should have taken a responsible adult with you," Camila groused. "Instead of the emperor's lickspittle…" Hunter shifted uncomfortably.

"I was with a responsible adult," Luz argued. "Owlbert happens to be very responsible."

"Yeah, since when has Eda ever been classified as a responsible adult?" Amity pointed out.

Camila opened her mouth and then closed it. Stupid logic.

[Luz grabs Eda's staff off King, and Lilith takes hers.]

"Remember what happened the last time you borrowed Eda's staff without asking?" Camila reminded Luz.

"Well, it was either that or let him run off on his own," Luz argued.

Lilith: My historical expertise is being questioned, and I will not allow it. Hooty, would you like to accompany us?

Hooty: [Gasps.] I-I'll get ready!

Luz quickly rushed over to Camila and put the bucket in her lap.

[Hooty stretches backwards toward the door. Cutting back to Luz, King, and Lilith, they hear sounds of crashing and squishing organs and splattering.]

Camila's stomach started churning.

[The three all look disgusted and very disturbed until they gasp in horror. Cut to reveal that the part of the door where Hooty would be is now hollow, with pulsing organs at the edges.]

Camila duly utilized the bucket for the purpose Luz had provided it.

[Below it, Hooty is now sitting in a birdhouse-shaped backpack.]

Hooty: Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!

[Luz dry-retches. King is tearing up while slowly shaking his head. Lilith's hand is at her chest and she's taken aback. When Luz looks back at Hooty, she gags and dry-retches again.]

"It was awful," Luz whispered. "The horror. The horror!"

[Cut to Luz (wearing her cape) and King flying over the sea on Eda's staff, while Lilith rides hers while wearing the Porta-Hooty on her back.]

With the danger over, Gus took the bucket to the kitchen, cleaned it off, and then returned Dr. Everton Q. Pinkerton VII to its rightful place of honor, duty, and glorious destiny by his side.

Hooty: Are we still flying? It's been hours.

Lilith: Should we call it a day? Or perhaps a night? [Laughing.] Hooty, your sense of humor is infectious.

Camila thanked her lucky stars that it was, in fact, not.

King: There it is!

[He points at an island slowly becoming clear in the fog. He steers Luz down towards it, and Lilith follows.]

Lilith: This island shouldn't be here. It's not on any of the maps.

Hunter did a slow, sarcastic clap. "Wow, Lilith, it's almost like you can't believe everything you read." Seriously, Lilith's naivety, while no doubt understandable, was annoying. Then again, they'd both left the coven in vastly different circumstances. Lilith only got a glimpse of the monster behind the mask (metaphorically speaking).

King: It's always been there when I looked for it.

[They land on the shore and walk into the jungle.]

King: After I shrunk, I woke up here, in Eda's arms, and she carried me away. Like a wittle baby.

Luz: Awww...

"I wish I saw what he looked like as a baby," Amity said. "I bet he was the cutest thing on two feet!"

Luz brightened. "Actually, Eda had pictures! Can someone get me a pen and some paper? I can draw him!"

Camila eagerly passed on the pen and paper, excited both about seeing baby King and seeing some of Luz's artwork. Perhaps she was biased, but she thought Luz was one of the best artists ever. She also didn't bother pointing out that Luz simply could have showed them a memory of seeing the pictures. It would do Luz's extremely bruised ego good to get some praise for her artistic skills.

It took a long time for Luz to draw the picture just right, but everyone, united in a desire to see cute King pictures, waited patiently. Finally, she held it up in the air. "Ta-da!"

"Oh my god, that's the most precious thing I've ever see," Camila breathed. "He's more adorable than he is now! I didn't even know that was possible!"

Hunter grabbed the picture and held it in the air. "Very impressive. You could have done very well in the Bard Coven with talent such as this."

"Um, I get that was a compliment, but you do realize that's a bad thing, right?" Luz pointed out. Hunter looked at the floor with embarrassment. It was still second nature for him to consider the coven system the standard of excellence.

"Not necessarily a bad thing!" Willow said, trying to salvage the situation. "Raine's in charge of the Bard Coven. We all like Raine, right?" Everyone but Camila and Vee nodded. "I'm sure they'd love this." Hunter cast her a grateful smile.

[Luz grumpily gestures at Lilith and Hooty to follow.]

Lilith: [Growls.] Fine. Aw.

Hooty: [Gasps.] Look!

[The fog clears to reveal a dilapidated tower.]

King: Ah, home sweet home.

[Cut to black. Our heroes are trekking through the jungle, with King leading the way. King climbs over a tree root, with Luz and Lilith behind him.]

Lilith: That tower is certainly intriguing, but—Oh!

[She trips over the root. Hooty extends himself to a nearby tree trunk to stabilize her.]

Lilith: Thank you, Hootsifer.

Hooty: [Muffled.] My pleasure.

"Please don't tell me the two of them end up together," Camila muttered.

"Uh, no," Luz said, shuddering. "First of all, eww. Second of all, Lilith's aro/ace. Third of all, EWW!"

Lilith: But couldn't we have landed a little closer?

King: The treetops are so thick, this is the only way in. Plus, now I can dramatically do... [He grabs a bush obscuring the path. He pulls it aside, revealing a keyhole-shaped entrance to the tower.] ...this!

"Aw," Luz said. "He's been listening to my lessons about how to use drama to accentuate everything in day to day life."

"Is that a good thing?" Hunter asked. Luz did an eyes watching you gesture at Hunter, who just stared at her in confusion.

Luz: Ooh. A door fit for a tyrant.

King: [Chuckles.] That's me!

Camila was certainly liking King's castle better than Belos's, so far, even if the whole place was falling apart. If she had to choose between who to rule the Demon Realm, she'd choose King in a heartbeat. King would never have innocent children tortured. Most likely, anyway. Certainly not Vee, to be sure.

[They walk toward the entrance, which is blocked by rocks. King climbs them.]

King: I'll find you guys another way in. Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle!

[King crawls into a crevice in the rock pile. Lilith walks over to a wall with a strange symbol caved into it.]

Lilith: Huh. What a strange material. And this symbol. I've never seen anything quite like this.

Hooty: Ha! I've seen better graffiti. I've got better graffiti on me.

[Hooty raises his side, showing "LUZ!" and three cool S's graffitied on him.]

"Truly, I am an artistic visionary," Luz bragged.

Lilith: Luz, look! This predates any language I know. King's story may be a fake, but these ruins are a history mystery. [Giggles and claps excitedly.]

[The rocks collapse, clearing the way. King peeks up.]

King: Eh? What's a mystery?

Luz: [Laughing.] The only mystery is how Lilith can be so smart and so wrong at the same time. Academics, am I right?

Camila was of two minds right now. On the one hand, it served Lilith right to be on a wild goose chase. On the other hand, she was pretty sure Luz's campaign of deception towards King would come back to haunt her, and likely quickly.

King: You so are. Come on in.

[Lilith give Luz a dirty look, and she sheepishly smiles back. The two climb over the rocks and into the tower. They use light glyphs to make their own lights and examine the room, which is 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: 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.

"He is not eating your heart!" Camila snapped. "And you are to put him in time out if he tries to eat anyone else's heart."

"What about my mom?" Amity asked half-jokingly.

"Anyone's," Camila reiterated. "Though no one said how long he had to stay there…"

Luz: With all the sugar I eat, it better be.

Camila shook her head. "I've told you time and time again to cut down on your sugar intake, Luz. You don't need to be more hyper than you are now."

[They all go forward. Luz notices a shadow resembling the rock figures passing behind her. She gasps, stops, and turns her light around. There's nobody there.]

"Yeah, you're gonna get attacked by some monster, aren't you?" Camila said, amazed at how calm and dry she made her voice sound. Had she gotten used to Luz being in danger? The possibility was frightening.

King: Can't believe your eyes, huh? My castle does have that effect.

Luz: Yeah. [Sheepish laugh.] So much wonder.

[King is standing at the top of a pile of rocks, showing off to Luz.]

King: Ah, my kingdom. I, uh... [Wipes a tear from his eye.] I got some bone dust in my eye.

Luz: [Looking up.] What was up there?

[King also looks up. There's a hole in the ceiling with rocks plugging it.]

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

Or maybe, Camila considered, it was whatever creature was stalking Luz right now.

Luz: 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.

Luz shuddered. That had not been a fun afternoon.

[Hooty knocks Luz to the ground.]

"Ooh, that is it," Camila said, clenching her fists in frustration. "How dare he?!"

"Uh, mom…?" Luz said. Camila gave an encouraging nod. "Could you maybe lay off a little on Hooty? It was just an accident."

"That owl tube is –"

"My friend," Luz said, surprised at how steely her voice sounded. "He's my friend, mom. I've never had much luck getting friends. Could you please avoid insulting the ones I have? He's saved my life. He helped –"

Amity quickly clapped her hand over Luz's mouth before she could give away any spoilers. "With all sorts of shenanigans!"

Camila hadn't thought about Hooty as Luz's friend before. Even though his eldritch nature continued to disturb her greatly – and if she had to see his entrails again, she would throw up a second time – she supposed she could keep her opinions to herself more. "I'm sorry, Luz. Uh…how about if I don't have anything nice to say about him, I won't say anything at all?"

"That works," Luz said with a sigh of relief.

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

"The two of them found some wall carvings of a creature that looked like King," Luz explained.

Luz: [Getting up.] "Your Majesty"?

[Lilith pushes Luz aside again onto the ground.]

"Her, on the other hand, I still have a grudge towards," Camila said. "Especially since she never even apologized for trying to kill you. Or brand you. Or humiliating Amity. Or taking you hostage. Or –"

"I get it, mom," Luz snapped. "You don't like Lilith. I get it!"

Lilith: It's clear these ruins are of immense historical value. Perhaps you could tell me more about them.

[Luz gets up and brushes herself off.]

King: [Laughing.] I suppose I could, uh, regale you with some tales.

[Luz hears something hissing in a dark corridor.]

Vee shuddered. The corridors of this castle reminded her uncomfortably of the Conformatorium at times. A lot of the times, she was left in absolute darkness and only sound could be used to discern when the guards were coming to hurt them. Though it wasn't quite bad enough to make her want to leave just yet.

King: Am I using that word right? Regale?

"Amazingly, you are," Hunter mused. Then again, he did know King had a surprisingly vast vocabulary for his age, considering the masterpiece that was Ruler's Reach.

[Luz shines her light down the corridor and gasps.]

Luz: Uh, guys, are you hearing this?

King: I'll show you where my throne used to be. It was made from the teeth of my enemies and... [Laughing.] Boy, was it awkward to sit in.

"Wow, and I thought the Iron Throne sounded uncomfortable," Camila joked.

"What's that?" Willow asked.

"Uh, nothing!" Camila said quickly. She was so not going to have these kids read A Song of Ice and Fire and/or watch Game of Thrones. Luz, who had already watched Game of Thrones (and maybe written some fanfic too), just looked at the wall, carefully avoiding anyone's eyes.

[King leads Lilith and Hooty down another direction. Luz goes down the hallway by herself, and sees that the walls are lined with recesses containing stone figures, resembling the little ones in the foyer, partially covered in fleshy goop.]

Luz: What are these things?

[She stops by one figure with its "hand" sticking out. She groans in disgust and passes by.]

Luz: Just kidding. I'd never leave someone hanging. Up top, buddy.

Amity rolled her eyes, but didn't even bother trying to chastise her girlfriend. Luz would always be reckless and taking silly risks like that. It was one of the things that made her Luz. But the next time she explored some strange ruins, she'd have her awesome girlfriend around to help her.

[She high-fives it. It falls apart on her.]

[On the ground, Luz looks up and sees countless other figures in recesses towards the ceiling. She shines her light and sees that one of them is empty. Suddenly, she hears hissing noise behind her. She turns and notices a figure running away. Luz chases after it. Later, Luz approaches King, Lilith, and Hooty.]

Luz: Tour's over! We gotta go! Now!

Lilith: But there's so much to learn.

Luz: This environment is not conducive to learning. It's conducive to death!

"That never stopped you from going to Hexside before," Camila pointed out. "Hey-o!" She held out her hand for a high five and Vee eagerly gave her one.

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

[The hissing is heard again. Everyone looks up and sees a fleshy rock monster, alive, crawling along the ceiling. It rotates its head down to look at them.]

Luz: That one can. Let's go!

[Luz grabs King and runs for the entrance, but the monster jumps in front of her and blocks her way. It changes its right arm into a claw and swipes at her.]

"Always with the mortal danger," Camila muttered. "Don't you have any fun, slice of life memories, Luz?"

"Yeah, sure, but I wanna get the not fun stuff over with as quickly as possible," Luz explained. Camila supposed that made sense.

[Lilith attacks it with ice magic, pinning it to a pile of rocks. All three start running.]

Luz: Dang, girl, you've been practicing!

Lilith: You may admire my progress when we get out of here alive!

[The monster slides through the ice spikes and gives chase, running along the walls and ceiling before again pouncing in front of Luz and Lilith. It stands tall, turns its head and changes its left arm into an axe. It prepares to strike, but an explosion at the head puts it on the ground. Eda jumps in from the rocks, wearing belts armed with explosive potions.]

"Where the heck did she come from?" Gus asked. "Didn't you steal her staff!"

"I happened to ask her staff if it wanted to accompany me!" Luz shot back. "Owlbert's a sentient being who is perfectly capable of assisting me on hairbrained schemes on his own. It was his choice!"

"Okay, but back to my original question…?"

"She used some weird bathtub motorboat thing," Luz explained. "Eda's pretty good at mechanical stuff, actually. This wasn't the first time King sneaked off to his castle."

Eda: Get out of here! [Grabs a potion.] I'll hold it back and meet you outside.

[She tosses a potion at the monster.]

Luz: Eda! We can fight it together!

Eda: You can't beat this thing. Go!

[Luz and Lilith look at each other, and they make haste for the exit.]

"Good for you, Luz," Camila praised her. "Sometimes, the only move is just to run. Any battle you can walk away from is a victory."

[Eda grabs another potion from her belt and tosses it in her hand.]

Eda: It's been a while. Miss me?

Gus leaned forward with interest. Eda had faced this monster before?

[The monster leaps at Eda, turning the screen black. Luz and Lilith run out, but stop and turn toward the entrance.]

Hooty: More running, less stopping!

Lilith: Edalyn said to wait here!

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

[Everyone hears explosions from within. They all look at the door with frightful anticipation, a terrified King clutching Luz. Just then, Eda walks out, clutching a wound on her shoulder.]

"Don't worry," Luz hastened to assure them. "She was fine in the end. We have healing potions."

Lilith: Edalyn!

[She runs up to Eda and holds her up.]

Lilith: You're hurt. What of that horrible creature?

[It climbs up and hisses, brandishing an axe-arm. It swings down on Eda and Lilith, but gets a blue forcefield appears the tower and the outside. The axe-arm goes limp on the outside, and the monster pulls it back inside.]

Eda: It can't get past the entrance. We're safe now.

Amity frowned. How did she know that?

Luz: That thing must be guarding this place against intruders.

King: But it's my castle. How could we be intruders?

Luz: Uh... u-um...

King: [Starts wising up.] You don't believe this is my castle.

Luz groaned. "I should have known. When has lying ever worked out well for me?"

"Luz…he's just a kid," Camila offered. "Kids have wild imaginations, and older people humor them. That's how it is. It's natural. Besides, Eda is his mother, even if it's just de facto. It was her responsibility to tell her the truth about such things. Instead, she humored him to the point of putting you in danger. You were just following her lead."

[Luz looks the other way as sweat runs down her face.]

King: Luz, you think I would lie to you?

Luz: King, I...

Eda: You aren't lying. You just don't know the truth.

[Eda groans and falls to her knees. Lilith starts bandaging her arm.]

Eda: It's time for me to tell you how we really met. Eight years ago I was looking for a place 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 found King in the ruins," Luz explained. "He was just a little baby."

I assumed you were just some stray dog. But then...

"Everything changed when that monster attacked," Luz intoned solemnly.

That thing was gonna kill us both, so I picked you up and bounced.

"On the way, the monster attacked them, breaking off King's left horn."

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...

"Eda, in an offhand comment, mentioned King looked like a king while playing," Luz said. "His first word was king, and that's how she realized he was sentient. And she just…rolled with it. For eight years."

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.

"Eda had been alone for a long time, hadn't she?" Camila said in a gentler voice than she was anticipating. Luz nodded. "Yeah. Loneliness can make you act in strange ways…make you desperate. You can take huge risks just to end it."

"Like adding snakes to a book report," Luz said, a tear threatening to fall from her eye. Camila just smiled understandingly at her.

King: [In disbelief.] Y-You're lying!

Gus could feel his heart breaking. He'd gone into this hoping for a rollicking tale of King's true backstory. Not seeing one of the most adorable creatures ever in abject heartbreak!

Eda: I'm not.

[Eda takes something out of her hair, revealing it to be the broken piece of King's horn.]

"Did she have that thing in there the whole time just for the sake of a dramatic reveal?" Vee wondered.

More likely, she had put it in there just before she left for the island, but Luz thought that sounded so cool so she wasn't about to deny it.

[King is shocked and curious about this, and he slowly takes it from Eda's hand. He gasps.

King: My army? My feasts..

[King looks devastated]

King: My life...

[He looks down at the piece of horn, panics and throws it down.]

King: Aah! No! Keep that thing away from me! It's messing with my head!

Hunter's heart went out to King. As someone who had gone through an existential crisis of epic proportions himself, he understood exactly what he was going through. How dreadfully ironic that the person who understood what he went through the best was the creature Belos had claimed to do all his misdeeds in the name of.

[Luz extends her hand in sympathy.]

Luz: King, it's gonna be okay.

King: [Despondent; panicking.] Y-You're all just making fun of me, like usual, right? [Hyperventilates.] No! No, no, no, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

"All my fault," Luz said, her voice almost inaudible.

[King, now on the verge of tears, holds onto his head and breathes heavily before running away from the group.]

King: [Sobbing.] No!

[Luz gets up and forlornly extends her hand as she watches King disappear into the jungle.]

Luz: King!

[Cut to black. Resumes on Luz, Eda and Lilith walking through the jungle in search of the runaway King. Luz is trying to call for him.]

Luz: King?! King! Please, come back!

Lilith: I can't fly. The tree cover is too dense. I regret ever playing a part in this.

"Really," Camila said. "That's what you're regretting?"

"Mom."

Camila did not feel guilty in the slightest, but shut her mouth anyway to make Luz happy.

[Hooty, after looking sympathetic for a while, starts bawling.]

Hooty: Is this what regret feels like? I hate it!

"It's just the worst," Hunter said. "But…it's better than never feeling it at all. Like Belos."

[Hooty droops over Lilith's shoulder and continues crying. She gently pats him.]

Luz: I lied to him, even though I knew he trusted me.

Just like I did to my mom, Luz thought bitterly. Was this her legacy? One of deceit and stupidity?

Now, he's all alone.

[Luz sits down and silently weeps.]

"Oh, Luz," Camila said. "This was really Eda's fault. She was the one who kept him going with a comfortable lie instead of the cold, hard truth."

Eda: For now, let's split up. This island is small, and he's even smaller. He can't have gone far.

[Lilith and Hooty leave toward the right, while Eda kneels down to comfort a teary-eyed Luz.]

Eda: [Assuredly.] Don't worry. We'll find him.

[Eda leaves toward the left. Luz wipes her eyes, gets up and, with a determined look on her face, leaves to look for King.]

"You're a good sister," Vee assured her. "And as your sister myself, I know that for a fact."

"But I…"

"No buts, Luz," Vee said sternly. "You love your family and you do what you think is best for them. That's the Noceda way. That's the legacy you inherited." Camila beamed at her daughter. She couldn't have put it any better herself.

Luz: King? King?!

[Luz reaches the edge of the jungle and pauses. There, on the beach in front of her, is King, sitting alone on a log, staring out at the sea. A sympathetic Luz walks up to him and joins him on the log.]

King: [Still upset.] Eda was right, wasn't she? I was never king of anything. I'm nobody.

"Learning the difference between fantasy and reality, like King is doing now, is one of the most important things in life, mija," Camila said. "But what I didn't tell you – what I desperately should have told you – is that you don't have to choose between the two. Just keep them separate. Don't confuse one for the other. I'm sorry I sent you to a place that made you choose, Luz. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, mom," Luz said. "I forgave you even before I left. You were just doing what you thought was best."

Luz: You are somebody. And I love that somebody very much. I'm sorry I lied about what I believed.

"You see, Luz?" Vee said. "You're a great sister! There's no one I'd rather have as mine."

"Thank you," Luz said, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes, and wrapped her sister in a tight hug all of a sudden. "Thank you so much."

King: Everyone lied! And I was too caught up in the fantasy to realize it! [Starts sobbing.] I... I don't know what to do, Luz! [Sniffles.] I can't tell what's real and what's fake!

[King buries his face in his paws. Luz looks like she's about to start crying herself, but then looks up toward the ruined temple in the distance.]

Luz: Something's not adding up. One of your memories is falling, right?

King: [Wiping his eyes.] Probably another stupid thing I made up! [At this point, King is acting doubtful.]

Luz: No! What if that's a real memory?

King: Why does it matter?

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

"I mean, I was kind of just grasping at straws here," Luz admitted.

"It's not an unreasonable theory," Camila said, "except for the part where the ruins are inhabited by a monster! Did you forget about that?"

"Would I be in more or less trouble if I said yes?" Luz wondered. Camila shrugged. Frankly, either one sounded pretty bad to her.

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

Luz: You might have been alone before, but you have us now. Whatever we find up there won't change that. So, what do you say?

[Luz extends her hand. After a while, King gets up puts his paw in it.]

King: Okay.

[In the jungle, Luz leads King back to Eda and Lilith, both looking worried.]

Eda: [Happily.] King! You're alright!

[She runs toward King, but then stops upon noticing him looking sternly up at her.]

Eda: [Sigh.] You're mad at me. I get it. I would be, too. [Kneels down.] I'm so sorry, King.

Camila was very satisfied to hear that Eda was apologizing. It had been a slow lesson to learn, but she'd learnt it nonetheless, and it made Camila feel more secure about Luz staying with her. About thinking of her as another mother.

[King suddenly pokes her on the cheek.]

King: Boop. No more secrets, okay? You have to promise me.

Eda: Only truths. I promise.

"And that is not a promise she gives out to just everyone," Luz said. "Con artist, remember?"

Luz: Great. Now, before we leave, we have one more thing to check out. [She points toward the tower in the distance.]

[Inside the castle, the monster is maintaining one of the little rock statues when it suddenly reacts to something unseen. It hisses and looks back. It sees an exploding position being tossed and gets hit. Lilith flies in on her staff, aiming Hooty like a bazooka.]

"I sneaked in invisibly," Luz explained when everyone looked confused as to how they were seeing those memories.

"So cool," Camila said.

Hooty: Special delivery... [Deep voice.] Pain!

[Hooty fires a potion out of his mouth, and it hits the monster again. Suddenly, something invisible flies low past it. Luz takes a deep breath in, and she, King and Eda reappear on her staff, just like the glyph spell the showed off earlier.]

Eda: You sure they'll be alright?

[Eda stops, and Luz hops off the staff.]

Luz: Hooty knows what to do.

[Hooty is coughing up potions in a rapid-fire fashion, while Lilith is holding his head and looking disgusted.]

"Thank you for helping out, Hooty," Camila said, the words a struggle to get past her lips. But she owed it to Luz, like she said, to be more fair towards the owl tube. After all, Eda may have fed and given Luz shelter, but Hooty was the shelter.

Eda: [To herself.] Are you sure they'll be alright?

[While Lilith and Hooty are battling the monster, Eda flies up to the blocked hole in the ceiling. She sticks a potion into the rocks and jumps down toward Luz and King.]

Eda: Ready?

Luz: I always wanted to do something like this!

[Luz readies a glyph as Lilith and Hooty continue holding the monster off.]

Hooty: They're in place!

Lilith: Hold your breath!

[Lilith activates an invisibility glyph and they inhale, turning themselves invisible. The monster hisses and looks around confused before getting hit by the invisible Lilith. As Luz aims the glyph at the overhead potion, the monster grabs Lilith by the head, turning her visible again. Just then, Luz changes the paper into a fireball and flings it toward the potion. It hits, blowing the hole in the ceiling open.]

"Oh, wow!" Camila said, leaning forward. It was just like something she'd see in an action movie. Except it was real! And her daughter had done it. What prodigious power! And you wanted to take it all from her, her darker thoughts whispered.

[Hooty hits the monster with his face, freeing Lilith. She grabs her staff, and starts following Eda, Luz and King up the open hole.]

Luz: Fly, fly, fly!

[They start going up the hole, with Lilith producing a glyph to light the dark tunnel. The monster gives chase. Our heroes soon reach the end of the tunnel.]

Luz: There's...

King: There's...

[Zoom out to reveal that the tunnel has lead to a small, empty room covered in cobwebs.]

Eda: Nothing here!

"Well, that was a letdown," Willow complained.

[Everyone gets off the staffs and starts exploring. King hears hissing, looks down the hole and sees the monster coming in fast.]

King: [Panicked.] It's coming!

[King shrieks and scats as the monster swipes its arm. It has the four cornered against a locked door. King backs into it, and his touch triggers a mechanical reaction.]

King: Huh?

[The door opens, causing everyone to fall backwards into a secret room. They hurriedly close the door as the monster reaches toward them, causing its goopy hand to get cut off. Everyone takes deep sighs of relief.]

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

King: Huh? [Looks at his paw.]

"The door must have been primed to respond to the blood of a…Titan," Luz said, and then her eyes widened in horror as the ramifications of that statement sank in. "I AM SO DUMB!" she screamed.

"Uh, what?" Hunter said, alarmed at the sudden shouting.

"Luz, explain what you mean by such a wildly inaccurate statement," Camila said sharply.

Luz turned to face Amity. "Titan's Blood, Amity! We had it all along!"

"Luz, you didn't know that at the time…"

"But I did eventually!" she shouted. "I could have made a new portal! We wouldn't have been in this situation! You could have…"

"Luz," Amity said, her voice filled with fire, and Luz stopped in her tracks. "That's enough. We can't dwell on what ifs. Besides, this is good news. If we figured it out, maybe Eda will. Maybe a new portal will open any day now."

She squeezed Luz's hand. "You just have to have hope, Luz. Like I do."

"I…I guess I'll try."

Lilith: [Dumbstruck.] This room is old. Very old.

[They begin exploring the room, which is decorated with decaying plants and a skylight on the ceiling. In the middle of the room is a golden pedestal. King walks up to it and sees the remains of a broken eggshell at the top.]

Luz: I knew there was something up here! I'm like the mystery whisperer. The butler did it, magnifying glass, secret door.

"Are you trying to be confusing on purpose?" Hunter demanded.

"That, too, will remain a mystery," Luz responded, waving her hands enigmatically. Hunter rolled his eyes.

Lilith: It looks like that creature was made to guard whatever was in here.

Luz: King, does any of this feel familiar to you?

King: I'm not sure, but I think I know how to jog my memory. Eda, I'm ready. [Extends his paw.]

Eda: [Worried.] Are you sure?

King: I am.

[Eda take the broken piece of horn out of her hair and gives it to King, who places it on his stump. He gasps.]

King: I remember a deep roar. 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...

[King takes the broken horn off his stump, a look of revelation on his face.]

Luz: King...

King: 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!

Camila grinned. Maybe it was true that King wasn't the King of Demons, but perhaps he was the Prince of Demons nonetheless.

Luz: Maybe that was him on all those wall carvings.

[The monster breaks through the door down and prepares to strike with his axe-hand. As Luz cowers in fear, King defiantly runs up to it and raises his paw.]

King: Stop.

[The monster suddenly pauses, and it bows to him in respect.]

Eda: That thing was defending King from us this whole time? Huh. Alright.

"But it broke off his horn," Willow pointed out.

"That was an accident," Luz explained. "It thought Eda was kidnapping King – which she kind of was, I guess – and tried to kill her."

[Lilith takes a picture of the wall carvings with an instant flash camera; the others look at her.]

Lilith: Oh, sorry. Were we discussing important revelations? I'll... [Clears throat.] I'll just... do this later.

[She takes the photo from the camera and sheepishly hides it behind her back. Hooty eats and swallows the camera.]

Hooty: Gulp!

Camila stuffed some popcorn in her mouth to forestall herself from making a comment.

Luz: [To King.] Maybe you weren't exactly the King of Demons, but...

King: I was important to someone. [Starts tearing up.] If... If he's out there, I want to find him. I'm not that old! It could be possible! [Sniff.] Would you help me?

Luz: I'd do anything for you, buddy.

King: Then... can we keep him? [Points to the monster.]

Luz, Eda and Lilith: No!

[Hooty wraps his body around the girls, who are all looking displeased.]

Hooty: Yes!

"You kept him, didn't you," Camila said with a deadpan expression.

"Hey, Eda kept him," Luz defended herself. "I just went along for the ride. Besides, having an unstoppable killing machine as a bodyguard could only be an asset." Camila had to admit she had a point there…probably.

[Cut to the Owl House, where Luz is tucking King into bed while he carves the castle's symbol onto his collar medallion with a fork.]

Luz: Whatcha doin' there, King?

King: That symbol was all over that tower. What if it's my name?

[Luz glues the broken piece of King's horn onto the stump with glue, making it whole again. She wipes off some excess glue with her finger.]

King: Aah... gooey..!

[The camera cuts to a wide shot of King's room, revealing the monster, which King had named "Jean-Luc", sitting lifelessly in the corner of his room.]

"Please tell me that thing didn't try to eat you," Camila begged.

"It actually didn't," Luz said.

King: [Put his collar back on.] It's too bad Jean-Luc stopped moving outside the ruins. I liked having a big, scary minion.

"And that's why," Luz added. "Oh, man, did we leave Jean-Luc at the Owl House? I think we did! Gee, I hope he's all right." Luz tried to remember the last time she'd seen him and was coming up blank.

[Luz looks at him and is creeped out by his presence.]

Luz: [Sheepishly.] Yeah. Too bad.

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

Luz: Well, you'll always be king of my heart. That's good enough, right?

"You're so sweet, Luz," Camila said, and Luz beamed.

King: [Thinks for a moment.] Yeah! Goodnight, Luz.

[King lies down, and Luz kisses him on the forehead.]

King: And Francois.

[King holds up his plush rabbit. Luz kisses it.]

King: Now, Jean-Luc.

[Luz looks at the inanimate Jean-Luc; some of his fleshy red goop drips onto his knee. Luz grunts in disgust and starts walking backwards towards the door while still facing King sheepishly.]

"I can't say I blame you there," Camila admitted.

Luz: Bummer, looks like I'm all out of kisses. Maybe next time, goodnight! [Closes the door.]

[In the living room, Luz enters and sits down next to Eda.]

Eda: Hmmm... Ooh, is it some kind of ancient language?

"Not any kind of language I'm familiar with," Hunter said. He wondered if Belos had known.

Lilith: And those old carvings. Who were they depicting?

Eda: [To Luz.] Any ideas, "mystery whisperer"?

[Luz picks up one of the photos.]

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

[The camera focuses on the photo, which is of the carvings depicting a large, spear-wielding demon who looks similar to King. Cut to black.]

"Well, I'm just glad everything worked out in the end…more or less," Camila said. "Who are you going to face next, Luz? A vampire? A werewolf?"

"That is so racist," Gus complained.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry!" Camila said, clasping her hand to her mouth in horror.

"Something far worse than that," Luz intoned ominously. "An anti-vaxxer." Camila shivered in fear.