Hi! Welcome back to my mindscape! I hope everyone is having an amazing day, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter! |:D

Lilith's heart raced as she flew on her staff toward the Owl House, the wind whipping past her face, carrying with it the mingled scents of the Boiling Isles. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, fears, and doubts. The urgency of the situation gnawed at her, but she steeled herself. This was no time for hesitation.

As she neared the Owl House, its familiar, eclectic shape standing out against the sky, she felt a pang of sadness. Memories of her and Edalyn's childhood, of laughter and mischief, flooded her mind. But she pushed them aside. There was no room for sentimentality now.

Lilith landed gracefully in the yard. She took a deep breath, steadying herself, and approached the front door. Before she could knock, she was swooped into the air, caught by Hooty.

"HOOT HOOT! Lilith you're not supposed to be here!" Hooty said, concern in his usually playful voice.

"Hooty! Let me go! I need to speak with Eda. It's urgent. It's about Luz." Lilith said, trying to push her way out of Hooty's grasp.

After hearing Luz' name, Hooty slowly let go of her and placed her back on the ground. Lilith grunted in annoyance as she saw Hooty turn and push his head back into the house, whispers coming from within. After a moment he flew back to her.

"You can go in… Is Luz okay?" Hooty said, sadness in his voice.

Lilith gave the house demon a rub on his head. "I'm not sure Hooty, but I hope I can find out soon."

Lilith walked up to the door of the Owl House, Hooty by her side. She quickly took a breath and walked through the door.

Lilith entered the house, the familiar clutter and oddities of Edalyn's abode surrounding her. She found her sister laid down on the couch, an ice pack and a few potion vials surrounding her. King was there, by her side, worry clouding his eyes. On the floor next to them were Amity, Gus, and Willow, caught up in a quiet conversation about something. All eyes turned toward her as she stepped inside, tension crackling in the air.

Eda sat up, wincing in pain. "Lilith," she said, her voice cold. "What are you doing here?"

"Edalyn, I need to talk to you," Lilith began, taking a step forward. "About Luz."

Eda's eyes narrowed. "What about her?"

Lilith glanced at the others, noting their worried expressions. "I know you said that she was kidnapped, and I understand why you came to me, looking to pick a fight. But I need to know what you meant. I need to know the full story behind this."

Edalyn glare turned icy. "I didn't come to you to pick a fight. I came to you because I thought you would know what happened to Luz, especially since it was the Emperor Covens fault."

Lilith started to speak, she wanted to tell her sister what Belos said… But she would never believe that. "Start from the beginning," Lilith said, her tone softening. "Please."

Edalyn sighed and gestured for Lilith to sit. "Alright kiddo's, tell Lilith what happened that day."

Lilith sat there in silence, listening intently to their story. Amity did a lot of the talking, she was the one who experienced most of it, but Willow and Gus also spoke on what happened to them. After a while, the story concluded and Lilith sat there, thinking about what they told her.

Lilith was trying to piece together the details. "Did you find anything? Any clues as to who took her?"

Amity, Willow and Gus shook their heads. "No. The only thing we found was Luz' backpack and a half drawn magic glyph."

Lilith was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by Eda.

"I actually was able to find something." Eda said, sadness in her eyes. "After I left the school that night, I went back to the forest. After using a spell I was able to see that one of the group that was there had an illusion coven sigil on their wrist."

"A Sigil and illusion magic," Lilith mused. "That means it is definitely someone within the Illusion Coven or with close ties to it."

"Well we figured it was someone within the illusion coven, but we also figured out it must be someone who's under the command of the Emperor's coven." Gus said.

Lilith scoffed, taken aback by his words. "It can't be the Emperor's coven, Belos told me that he was not involved and there were no records in the archives about any plan involving Luz."

Eda growled. "And you seriously believe that? You seriously believe he wouldn't just lie to you about it?"

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "Belos would never lie to me, I am his right hand and also the leader of the Emperor's coven. If something like this happened, I would be the first to know."

Eda groaned in frustration. "Well who else would have access to Hexsides files besides the Emperor's coven?"

"What do you mean?" Lilith asked.

"Well, they had to know about our magic." Gus responded. "If they didn't they would never have known to send a clone of me to get Luz."

"Yeah, and also how easily they were able to bypass the school's security systems." Willow chimed in.

Lilith thought for a second. "Could Belos be behind this? With the illusion magic and everything…"

Lilith gasped aloud. "Adrian Graye Vernworth."

Eda snorted. "Who's that Lily? A new boyfriend?"

Amity and Lilith both groaned. "No, he is the head of the Illusion coven, and I know that Belos has a tight grip around him. Ugh why didn't I think of that as soon as you said something about illusion magic!"

"So do you think he was the one who did it?" Willow asked, perking up knowing they were getting closer to the real answer.

"It would make sense." Lilith responded, "While I was in the archives, I did find some paper's about increased activity within the Illusion Coven, but I did think it was a bit weird since I haven't seen them around the castle."

Eda let a slight grin go. "Well Lily, it seems your precious Emperor has lied to you after all."

Lilith groaned. "I guess you are right dear sister."

"But why kidnap Luz?" Amity asked. "I know she is the only human on the isles and everything, but she is just learning magic and she just started to perfect her glyphs."

As if to answer the question, Hooty popped through the door holding someone in his grasp. "HOOT HOOT! I caught an intruder, Eda! He was using some sort of disappearing magic but I was able to catch him."

Everyone stared at Hooty, and then at the man he was holding.

Lilith let out a gasp and then slapped her forehead. "Adrian, what a coincidence."

Everyone stared at Lilith for a second, taking in what she said and then turning back to the man Hooty had captured.

"WHAT!" They all shouted in unison.

Adrian struggled in Hooty's grasp. "GET THIS STUPID THING OFF OF ME" He yelled.

After a few minutes, they were able to get Adrian out of Hooty's grasp, bounding him with magical chains of their own.

"Ah Lilith, it must make your blood boil that the Emperor went to me with this mission and not you. He knows you are a terrible performer" Adrian said, smirking.

Lilith's blood did boil a bit, she thought the Emperor had trusted her. She thought they had a bond unlike any he had with his other servants.

Lilith pointed her staff at Adrian's neck, her anger getting the better of her. "Well, it seems like you have failed him anyways. Now, you are going to answer our questions or I am going to send you back to Belos in a bodybag. Understand?

Adrian's eyes raised in surprise but he nodded. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

Lilith smirked, she knew that he would do anything to save himself. "Well first tell us, it was you who kidnapped Luz the human, correct?"

Adrian nodded his head. "Yes, Lord Belos sent my top scouts and I on a mission to secure the human and take her back to the castle."

"And did anyone else know of this mission?" Lilith questioned.

"No. Just the Emperor and us." He responded.

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "And is she still at the castle?"

Adrian nodded again. "I am not sure exactly where within the castle. All we were just told was that she would be somewhere deep in the dungeons."

"And why did Belos take her?" Eda asked angrily, getting in Adrian's face.

Adrian scooted back in fear. "I don't know. Belos just told us what to do and we did it." He glared at Lilith. "You know him, if he gives you an order, you do it and don't ask any questions."

Lilith sat in silence for a few moments pondering. "Okay. We can let him go." She said after a few moments.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

Eda growled. "What? There is no way we are letting him go, he would just go back and tell the Emperor that we know what happened and where Luz is!"

"Eda, if we keep him here, it will only tell Belos the same thing." Lilith said. "I'm sure he was the one who sent you to follow me, correct?"

Adrian nodded. "Yes, he told me to keep an eye on you after your conversation with him in his study."

Eda growled again, but finally relented. "Fine, let him go. But he is going to have to deal with Hooty for a bit longer before he does." Eda whistled.

Adrian looked gray in the face, his chains disappearing and suddenly being swept up again by Hooty.

"HOOT HOOT! HEY DO YOU WANNA HEAR ABOUT ALL THE BUGS I ATE TODAY?" Hooty asked.

Adrian screamed as he was dragged outside, Hooty rambling about all the bugs he had consumed so far that day.

Seeing this, the whole group burst out into laughter.

"Well," Amity said, rubbing her eyes. "At least we know where Luz is now."

Everyone smiled at each other, a new found sense of urgency in their hearts to save their friend.

"Well Kiddos. Let's go save our Luz."

Lilith finally learns the truth and now they know where Luz is! It will only get more exciting from here on out folks! Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it! If you have any ideas of how I can improve this fic, just leave a comment! If you love it so far, leave a Kudos! Next chapter coming soon to a mindscape near you!