Author's Note: Long time, no see. And I'm ready to feature an adaptation of one of the most beloved episodes of season 2.

Any and all comments are welcome.

On an early morning, Hooty hung around the front of the Owl Sanctum hooting to himself before he heard a rustle in the bushes. He put on a big smile when Lillith and Clea stepped right out with used bags full of camping gear.

"See? We made it back home safely." Lillith said. "And you said we needed a compass."

"Yeah, well, that still doesn't excuse refusing to pack one." Clea said. "Seriously, a compass is, like, the most BASIC tool for camping."

"LULU!" Hooty cried when he stretched his neck out and hugged his friend. "Oh, thank Titan you're back! I really missed you! Hoot!"

Lillith smiled and patted Hooty's head. "Hootsifer, we've only been gone for one night. How have things been since we left?"

"Oh, things worked out WONDERFULLY!" Hooty cheered. "And thanks to me, literally everyone's lives have been changed for the better!"

"We've only been gone ten hours." Clea said. "What could you have possibly done?"

"Well, it all started the moment you left…"

The night before, Hooty was the last one to see Clea and Lillith off as they finalized their packing.

"So you're really going to be gone?" Hooty asked.

"Just for the night, Hootsifer." Lillith said. "Clea and I need to spend some mother-daughter bonding times, and I've been meaning to get back into studying historical landmarks, so I figured we could each spend the night at this ruin site from back during the Deadwardian Era. Don't worry. We'll be back before you know it. In the meantime, do you think you can watch out for the others?"

"Watch out for them?" Hooty asked.

"Yes. I noticed Edalyn has been getting restless lately, and King, Luz, and Stephen aren't doing so well either." Lillith said. "Perhaps you could help them."

"Oh, I don't know." Hooty said sadly. "They don't usually want my help. In fact, they pretty much just push me away. Kinda makes me feel unimportant."

Lillith, sympathetic to Hooty's words, caressed his head and spoke softly to him. "Hooty, you are more important than you think. Remember, you ARE the Owl Sanctum. You take care of everyone inside you. If that isn't a worthy purpose, what is?"

"All right. I'm done." Clea said strapping on her heavy backpack. "So we going to this half-dead building or what?"

"Young lady, once we get there, I bet you'll find that it's more than just a 'half-dead building'." Lillith said. She proceeded to leave with Clea, but gave one last look over to Hooty. "Just do what you can. You'll find your purpose, I'm sure."

Hooty let out a single tear from his eye. Once Clea and Lillith left, he headed on inside the Sanctum to see how the others are doing. King was sitting on the couch, Eda had her face buried in scrolls, Stephen was focused on a book he was reading, and Luz was staring closely at the echo mouse.

"How's it going, hoot house?" he asked cheerily.

"Could you keep it down?" King asked before noticing a high-pitched rise in his throat at the last syllable. "Down! DOWN! Why does this keep happening?"

"Sounds like our little demon is becoming a 'de-MAN'." Hooty said playfully.

"Ugh! Why does that sound so wrong coming from you?" King asked before hearing his voice again. "YOU! AAHH! I am done with this!" He hopped out of the couch and left the room.

"Those teens, eh?" Hooty laughed squirming over to Eda. "Their moods change like the wind."

Eda lowered her scroll from her face allowing Hooty to see her face, which frightened him. The only things that were keeping that woman awake were the clothespins that were pinching her eyelids open.

"I'm freaking out, Hoody." Eda said. "Belos is planning something big, and I'm weaker than a newborn witchling. If I want to protect you guys, I have to train as hard as I can to get strong. No rest."

"But every time you overwork yourself, you turn into the Owl Beast." Hooty said out of concern.

"No rest!" Eda repeated blasting her air horn into the air. She then stormed out.

"Hey!" Stephen shouted. "Some of us are trying to solve a mystery over here! Maybe use our library voices?"

Curious, Hooty looked over at the book Stephen was looking over. "Is that the Ancient One's journal? I thought you were done with that."

"Well, I'm not." Stephen said. "All that's left to find is the Eye of Agamotto, and the Ancient One chose the vaguest riddle of all to describe its hiding place. 'Only the Sorcerer Supreme will be able to find his Eye'. What does that even mean? There's gotta be another clue here. Somewhere."

"But you've read that thing cover to cover under different lights." Hooty said. "Maybe you should take a break to…"

"Can't afford a break." Stephen said. "If you need me, I'll be in the study room." He got up and left taking the journal with him."

"Can everyone please be quiet?" Luz called out. "You're scaring the echo mouse. And if he's not happy, I'll never make my way into Amity's heart." She blushed as soon as she realized what she just said. "I mean, make a portal back home. Uh, we have to go."

Hooty watched everyone leave. He knew he wanted to help, and he heeded Lillith's advice. So with a sneaky grin on his face, he devised the "plan of plans".

Stephen groaned as he leaned back in his chair away from the book. He slammed it shut with one hand and covered his eyes with the other.

"This is getting me nowhere! I read every word in this journal, shined it under a UV light, lit a fire behind the pages. But so far, nothing's working! I feel like the key to this mystery is right under my nose. But where?"

Hooty creeped his head in watching Stephen with concern while thinking to himself.

"Poor Stephen. His hunt for the Ancient One's relics is nearing its conclusion, but he finds himself at a dreadful dead-end. He's so immersed, he can't handle this kind of failure. So perhaps what he needs is a playful night of games."

Hooty removed himself from the room and stopped just as he was outside the room. He then swung his head around smacking all the walls, the floor, and the ceiling around him. The ruckus was so great, it caught Stephen's attention causing him to fall out of his chair and run right outside. That's when Hooty hid himself.

"What's going on?!" Stephen asked loudly on high alert. "Are we under attack?!" He looked around and saw that everything was quiet as a mouse unaware that Hooty was setting something up with his back turned. "That's weird."

Stephen turned and returned to the study room. But when he got back to the desk, his eyes widened when he saw that the journal he was examining wasn't there anymore. All that was left was a white card where it was once placed.

"What's going on?! Where's the book?!" Stephen panicked. He then picked up the card and read the text on it aloud. "'In order to find the book which you seek, help yourself with this scavenger hunt treat'. Well, not a perfect rhyme."

"Oh, come on. I thought it was pretty good." Hooty said showing himself from above him.

"WAH!" Stephen cried out startled. "Hooty? Did you take the journal?"

"That is a wild accusation!"

"So you're saying you didn't do it?"

"Oh, no. I did take it. I just think the accusation is wild."

Stephen's face turned blank. "Hooty, think carefully about your next move, because right now, the one that doesn't end with you cooked alive is the one that involves handing me my book back."

"No can do, buckaroo." Hooty said. "I hid that book in a clever little hiding place. In order to find it, you'll need to use ten keys which I've cleverly hidden around the Owl Sanctum. To find them, you'll have to go through with this fun little scavenger hunt I've devised."

Stephen groaned. "Why can't you just take up crosswords like a normal person?"

"This isn't for my benefit, Stephen. It's for you." Hooty said. "You're so obsessed with that book, I figure you need a fun night to ease your mind. Just reach the end, and I promise I'll leave you alone for the rest of the night."

Stephen stared coldly before letting out a loud sigh. "Fine. Let's just get this over with. Where do I start?"

"Check the back of the card."

Stephen flipped the card over and read the text aloud. "'The first key is a simple one all right. Simply head to the room of Luz' first light'. Luz' first light?" He gasped when he realized. "It must be talking about the first light spell Luz casted. That happened on the balcony on the second floor."

Stephen walked right out of the study and headed down the halls. On the way, he stopped when he noticed Eda laying on the floor fast asleep. Next to her were a plate of cookies.

"I guess Eda finally fell asleep." Stephen said stepping over her.

Stephen eventually reached the balcony and opened it up. He found a bronze key laying on the railing on top of another card. Stephen picked it up proudly smiling at his accomplishment.

"Eureka! I found the first key!" He stopped to notice a letter on the key. "H? Wonder what that means." Stephen then picked up the card and read the text aloud. "'The symbol of two queens is a sight to see, but it's beside them you'll find the next key'. Symbols of two queens… That's gotta be the crown Luz got at Grom night."

Stephen left the balcony and headed out of the room. All the while, Hooty smiled warmly as he watched the magical human boy progress in his hunt.

Throughout the next hour, Stephen continued to follow the clues on the cards and collected all the keys found on them. He found one in the closet where Luz locked him in during the moonlight conjuring. He found one in the kitchen. He found one in Eda's nest. The search went on.

During the hunt, Stephen couldn't help but notice that all the keys had different letters on them. After "H", there was an "B", and then, "Y", followed by a "E". This continued on.

Finally, Stephen picked up the final clue, which read "Your scavenger hunt ends at last. The final key's hidden within Eda's past." Already, Stephen knew what it meant and headed over.

In the living room, Stephen found a box full of pictures of Eda during her days at Hexside. He noticed a yearbook with the final key acting as a bookmark. He opened it up to a page that had Eda's picture on it and picked the key out, which had the letter "O" on it.

"Last key." Stephen said with a smile on his face. He turned and was unsurprised to see Hooty's head over him.

"Congratulations, Stephen Strange! You completed Hooty's special scavenger hunt!" Hooty cheered.

Suddenly, Stephen noticed a roar of fire lighting up behind him. He turned and saw a pyre lit up at the center of the room.

"Where'd you get a pyre?" he asked.

"Where'd we get a basement?" Hooty replied. "The world is full of mysteries."

"We have a basement?" Stephen asked. "Actually, you know what, I don't care. Just tell me where the door is."

"What door?" Hooty asked.

"The door. The one you hid the journal in." Stephen said. "Or did you lock it in a chest or something like that?"

"Nope. Didn't hide the journal in anything like that. It's not sealed in any locks."

Stephen's smile faded. "What? But then, why did I need to get these keys?"

"The keys aren't meant to unlock anything." Hooty said. "Take a good look at them, and you'll see."

Stephen picked out the keys and again noticed the letters on them. He spread them out on the floor and realized something. "It's an anagram." With that realization, he rearranged all the keys with every last combination until he came to a conclusion, one that was both simple and gross.

H-O-O-T-Y-B-E-L-L-Y.

"Hooty belly." Stephen said staring over at the house demon. "Hoody's belly? You've had it in your stomach the whole time?!"

"Pretty much." Hooty said. "Still, it's all about the journey, not the destination. Isn't that right, Stephen?"

Stephen groaned while pinching the space between his eyes. "You know what? Never mind. Just give me the journal."

"You got it." Hooty said. He strained his face and forced a retching sound from his mouth. He struggled with trying to force the book out of his stomach.

"Oh, for goodness sake! Just spit it out already!" Stephen yelled shooting a strong kick to Hooty's stomach.

At that kick, the journal came shooting right out of Hooty's mouth. Stephen tried to grab it, but it flew too high for him to reach. He suddenly widened his eyes in terror as the book landed right in the big, flaming pyre at the center of the room.

"NO!" Stephen panicked. He ran to the fire and managed to grab the journal's bookmark and pulled it out. But by then, the damage was already done.

When the book fell, its covers opened up, and the pages within began to burn, its edges slowly turning black and turning to ash in the air. Stephen tried to blow on them, but the burning just got worse. It was too late. Before Stephen's eyes, every last page in the journal had been burned to ash leaving nothing but the covers intact.

Stephen was speechless. He sank to his knees lowering his head over the burned remains of his book. Hooty watched from behind feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt and sadness over what he did.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Stephen." Hooty said quietly. "I know how much that book meant to you."

Stephen was about to say something, but he stopped when he noticed something happened under his head. Before his eyes, the pages' ashes were moving themselves within the book's covers taking the shapes of letters and words. Once they made out a full text, the ashes were merged within the book's covers as if they were actually written in the book in the first place.

Stephen stared at the new words examining them letter by letter. He smiled and gave a quiet laugh as he realized the truth of the pages.

"This… changes… everything."

"I know." Hooty teared up. "You probably don't wanna see me again. WAHAAAA! I GOTTA MAKE SURE THINGS GO WELL WITH LUZ! SHE'S MY LAST CHANCE!"

"Hooty, wait!" Stephen cried out, but it was too late. He had already left the living room crying his eyes out. "I gotta fix this." He picked up his journal and raced on out of the living room to try and give chase to the house demon.

"Hooty! Hooty!" Stephen yelled running down the halls. "I know you can hear me! You're the entire house for crying out loud! I just need to talk to you! Oh, where did that birdbrain go?"

He eventually headed to the top of the Owl Sanctum's tower. He stopped when he noticed what looked like a party set up. King was standing there all alone.

"Kind, have you seen Hooty?" Stephen asked. "Also, what's with the party?"

"Hooty? That nutcase is the one who set this all up." King explained. "He was trying to help me identify what kind of demon I am to help me get over my body changes, but when he failed, I got upset and… Well, I think I have some kind of magic wail or something."

"Magic wail?" Stephen asked.

"Yeah. Watch this." King turned to a table and held in his breath for a moment. "WAH!" His voice echoed with a visible soundwave that struck the table shattering it to pieces.

"Whoa!" Stephen cried out in shock. "What kind of demon can do that?"

"I don't know, but I never would have discovered it without Hooty." King said. "I tried to thank him, but he ran off in tears. Where could he have gone?"

"He said something about Luz, but I haven't seen her for the past hour. What could…"

All of a sudden, the entire tower shook. Stephen and King struggled to keep their balance before looking on outside. They then discovered that it wasn't just the tower; the entire Owl Sanctum was shaking violently because of Hooty, who was wailing his head around sobbing wildly.

"I CAN'T HELP ANYONE!" Hooty yelled trying to pull himself out of the Owl Sanctum. "OUT! OUT, VILE OWL! RID THIS SANCTUM OF THYSELF!"

"Hooty! Calm down, you dingdong!" King cried out.

"You'll tear the entire place apart!" Stephen yelled.

"NEVER SHALL I CURSE THIS HOME WITH MY ODIOUS PRESENCE AGAIN!" Hooty yelled not listening to his friends' yells toward him. "Looks like I have to do this… the hard way!" He proceeded to pluck himself out of his place on the door and drag himself across the ground.

Hooty's meltdown caused the entire home to shake, even the tower where King nearly fell off the edge. His claws slipped and he began falling.

"KING!" Stephen yelled. He flew on up with his Levitation Cloak. "Don't worry! I'll save…" WOOSH! "You?"

Stephen was cut off by a winged creature that swooped in and saved King from an untimely end. She then revealed herself to be Eda, but with much longer hair, gigantic owl wings from her back, bird-like eyes, and animalistic claws and legs.

"Eda?" King asked in shock.

"Don't worry. I think it's a good thing." Eda said.

"Whoa!" Stephen gasped. "How did this happen to you?"

"It was Hooty." Eda answered. "That dingus made me fall asleep by slipping sleeping neddles in my cookies. I went through an emotional series of flashbacks until I finally made peace with the Owl Beast inside me. Next thing I know, I wake up like this." She twirled around to show off her half-beast form. "I think that since the Owl Beast and I are on better terms, we gained a new form where we are one. Pretty cool, huh? Though, Hooty seems to think he just made it worse."

"That seems like a common theme going on tonight." Stephen said. "Wait, where's Luz?"

"There! I see her!" King pointed at the side of the Owl Sanctum where Luz and Amity came out from a basement door.

"What's going on?" Amity asked.

"I don't know," Luz answered, "But things always get weird when Hooty's upset."

The Owl Sanctum shook again. This caused part of the tower to crack apart and fall right off. It was on its way directly on top of the girls.

"Luz!" King cried out. "NOOOOOO!" His scream let out a magic blast from his mouth again. It managed to reach the rubble and shatter it to pieces before it could crush Luz and Amity.

"Did you do that?" Eda asked.

"Yeah. Pretty crazy, huh?" Stephen asked. He, Eda, and King regrouped with Luz and Amity on the ground. "Luz. Amity. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Luz said before noticing Eda. "Whoa! Not as okay as you, though. Dang, girl, I have a few questions for later."

Hooty shot his head from the ground again dragging himself all around the yard.

"BOOHOOHOO! I FAILED YOU ALL! I FAILED YOU ALL!"

"No, Hooty!" Eda cried out. "You actually weirdly helped me! I'm like a harpy woman now!"

"And I can explode things with my voice powers!" King added.

"Plus, you accidentally found me a big lead with the Ancient One's journal!" Stephen shouted.

"BUT I STILL FAILED LUZ!" Hooty sobbed.

"Luz, what was Hooty trying to do?" Eda asked.

"The only way he'll calm down is if he sees he helped you!" Stephen said.

"Quick! Pretend he did before he destroys everything!" King said.

Luz glanced awkwardly at Amity before leaning in to whisper to her friends. "He was trying to help me ask Amity out."

"Really?" Stephen asked with his eyes wide. "How?"

"Well, Hooty invited me to the basement where I then found Amity. He then dropped both of us in a tunnel of love ride. But I think I blew it. Every time something came up where it showed that I liked her, I destroyed it. I think Amity took it the wrong way."

"Well, do you wanna ask her out?" Eda asked. Luz nodded in nervous sweat. "Then do it."

"Like this?" Luz asked gesturing to Hooty's meltdown.

"Yeah, I hear ya." Eda said. "I might be able to help."

"Me too." Stephen said. "Me, Eda, and King will restrain Hooty while you go ask her out. And don't worry about messing it up. You like her. She likes you. All that's left is to ask the question."

"He's right." Eda said. "It won't be perfect, but does it really need to be?" She and Stephen flew on up to tackle Hooty luring him away from the girls.

Once Luz was alone with the girl she liked, she turned to her nervously. "Amity…" All of a sudden, the ground collapsed beneath them. It wasn't a long fall, so they weren't hurt before they returned to their feet.

"Oh, my gosh! Amity, are you okay?" Luz asked helping Amity back up.

"I'm all right."

"I was just…" Luz struggled to say. "I've been wanting to ask you something for a while. But I wanted to do it in the best way. And in the Tunnel of Love, I thought, 'Amity's too cool for this'."

Amity blushed at that statement. "I'm not as cool as you think."

"Okay… Everything is so crazy right now, and I have no idea what my future holds. But it would be so cool if you were in it, so… Uh…" She stayed silent for a while before letting in a deep breath. She was finally ready to answer when…

"Do you want to go out with me?!" Amity asked suddenly and quickly.

Luz smacked herself on the face embarrassed that she missed her chance. "No, I was so ready."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You can say it." Amity said.

"Okay." Luz said. "Amity Blight, do you wanna go out with me?"

"Yes!" Amity answered with the biggest smile on her face.

"Okay!"

The two girls stood in awkward silence before looking at each other. They then proceeded to hold each other's hands blushing even harder now.

"Why is this still so scary?" Luz asked.

"I don't know." Amity answered.

Up above, the rest of the gang looked down at Luz and Amity proudly as they stood in the center of a heart-shaped crater. Meanwhile, Hooty was still crying, but not out of sadness, but out of joy.

"Dang, Hooty, you really are something." Eda said.

Once Hooty calmed down, everyone returned to the living room to bask in their new developments. King stared hard at a glass dish before using his magic wail to shatter it to pieces. He was about to destroy the crystal ball next, but Eda stopped her before changing back into her normal form.

Meanwhile, Luz and Amity sat and watched as the echo mouse projected a vision of Philip Wittebane and the portal door he built. They were then joined by Stephen, who had the empty covers of the Ancient One's journal.

"How are you two lovebirds doing?" Stephen asked with a sly smile.

"Still pretty crazy." Luz said still blushing along with Amity.

"Yeah. It's kinda like a dream come true. And it looks like we're also gonna be working together to unlock Philip's notes."

Stephen laughed softly. "Well, I have to say, I'm happy for you. I feel like I've been waiting forever for this."

"Thanks." Luz said. "So you said you made progress on the Ancient One's journal?"

"That's right." Stephen said. He laid down the book and opened it up. "The Ancient One left one last message in it, one that can only be unlocked if all the pages are burned. It's so crazy, no one else would even think of it."

The girls joined Stephen's side and looked in the book. They stared in amazement at the new text that was revealed which Stephen then read aloud.

"'Congratulations for finding this message you read. You've solved the riddles and followed every lead. But I'm sure there's one treasure yet to be found: the Eye of Agamotto, which is currently safe and sound. You had your start, but now, there is more, for this is one clue that will lead to more. You'll find the Eye within the sacred walls, where witches of old roamed its halls. But where to find this sacred place, you may ask. Well, the journey is simple, but not an easy task. Seek the key to Kamar-Taj which can now be bestowed. Buried knee-deep where blood once flowed. Unlock the key with keys of the past, then the path to the Eye will be revealed at last."

"Whoa." Luz said. "So we're supposed to find this key to Kamar-Taj, and that's where we'll find the Eye of Agamotto?"

"But Kamar-Taj has been lost for a long time." Eda said. "How are we going to find it?"

"I guess that's what the key's for." Stephen said. "If we find that, we'll find Kamar-Taj, and if we find Kamar-Taj, we'll find the Eye of Agamotto. Then, this whole mystery will be blown wide open."

"I had to promise never to help anyone ever again," Hooty went on, "But nevertheless, I'm a genius!"

Once he finished his story, Lilith and Clea stared with surprised expressions. They were silent for a bit before Clea spoke up.

"So in one night, Stephen found a secret riddle in the Ancient One's journal, Eda can turn into a harpy, King has a sonic scream, and Luz and Amity are now a couple? Man, did we pick a bad night to go out!"

"Well, this I gotta see for myself." Lillith said. She then patted Hooty on his head. "Well done, Hootsifer. You've really proven your worth."

Hooty smiled fondly as Lilith and Clea entered through the front door. Once they were gone, Hooty took a moment to take in a long breath of fresh air.

"Everything's solved. No more mysteries."

"I beg your pardon."

Hooty turned to the sound of a heavy voice which approached. From the forest, a large demon with yellow-and-brown robes and a pair of giant wings on his back. His most discerning feature was the fact that his head looked like a more mature version of King's but with a beard hanging over his jaw.

"Would you see this finds its way to King Clawthorn?" the large demon asked placing a black letter down. He then walked away disappearing into the forest.

Hooty looked at the letter that was addressed to Hooty (which had a bug crawling on top of it). He gasped for a moment before smiling.

"Oh, my gosh, a bug!" He quickly scooped in the bug into his beak and swallowed. It took him a second to notice that he also accidentally swallowed the mystery demon's black letter to King. "Whoopsie. Hope that was junk mail."