Luz, King, Gus, and Willow all stood on the doorstep of the house that was said to be Lilith Clawthorne's. Luz knocked on the door, afraid of what might happen next. There was silence for a few moments, and then Luz could hear a lock being turned on the other side of the door. The door cracked open and Luz could see a woman peering out. The woman had dark hair with a white streak running down the right side of her face. The woman had bags under her eyes, she looked younger than Luz expected her to be, comparing her to Eda. But the eyes of the woman said she had wisdom beyond her years.

"Yes?" The woman asked from behind the door, her eyes darting between all the members of the group.

"Umm, we are looking for Lilith Clawthorne. Does she live here?" Luz started.

The woman's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed at the group.

"And who are you?" The woman asked, mild accusation in her voice.

"I am Luz, this is Gus, King, and Willow," Luz said, motioning to her friends.

The woman goes quiet for a moment.

"Luz, huh? I feel like I've seen you before…" She ponders, squinting at Luz.

"Yeah, we met some years ago at the Coven convention. I ended up dueling your student at the time-" Luz began to tell the story.

"Wait, I recognize that outfit, you are 'The Witch of the Scroll"!" Lilith exclaimed, interrupting Luz.

"Shh, not so loud," Luz said, hunching her shoulders and looking from side to side.

"Wh-what do you want with me?" The woman asked, taken aback.

"We need your help," Luz said.

"Why would I help you? I should be shouting for the guards right now!" The woman said, beginning to close the door.

"Eda's gone!" Luz nearly shouted.

The door stopped. The woman, Lilith, looked shocked. She opened the door, wider than before.

"What did you say?" Lilith asked.

"Eda was taken. Kidnapped, by the Emperor's Coven!" Luz said, desperate to get through to Lilith.

Lilith opens the door some more, eyes the group suspiciously. Lilith takes a glace up and down the street.

"Get in here," Lilith said as she ushered them inside.

Inside, there was a living room, with a dining room and kitchen off to the side of the house. The living room was fairly large and had one cozy-looking armchair sitting in front of a fireplace. Lilith got them all inside then quickly closed and locked the door behind them. She then turned to the group.

"Now what is this you are talking about Eda being kidnapped?" Lilith asked suspiciously.

"Uh-" Luz looked up at the ceiling trying to recount everything that happened these past few days.

"It's a long story…" Gus cut in.

Lilith's eyes darted between the members of the group.

"Sit down then. And tell me everything." Lilith said, swirling her finger in the air casually summoning several chairs in a semicircle around the fireplace. They all together took their chairs, with Lilith sitting at the head of the semicircle, looking fiercely at the group, concern growing on her face.

"It all started just a few days ago…" Luz began. Luz told the events to Lilith as they happened up to that point. Pulling out the Emperor's Coven sigil as well as Eda's staff when appropriate.

"I… see." Lilith finally said. She sat back in her chair, her hands folded in her lap. She stared off into nothingness ahead of her, deep in thought.

"It's quite the story, I'm surprised you kids got this far. And you said you were Eda's apprentice, right?" Lilith turned towards Luz.

"Mmhm." Luz nodded.

"Of course my sister's apprentice would be a wanted criminal…" Lilith pinches the bridge of her nose. "But, you look familiar, and not just from the wanted posters."

"Yeah, like I tried to tell you we met some years ago at the Coven Convention. I dueled Amity Blight, your student..." Luz tried to jog her memory.

"Ah yes, the duel that my sister cheated at." Lilith frowned.

"Right… So, um, we came here because we hoped you could help us." Luz said, finally getting to the main reason for the visit.

Lilith looked a bit surprised. "I- I don't know what you want me to do about it. I'm not apart of the Emperor's Coven anymore. I don't have the power to release a prisoner. I love my sister, but I knew this would happen eventually…" Lilith sighed.

"Laurence didn't know where she would be being held, but he seemed to think you would know…" Luz prodded.

"Well, yeah. If she was taken by The Black Hand then she's in the capital, in the castle." Lilith said offhandedly. After a moment she looked over at the group and found their eyes full of hope and determination.

"What, you think you are going to go break her out of prison?" Lilith scoffed. "That's impossible on so many levels. Don't even think about it." She pointed her finger at the group.

"We can't just do nothing." Willow chimed in.

"All you kids would get is an early death. Maybe imprisoned, if you are lucky." Lilith said coldly.

"So what, Eda gets captured and you are going to do nothing to help her?" King said in a challenging tone.

"There is nothing to do!" Lilith turns towards King with subtle fury. "That place is a fortress, it's armed to the teeth with guards, the entire building has an anti-magic field around it, and the walls are several feet thick!"

After Lilith finishes talking, she looks deep in thought again for a moment, as if realizing something.

"Unless…" Lilith mumbles to herself. She then quickly shakes her head. "No, that would be impossible."

"Unless what?" Willow asked.

"Nothing, You kids should go home before you get into any more trouble," Lilith said.

"Lilith," Luz said, getting out of her seat and grabbing Lilith's hand. She knelt in front of Lilith's chair. Lilith looked deep into Luz's eyes. She could see Luz's fiery passion. "We have to get Eda back, no matter what."

Lilith sighed deeply.

"What was your plan?" Luz asked.

"I don't- It's not a plan. I just thought that if you could turn off the anti-magic field then you could just teleport in, and teleport out. But that's impossible. That field is ancient magic, set up by our ancestors no one even knows how to turn it off." Lilith confessed.

"But… If we could find a way, then we could break Eda out?" Luz asked.

"I suppose, theoretically…But it's a suicide mission!"

Luz looked back to the rest of her group and they mutually exchanged nods.

"You kids can't be serious…" Lilith said.

"We are." Gus piped up.

"You're throwing your lives away…" Lilith warned.

"Thank you, Lilith, for everything you have told us. But I think it's time we go." Luz said.

"Uh… Wait, why don't you kids stay the night and we can talk more about this in the morning?" Lilith suggested.

"Thanks, but I think it would be better if we left. Come on, guys." Luz said as she walked towards the door.

The group all turned away from Lilith as they got up from their chairs and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Lilith exclaimed. The group all turned back towards her. She was standing there, looking down at the floor, trembling slightly. "I can't just let you go in without a plan. Let me- Let me help you." Lilith said, her voice now shaky.

"Help how?" Gus asked.

"The anti-magic field… I'm not one-hundred percent sure how it works, and I don't know if this would work or not, but you might be able to sneak inside the building if you were wearing invisibility cloaks. I mean cloaks with permanent invisibility, a temporary spell wouldn't work."

"Why wouldn't the anti-magic field work on those, and just turn off the invisibility?" Willow asked.

"I'm not sure that it wouldn't. However, one of the few times I was in the building I distinctly remember one of the higher-ups there walking around with a staff that had a permanent light spell placed upon it. And it seemed the anti-magic field didn't dispel the light. So my thinking is that if you bring an enchanted item into the field It will still be enchanted. Maybe… Maybe the anti-magic only works on new, or weaker spells." Lilith explained.

"I see, so if we were able to get our hands on cloaks of invisibility, we could use them to sneak into the building, grab Eda, and then sneak out. And because they are enchanted, the anti-magic field wouldn't make us visible." Gus summarized.

"It's only a theory, I have no guarantee it would work," Lilith warned.

"Do you have any idea where we could get these cloaks?" Willow asked. "Enchanted items are pretty rare."

"Well, I have one…" Lilith admitted.

"You do?!" Luz exclaimed.

"Yes, from back in my days working in the Emperor's Coven. It was for… Nevermind, that doesn't matter." Lilith continued.

"But that's only one…" King said.

"Right, You all will have to retrieve the rest yourselves. I doubt you can find more than one more in town. Your best bet would be to check Clara's magic shop in the morning. It is over by the market." Lilith said.

"Thank you, Lilith. For the information." Luz said, smiling.

"Okay, we have a plan then. We will hit up that store in the morning, see if we can't find at least one more cloak, and then we can head off to the capitol." Gus said in confirmation.

"As I said, there is no guarantee that she has one, some of you might have to stay behind on this rescue mission," Lilith said.

"It would probably be for the best. A larger group is more likely to draw attention." Gus said.

"Thanks again, Lilith," Luz said, before turning to face back towards the door. "But we wouldn't want to impose. We will sleep at an inn tonight."

"Are you sure?" Lilith asked.

"Mmhm." Luz hummed. She reached for the doorknob turned it, opening the front door back out inside the dark streets.

Willow, King, and Gus all followed her outside. Turning back once they were all back on her doorstep. Lilith came to the door but stopped before setting foot outside.

"Well… good luck, in rescuing my sister…" Lilith said, a tone of sadness in her voice.

"We will do our best," Willow said

"We won't fail no matter what," Luz said.

The group waved goodbye to Lilith and headed back towards the center of town. They were quickly able to locate an inn and spend what little money they had left to rent a room for the night.

The group entered the singular room together and Luz immediately claimed one of the beds.

"I can make my own," Gus said.

"I'm fine with a comfy chair," King said as he walked over to an armchair sitting in the corner of the room. Leaving Willow the last bed.

It was cramped, but they were all able to settle in and get a good night's rest. Ready to tackle tomorrow and any challenges that may present themselves.