Chapter Text
BELOS POV
Belos watched sparks flying as two pieces of his portal machine were welded together. The human may have shattered the door, but he would not be deterred that easily. He was sure, with the proper materials and some magic, he could make the portal open once again.
However, his mind went back to the owl lady and her ward. It was picking his nerves that they managed to get away, but what really had his thoughts buzzing was the human. The human, albeit missing certain witch features, looked like-
“Belos! My man!” a loud female voice shouted from a little ways away. “You called?”
His eyes narrowed, trying to keep the irritation down at the sound of his guest’s voice.
“It’s Emperor Belos to you. And yes,” he spoke calmly, still watching the construction. “I have a new mission for you to attend to.”
“Does it have to do with the Owl Lady?” the girl asked, approaching him. “I saw the whole thing. Like how Lilith and a super cute demon were thrown in. I was like, ‘WHAAA- Plot twist!’ Then someone appeared and broke them out! I mean, that was so-“
Belos snapped his head towards her, eyes glowing dangerously. The person in white, though her face was hidden behind the owl mask, clearly grew nervous. She grew stiff and patted her legs in a nervous tick.
“Ah… stupid! That person was so… stupid. With their stupid cape, and their cute owl staff- I mean stupid owl staff!”
Belos narrowed his eyes at her, and she finally got the hint, growing silent.
“As I was saying,” Belos spoke forcefully, “I have a mission for you. And yes, it does have to do with the Owl Lady.”
“Really!?” the girl asked, nearly jumping in her spot. “This is so cool! So what do you want me to do? Kill her? Oh! Maybe if I kill her and the others, I can have that super cute palisman for myself! It would go perfect with my mask, don’t you think?”
She grabbed her mask, and twisted it playfully, giving a little “hoot hoot” for effect. Belos refrained himself from lashing out at her annoying behavior, reminding himself that he needed her if his plan was to work.
“I don’t care about the palisman,” he waved his hand dismissively. “If you manage to pull this off, you may keep the staff. I have no use for it.”
The girl pumped her fist in excitement.
“However, this mission is going to be a bit different than those you have had in the past,” he explained. “You see, the person that helped them escape was a human.”
“A human? How did one of those things get here?”
“A portal that the Owl Lady once possessed gave the human access to our world. A portal that I now have,” he explained, motioning to the construction. “This means the human is now stuck in our realm. I think this may provide us with a most opportune advantage to recapturing the Owl Lady and any wild witches that support her.”
“How so?” the girl asked, cocking her head.
“Because,” he slid her mask up, “she is you, Luz.”
He stared down at the confused girl. It was most uncanny how similar she looked to the human he had just fought earlier that night. If not for her pointed ears, fangs, and deep crimson eyes, she would look just like the human.
“I don’t get it,” Luz admitted sheepishly. “How is she me?”
“I don’t know for certain, but I have a theory. I believe that there are different versions of us, human versions, within the world beyond the portal. It just so happens that your human version was the one to stumble upon our superior realm, and has since started making herself at home.”
“So, how is all this going to help?” Luz asked.
“I want you to use this coincidence to our advantage,” Belos explained, slipping his hands behind his back. “Unlike most humans, this one has learned a way to harness our world’s magic through drawing glyphs of sorts. However, I'm sure they can’t measure up to your natural magic. I need you to get her separated from the others, capture her, then take her place within the Owl House.” He reached forward and slid her mask over her face, “Pretending to be her, living with the Owl Lady, you will have access to gaining knowledge on her strengths, her weaknesses, and her fellow rebellious allies. You can then use that to capture them and bring them to me.”
“So cool!” Luz’s fists shook up and down before abruptly pausing. “Wait, if I am to replace her- I mean me- I mean the human me… oh gosh, this is kinda confusing, isn’t it…”
“Get to the point,” he huffed irritably.
“If I am replacing the human, then why am I just capturing her? Why not just kill her?” she asked. “I’d be glad to do it! I’ve done it before! Well, I haven’t killed me before… or rather my human me… I mean-“
“You will not kill the human, because you need her to be able to become her,” Belos growled, cut her rambling short. “You will already have to use an illusion spell to make parts of yourself match her human features, but that can only go so far. You need to be able to slip into her current life seamlessly. That is, unless you wish to feel what the Owl Lady’s talons tearing you limb from limb feels like.”
“Ah... yeah, no,” she nervously chuckled taking a few steps back into the doorway. “I- I’m good.”
“Then it is your job to keep her alive to extract any info you may need. Find out her routine and fall in it. If something comes up that you don’t know, use the human to figure it out. Because, if you fail this mission, and if you fail me, you are as good as dead. If not by those wild witches, then by my own hands. Do you understand, Luz?”
He noticed her form shiver slightly at his words, giving a slight nod.
“Sire!” Kiki’s voice cried out as she descended from the stairs, breaking the tension. “Those miscreants are still at large! Please, allow me to capture them and-“
“Worry not, Kiki,” Belos turned around to face her, causing her to freeze. “We will be keeping an eye on the inhabitants of the Owl House.”
Belos turned to Luz, giving a nod to dismiss her. Luz nodded stiffly back before swiftly leaving.
“In the mean time, the day of unity is almost upon us, and we have much work to do,” he explained, turning once again to observe the construction.
