On a bright June Saturday, Arthur Parnassus wakes in a panic when he realizes it is 8:32 a.m. and the house is unnaturally silent for a home with six magical children. He rouses Linus Baker, and after a brief moment of affection, they search the upstairs rooms and find every child missing, including Lucy and the usually bed-boundary-setting cat, Calliope.

Arthur and Linus head downstairs and discover Phee and Chauncey stationed near the stairs, acting secretive. While Phee tries to keep Chauncey calm, Chauncey babbles about being “Secret Agent Chauncey” and admits to eating a pine cone, briefly panicking that he has done something morally wrong until Phee explains plant “female” cones only means seed-bearing.

As Arthur and Linus listen unnoticed, Chauncey finally confides what is really bothering him: at the hotel, a woman screamed that he was a “sea slug” when he offered to help with her luggage. Chauncey is shaken by how others react to his appearance, but Phee reassures him that the cruelty is the woman’s fault, not his, insisting he is not a monster and affirming his worth.

A crash from the kitchen reveals where everyone else is. Arthur and Linus deliberately announce themselves to avoid startling the children, but Phee and Chauncey still rush to block the kitchen doors. Through the porthole windows, Arthur glimpses chaotic activity—Sal and the others scrambling—while Lucy’s voice and magic-fueled mishaps suggest a disaster in progress.

Phee tries to stall outside the doors, and Arthur gently acknowledges her kindness toward Chauncey, prompting Phee to admit her frustration that prejudice still exists despite promises that things would improve. Linus apologizes that change takes time. Before the adults can get inside, Lucy excitedly discovers Theodore can breathe fire and urges him to “burn everything,” making Arthur and Linus brace for whatever is happening in the kitchen.