Hope you guys enjoy the story. Or don't. I'm not your mother. Good, bad or angry, feel free to let me know. Oh, and if you're a money leech from Disney, I don't own The Owl House. Happy?
"It's time! It's time!"
An energetic voice rang out through the house, followed by loud footsteps as a little girl ran down the stairs. Honestly, I keep telling her not to do that. One day she's gonna fall down and hurt herself.
Hearing my little sister coming, I immediately closed my eyes, laying sprawled across the couch. Making sure to take up all of the space on it, and pretending to be asleep.
The footsteps became louder as she entered the living room, stopping in front of the couch.
"C'mon! Wake up! My show just started!"
I let out a fake mumble, slowly stretching on the couch, turning over to face away from her, and began snoring as if I was still asleep.
"C'mooooooon!" my little sister's small hands frantically shook my back, trying to make me wake up. "You know The Owl House is on right now! It's the new episode!"
I eventually got up and pretended to yawn as if just now waking up. Opening my eyes I saw a familiar face. My 8-year-old sister glaring at me with an expression that was both fierce and adorable. "Oh, Isabelle, what're you doing here?"
"SCOOCH OVER!" Isabelle didn't bother playing along with my little sleeping act, immediately hopping on the couch and clicking the remote to change the channel.
As the screen came on, she let out a disappointed groan. "Aw...you made me miss the theme song..."
"Oh, sorry." I reached out, gently ruffling her long brown hair. "I might've taken my joke a tad too far." Leaning back on the couch, I got comfy as the show started.
My sister for her part looked excited, happily holding one of the couch cushions to her chest as she watched.
To be honest, this show really isn't my cup of tea. A lot of the time, the dialogue and problems the characters face are really just minor things that aren't very exciting. When the action does happen, the main character usually wins or escapes in unrealistic ways. For example, a thin girl like Luz just bonking a hulking giant on the head, and bam, he's knocked out.
There ARE some impressive moments in the show, I'll admit that. Lilith's battle with Eda was rather exciting, even for me.
"Look! Look! It's him!" Isabelle urgently tugged on my sleeve, pointing at the screen. Lilith and Luz had just found the human who knew magic that they were looking for. His appearance had been built up for quite some time in the show. And not long after meeting him, he ended up betraying the main characters, causing Lilith to be attacked.
"Saw that coming a mile away..." I quietly muttered under my breath.
That's another thing with the show I don't particularly like. The male characters often tend to be either evil, feminine, or incompetent. Sometimes a combination of all three.
'Well Aiden.' You might be saying to yourselves. 'If you don't like this show, why are you watching it?'
"What the heck?" I raised my voice, leaning forward to seem more interested. "Why did he do that? He's a human like Luz right?" I asked turning to my sister. "Do you think he's working with the emperor?"
"He probably is!" Isabelle yelled, pounding the couch cushion she was sitting on, making a light 'Poumf' sound.
It's because of my sister. I might not like this show, but she does. With a single mom working to take care of two kids, she's busy or sleeping a lot of the time. And I can't blame her. So it's up to me to fill that family gap, by interacting with my sister and her interests so she grows up happy and normal. That's part of a big brother's duty.
"Alright, alright, up the stairs you go."
After awhile, the episodes finally ended, and I shooed Isabelle back up to her room to finish her schoolwork.
"I still need to finish mine actually..." Glancing at the clock, it was nearly 8 PM and it had already gotten a bit dark outside.
Outside the window, the full moon hung in the sky, illuminating the night. I took a moment to examine the moon, finding something a bit odd.
"Huh...was it always that bright?" Shaking my head, I grabbed the remote, turning off the TV, and closing the curtains. Even after the curtains were closed, I could still faintly see the light of the moon behind them. Weird.
Tossing the remote back onto the couch, I made my way up to stairs, quietly tiptoeing so my sister wouldn't hear me. As I got to the top of the stairs, I silently walked down the hallway until I reached the door to my sister's room.
"Yep, I knew it..."
From the other side of the door, I could hear my sister giggling and bouncing on the bed, probably still excited from the episodes she watched. Reaching up, I knocked on her door. There was a small 'Eeep!' that came from the other side, and fumbling sounds as I could hear her scurrying out of bed, and into her desk.
"I-I'm working on my homework!" she called out from her room.
I laughed, shaking my head. "Alright, just making sure..."
As I finally finished my work, I yawned, setting down the last assignment sheet in a neat pile. "To be honest, I probably should've worked on this much earlier..." By now nearly four hours had passed, and it had gotten incredibly late.
Another unstoppable yawn forced its way out of my mouth, as the drowsiness started to take ahold of me. Turning off the lamp, I was surprised to see a bright light still present. This light came streaking through my window, seeming to come from outside from the moon. The moon had become even more radiant since I last saw it. Despire being as far away as it had ever been, its light was nearly as bright as the sun, causing me to squint.
"What the hell..." I rubbed my eyes, feeling them start to get sore from staying up so late. "I must seriously be tired. Probably just seeing things right now..."
Even after closing the curtains, its mystical light was still easily seen. As if a dozen night lights had been plugged in near the window. I did my best to ignore it, climbing into bed and facing the other way. With one last yawn, the last thing I saw was the digital clock beside my bed shifting to midnight before falling asleep.
"..."
"..."
"..."
As my eyes opened, I found myself in an empty dark space. Endless black darkness as far as the eye could see. But it was strange. Even though there was no light around me, for some reason I could see still myself perfectly. Turning my hand back and forth, I watched it move, before putting it down.
Feeling something cold and hard under my feet. I couldn't see what it was, but it was probably the ground. Carefully touching the ground ahead of me with my feet, to make sure I wouldn't blindly fall into any holes in the darkness. I gingerly fumbled my way forward in the dark.
"Ah!"
All of the sudden a huge screen appeared in front of me out of nowhere in this empty void.
THE OWL HOUSE
Above the monitor were those just words. As I looked back to the screen random scenes from the show flashed across the screen, changing every couple of seconds.
Luz getting her own staff. Amity's diary being stolen. King's father dropping off a letter. Eda transforming into a monster. This and many other moments appeared on the monitor for brief moments. As if it was going over the history of the show.
Next to the screen was a large switch about a foot long.
"Ahhhh...so this is just some bizarre dream."
Yeah, that makes sense. The weirdly bright moon, the eternal darkness here, and now a giant TV screen playing The Owl House. I must've fallen asleep on the couch after watching it with my sis.
"But it's weird, I could've sworn, I did those assignments in my room. Did I really only dream of spending hours on my work..."
I shook my head clearing those thoughts, and stepping forward to the screen. Since this is a dream, that means there's nothing to fear. Even in this weird dark world, nothing could hurt me. As I stood in front of the screen, the random images from the show continued to flash by every so often.
"Okay, so what's this?" Turning my head to the large switch nearby, I studied the thing, reading the words above it.
DEFAULT DIFFICULTY: EASY
"Hah." I let out a snort, crossing my arms. "That sounds about accurate for the show." With how easily Luz and the other main characters got away with things, it didn't surprise me.
"Hmmm..." Leaning forward towards the device, I thought for a moment before grabbing onto the switch, and flipping it down.
DEFAULT DIFFICULTY: NORMAL
"Oh, so I can change the settings." The screen had stopped filtering through random scenes and now only showed a single line.
EPISODE 1:
Below it was the play ▶ symbol.
"Play huh?" I looked around at my surroundings. Other than the screen, the empty darkness still remained. "Well, I'm certainly not going anywhere. Might as well entertain myself until this dream ends." Grabbing the switch, I flipped it down once more, curious to see how far it could go.
DEFAULT DIFFICULTY: HARD
"Haha, a hard difficulty huh? That would be fun to see..."
Shaking my head, I flipped the switch back up, deciding to settle on "NORMAL" instead before pushing play.
As soon as I did, the screen lit up, beginning to play Episode 1.
"FOOLISH CHILD! I could swallow you whole!" An enormous dragon snake roared, its sinister form towering over a lone figure in a white wizard robe.
"Do not underestimate me Vildersnake! For I am the good witch Azura! Warrior of peace!" The girl dramatically posed as if giving a line in a drama. Before her expression suddenly hardened. "Now eat this sucka!" she cried, aiming her staff like a rocket launcher.
Fireballs shot out of the staff, slamming into the beast with devastating effect. The explosions shaking the cave.
"NO! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! DYING!"
That part managed to get a chuckle out of me as I watched the screen. It was corny, but some jokes could be so bad, they were good. "So far the show seems to be the same." However, what happened next was decidedly different...
"And that's the end." Luz smiled, seemingly pleased with herself over the story she told.
Unfortunately, the two people standing opposite of her didn't seem to share her enthusiasm.
"Young lady, are you even taking this seriously?" The girl's mother looked at her with a worried expression.
Luz looked visibly confused. "I...am being serious about my book report."
"Your 'Book Report' is why you're in this trouble in the first place." The principal narrowed his eyes at the girl, his expression grim. "And you brought THIS dangerous creature into my office?" the man said, gesturing to the snake in Luz's hand.
"Huh? Oh, Leonard? He wouldn't harm a fly! Don't worry about him." Luz said, looking down at the creature.
Immediately after her words, there were screams from behind them as students ran in terror, with snakes clinging to their bodies. Principal Hal glanced at the door to the hall, before back at Luz, waiting for an explanation.
Despite this, Luz didn't seem to be phased. "Oh, I mean, LEONARD is harmless." she said, lifting up the snake she was holding. "Buuuuut his siblings like to play a LITTLE rough..." the girl said, smiling and shaking her head, and if this whole event was all some silly joke.
"Enough!" The man pounded his desk, drawing the attention of Luz and her mom back to him. "One week suspension. And a 500-word written apology to EVERY member of the drama team."
"Suspension?! One Week?!" Luz's eyes widened. "I-isn't that a little harsh?"
"Considering you caused students and faculty to be attacked by wild animals, you're lucky this isn't expulsion. Or that we stopped you before you used those fireworks." He frowned, holding up down at a large pack of fireworks the staff had confiscated from her.
"Well, actually, calling them animals isn't wrong, but snakes are better classified as reptiles, so-"
"Luz!" The girl's mother interrupted her with an exasperated expression before turning back to the principal. "I am so sorry Mr. Hal..."
She walked up to her daughter, kneeling down to be at eye level with the girl. "Mijo, I'm glad you're able to express your creativity, but you've always worried me."
"W-what do you mean mom?" Luz's smile finally disappeared. At this point, it seemed like she finally understood that she was in big trouble.
"I've always known you were...unique." The mother said, trying to phrase her words in a kind way. "But you lack common sense mijo. I was willing to try and let you do your own thing and grow on your own, even if it got you into a little mischief here or there. But I can't ignore something like this when it puts you and others in danger."
"Mom, I..."
The woman bit her lip and continued, pulling out a pamphlet titled 'Reality Check Summer Camp'. "I had been putting this off for awhile because I thought all of this was just a phase that you'd grow out of. But now you leave me no choice."
I continued to watch in amusement as the 'Normal' difficulty show continued. There weren't any chairs in the dark void, so all I could do was sit on the floor.
"But I don't like any of that stuff. I like editing anime clips to music, and reading fantasy books with convoluted backstories." Luz frantically said, pulling out one of her favorite novels.
"Mija, my sweet, you don't always get to do what you want. You think life is tough now? Wait till you get a job. You'll eventually look back and WISH you have it this easy."
"Hahahaha!" I couldn't help but laugh, wiping away a tear from my face. "Maybe this dream isn't so bad after all..."
Soon enough, the events played out similarly in the original show. An owl stole Luz's book, and led her to an abandoned house when.
ERROR!
All of the sudden, the video stopped, and the screen turned red. It was so surprising I ended up shooting to my feet and taking a few steps back in worry.
TIMELINE NO LONGER SUITABLE!
"Wha?" I frowned as those ominous words drifted onto the screen. Timeline? Well, the events I saw just now WERE different from the ones that happened in the show.
CALCULATING ODDS OF PRIMARY HOST "LUZ" ON NORMAL DIFFICULTY!
CALCULATING...
02.14% SURVIVAL RATE
FINDING ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
"I don't like the sound of that..." Suddenly I got a bad feeling from the screen. A cold sweat breaking out across my body. I needed to leave...NOW.
As I slowly backed away, a giant red eye appeared on the monitor.
SOLUTION FOUND
"Oh no..." I turned around, immediately trying to run away.
"Ack!"
But before I got very far, several red tentacles, grabbed onto my limbs forcefully dragging me back. I tried to grab onto something, anything! But my hands frantically swiped at empty air.
There was nothing to help me in the endless darkness
"AH! NO NO NO NO! I WANT TO WAKE UP THIS INSTA-!"
I couldn't even finish my sentence before being dragged into the monitor.