The Good Witch Azura slowly approached the Gildersnake, her white robes swaying in the volcanic air. The snake hissed at her, " Foolish child! I could swallow you whole!"

Azura only chuckled. "Do not underestimate me, Gildersnake, for I am the Good Witch Azura, warrior of peace!" She held up her staff like a bazooka. "Now eat this, suckah!" She blasted fireballs out of the staff.

"NO! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! DYING!"

"And that's the end," Luz Noceda said as she reenacted the scene with her Azura doll and snake. She was a Hispanic girl with short hair and wearing black earrings, a blue and white shirt, blue shorts, black leggings and white shoes.

"The end of what?" her mother, Camilla asked.

"My book report," Luz said. The snake bit the doll's head. "I think I knocked it out of the park."

The principal groaned. "Your book report is why you're here."

Luz heard people screaming outside the office. "Oh. That's where the backup snakes were."

"And what were you going to do with this?" Camilla held up a bundle of firecrackers.

"That was for the Act Three closer," Luz said shamefully.

"Mija, I love your creativity, but it's gotten out of hand. Do you remember why you were in the principal's office the last three times?"

Luz recalled being in Romeo and Juliet and decided to be a bit more realistic with Juliet's death and added breakfast sausages when Juliet stabbed herself in the stomach. People ran out screaming. Then there was her art project, a griffin with the final anatomically correct part: spider breath. The kids and teacher ran out of the classroom. And at gym, she showed everyone her neat trick: peel her eyelids back and show what's underneath. Everyone ran for the garbage cans to vomit.

"We all love that you express yourself, but if you can't learn to separate fantasy from reality, you may need to spend the summer here." Camilla handed Luz a flyer for "Reality Check Summer Camp! Think INSIDE The Box!"

"Don't worry, Mom. I won't let you down." Her snake suddenly attacked the principal, making him scream. "That doesn't count, right?"

Luz groaned in disappointment as she stood at the bus station next to her house. Her mother came out to see her off. "Oh! Oh, my baby!" She gave her a hug, but did not get one in return. "Now, don't worry. Summer camp is only going to be for three months. You'll be so busy balancing checkbooks and learning to...appreciate public radio, the time will fly by!"

Luz held her Good Witch Azura book close to her. "But I don't like any of that stuff. I like editing anime clips to music and reading fantasy books with convoluted back‐stories."

Camilla sighed. "Mija, your fantasy world is holding you back. Do you have any friends? Real ones, not imagined or drawn or reptilian?" Her words stung Luz. But she had to admit it, she was right. She didn't have any friends. "Summer camp is a chance to make some friends, but you have to try. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Mom," she said as she tossed the book into a garbage bin.

Camilla's phone rang. "Oh. I gotta go to work." She gave Luz a kiss on the cheek. "Your bus is coming soon. Text me when you get there. Cuídate mucho, mija. ¡Qué te vaya bien!"

Luz waved her mom goodbye as she watched her drive off. "Bye, Mom." Then she frantically ran to the garbage bin, only to find her book gone. "Where is it? WHERE IS IT?!" An owl's hoot caught her attention. She looked up to see a small brown owl holding a bag of trinkets and she could see the book in the bag. "Tiny trash thief!" Luz shouted and chased after the owl as it flew into the woods.

The owl led her to an abandoned house. Luz hesitated, but her hesitation gave way to anger as she chased after the owl. She pushed open the door with the yellow eye carved into it and entered the house. "Stop adorably hopping away, you‐‐ Huh?" Wait. She didn't look like she was in an abandoned house anymore. It looked like she was in a tent with lots of clutter around, like it belonged to some hoarder. "Whoa. I thought I had a lot of weird stuff." She held up a patched together doll taped to a clothes hanger. "But this‐‐ this is impressive."

Suddenly, an older woman's voice said, "Finally! You're back!" Luz ducked then carefully and quietly poked her head out the tent. It looked like she was in some marketplace, with various tents and stalls set up. Then she saw the owner of the tent she was currently in: a pale-skinned woman with wild gray hair, pointy ears and wearing a red dress with long brown boots. "Now let's see what we've got here," the woman said as she placed the owl on a staff, turned it around and transformed it into a wooden headpiece. The woman reached into the bag the owl was carrying and started taking out some trash including a broken cellphone. "Garbage." A wedding ring. "Garbage." And a gold chalice. "Garbage." She took out a pair of googly eyeglasses and said with a smirk, "Now this. This will make me rich."

"Honestly, Mom," said a boy around Luz's age next to the woman. He had the same pale skin and silver hair as his mother and was wearing a black tunic with a hood, a yellow body suit underneath and black boots. Strapped to his belt was an ornate green mask with red eyes. "I don't see why you need Owlbert to get this crud." The boy frowned as he held up Luz's Good Witch Azura book.

"Oh come on," the boy's mother said. "This will make good kindling."

Kindling?! Luz ran out of her hiding place and snatched the book from the boy's hand. "Excuse me, sorry, it's mine, thank you." She tried to run back to the door only for it to close, fold into a suitcase and fly into the woman's hand. In her other hand was a key with the same eye symbol as the door.

"You're not going anywhere," the woman said with a snarl. It was at that moment Luz realized one of her fangs was gold.

Luz let out a scream and ran out of the tent. And saw she wasn't home anymore. She was staring at a city that appeared to have been built in the center of a giant's skeleton. A dragon flew over the city only to be caught by a giant hand coming out of the sea the city was surrounded by. From where she was standing, she saw all kinds of weird-looking and creepy creatures and monsters in the town. Some of them appeared to look human but with pointy ears. And some didn't look human at all, but more like the monsters from her fantasy books.

"Oh, no, no, no, no! What's going on?" She let out a screech when someone approached her, but calmed down to see it was only a fairy. "Oh, hello, little fairy. Are you going to tell me this is all a fantastical dream?"

"GIVE ME YOUR SKIN!" The fairy revealed a huge mouth with even bigger teeth and tried to bite her only to be swatted aside.

Luz was on the brink of having a panic attack. "Where am I? Did I die? Am I in the bad place?" A hand clasped her shoulder. She looked up to see the old woman from before.

"You wish."

The woman dragged her back to the tent and set her down on a chair. "I'm so sorry! I just wanted my book! If you're gonna eat my skin, just make it quick! Just do it now!"

"Eat you? Why would I eat... a potential customer?" It was then Luz saw the sign over the woman's stall, "Human Collectables!" The woman showed her a shoe, a bar of soap and a portable TV. "Can I offer you a human foot filled with holes? A bar of green human candy? Oh, oh! How about this black shadow box that reflects only sadness?"

Luz chuckled, her fear starting to go away a little. "That's not all it can do. Here, let me see it." She took some batteries from a bowl labeled "Human candy?" and placed it in the TV. Then she pressed its power button and an 80's music video started playing. "And voila!"

The sound of the TV attracted more creatures and people and they all started bidding on it. The woman and her son were impressed. "What did you say your name was?" the boy asked.

"I'm Luz. Luz Noceda."

"Strix," said the boy. "And that was pretty clever. For a human anyway."

"That's kind of a weird thing for another human to say."

Strix's mother chuckled, amused. "Oh, dear child, I'm not like you." She jumped onto the stand and announced loudly, "I'm Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!"

"Mom, shush!" Strix hissed.

Luz's eyes went wide. "A witch?"

"I am a respected, feared‐‐"

"BUSTED!" A round man wearing a bird mask and a grey outfit chased away the crowd and smashed the TV. He held up a wanted poster showing Eda, Strix and a small dog-like thing wearing a horned skull for a mask and a red collar with a gold name tag. "Eda the Owl Lady, you are wanted for misuse of magic and demonic misdemeanors."

Luz gasped. "Witch criminals!"

Strix face palmed. "I told you not to advertise yourself like this," he groaned.

"You are hereby ordered to come with me to the Conformatorium."

Eda yanked her arm out of the man's grip. "Would you guys quit following me around? I haven't done squat."

"Yet," whispered Strix.

"And you're coming too!" The guard grabbed Luz by her cat hood. "For fraternizing with a criminal."

"Wh‐What? That's not cool!"

"Leave her alone," Strix shouted. "She's just a stupid human! She doesn't know any better!"

Luz looked offended. "Stupid?"

Eda held up her hand in defense. "Oh, all right, all right, you win. Just let me get my stuff." She reached for her staff and suddenly whacked the guard in the face. She tapped her staff on the ground and her stand and "merchandise" shrunk down and flew into a small sack. "Whoops. Can't forget this." She tossed the door into the sack before tying it to her staff. "Follow me, human."

She and Strix took off running with Luz following after them. "This is crazy," she panted. "If I die here, my mom's gonna kill me!"

"Ha! I won't let 'em hurt you. A human like you is much more valuable to me alive than dead."

"By the way," said Strix. "You might want to hold on tight, human."

"Wait. What's that supposed to‐‐"

Eda grabbed Strix and Eda and they jumped onto the staff before its owl headpiece sprouted wings and it took off like a flying broomstick. Down on the ground, the guard shook his fist at them and shouted, "You won't get away with this, Owl Lady!" He paused. "Yeah, all right. You did. You got away with it. She got away with it, everybody! Typical."

Poor Luz clung to the staff like her life depended on it. "You can relax, Luzer," said Strix.

Luz opened her eyes and nearly fell off the staff when she saw what looked like white mountains but were actually giant ribs. "Flying staffs, crazy monsters, your mom's a witch‐‐ What is this place?"

Eda set her back in her seat before explaining, "This is the Boiling Isles. Every myth you humans have is caused by a little of our world leaking into yours."

Luz gasped when she saw a familiar creature fly by. "A griffon!" It suddenly belched out spiders. "I knew it!"

"Yep. Griffins, vampires, giraffes‐‐"

"Giraffes?"

"Oh, yeah. We banished those guys. Bunch of freaks." They came to a landing at the edge of a forest. That's when Eda's hand, the left one with the yellow stone ring, popped off, still gripping the staff. Luz screamed in shock. Eda casually screwed it back on her wrist. "Oops. That happens sometimes."

Luz chucked nervously. "Well, I've had enough adventure for today. This is clearly not the PG fantasy world I always dreamed about, so can you help me get back home?"

Eda pointed her staff at the girl. "Only if you help me first." She chuckled. "Ah, now, come along, human."

Luz's eyes widened at the house the Owl Lady and her son led them to. It was a two-story cottage shaped like a bird built around an old guard tower. On the right of the cottage was a garage and inside was a large red dragon, snoring softly. "A bit of a warning," Strix whispered. "Selwyn is not a morning person."

"But it's three in the afternoon."

"I know."

Luz asked Eda, "Aren't you worried about those guards finding us?"

"Nope. My house has a state‐of‐the‐art defense system."

The owl door knocker on the house's round front door suddenly came to life and spoke in an annoying, high voice, "Hoot‐hoot! Password, please! Ow!"

Strix growled as he poked the knocker's eyes, "Cut the crud and open the door, Hooty!"

"All right, all right! Geez! You never want to have any fun! Ow! Hoot!" The door opened the trio walked in.

"Welcome to..." Eda snapped her fingers and the candles around the room lit up. Luz gasped. "...the Owl House..." Luz could only speculate that she was in a living room. It had a fireplace, two couches, candles, a wall of artifacts and Eda's wanted poster, and artwork of an owl creature on the ceiling. "...where I hide away from the pressures of modern life."

"Also the cops," said Strix. "Mm, also ex‐boyfriends."

"Yep."

"This place is beautiful," Luz exclaimed. "Do you live here all alone?"

"No," said Strix as footsteps descended a staircase. "Mom and I live with..." He groaned in annoyance. "Him."

"Who dares intrude upon I, the King of Demons?" It was the small, dog-like creature wearing a horned skull from the wanted poster. His voice was almost a nasally whine. He was wearing a towel around his waist, a shower cap and carried a rubber ducky.

Luz gasped, grabbed the King in a hug and spun him around. "¡Ay, que lindo! Eda, Strix, he's so cute! Who's a widdle guy? Who's a widdle guy? Is it you? Is it you?"

The Demon King tried to squirm his way out of Luz's hug, but her arms were wrapped tight around him. "No! I don't know who your little guy is! Eda, Strix, who is this monster?"

"Oh, this is Luz, the human," said Eda as she pulled Luz off him. Didn't stop her from wanting to hug him, though. "She's here to help us with our little... situation."

"Oh! Hooray!"

Luz looked at Eda apprehensively. "Wait, wait, wait. I don't like the sound of this 'situation'."

"Let me explain," said Strix. "King was once a mighty King of Demons, until his crown of power was stolen, and he became the furry little midget you see before you." King made an offended squeak.

"You mean this little bundle of joy?"

"The crown is being held by the evil Warden Wrath and locked away behind a magical force field that only a human can break through‐‐ a human like you. If you help us retrieve his crown, we'll send you back to your realm. So whaddya say? Plus, who could say no to this cute face?" Eda asked as she lifted King and smooshed his cheeks.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!"

"Besides," said Strix. "We're your only way home."

"So I don't really have a choice, do I?" Luz asked.

"Nope. Now, we've got no time to lose," Eda said as she grabbed Luz and tucked her under her arm like a library book.

"Soon, Mr. Ducky, we shall drink the fear of those who mocked us," declared King.

"Where are we going?" asked Luz.

"To a fun place," said Strix.

Thunder clashed as the group flew on Eda's staff toward a huge, foreboding prison. They came to a landing just outside the stone wall. "Welcome to the Conformatorium," said Eda. "A place for those considered unsuitable for society."

Luz picked a wanted poster from the wall. "Whoa. These guys really have the hots for you."

"Yep. But we were never caught because we're too slippery."

King climbed on Luz's shoulder and said, "Try to catch me when I'm covered in grease. I'm a squirmy little fella. Aah!" Strix pushed him off. "You, Strix and I will sneak up to the top of the tower, where they're holding my crown."

"And I'm gonna make sure the warden's distracted," Eda volunteered.

Luz gasped with excitement. "Will I need a disguise?"

"Uh..."

"I've been waiting to use this," Luz said, putting on her kitty hood. "Meow, meow."

"It's hideous," said King like it was a compliment.

"Mom, wouldn't it be easier if I put on- OW!" Eda slapped Strix's hand reaching for the green mask. "I forbid you to put it on, Strix!"

"But Mom!"

"PROMISE ME YOU WON'T WEAR IT!"

Stryx sighed. "I promise."

"Good. Hang on tight." Eda tapped her staff on the ground, creating a platform of light that lifted Luz, Strix and King up into the air. The platform took them to a window where they climbed through. She then hopped onto her staff and flew up into the air. "Meet you guys at the top of the tower!"

Luz clambered through the window only to fall flat on her face. King laughed at her. "Ha, ha, cats can't do that!"

Luz gasped. They were in a circular room with hundreds of cells filled with people. If you can call them people. "Hey, cat lady," A female prisoner called out. "How'd you get out of your cell?"

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm not a cat. Also, I'm not a criminal."

"Not yet, you're not," said King.

"Neither are we. The stupid warden likes to lock people up who don't fit in. Like, I write fanfics of food falling in love. I like food, I like love... Just let me write about it."

"Oh please. I've read it," said Strix. "It's nothing but poorly constructed, badly edited, wish fulfillment brimming with canon-breaking Mary-Sues and..."

"But you read them."

"Well, of course I've read them!"

"That's nothing," said a male prisoner. "I'm here because I like eating my own eyes." He ate one of his eyes only for it to grow back into its socket.

A small female prisoner, who was nothing more than a head with red hair, blue eyes, a long nose and arms and legs spoke in a squeaky voice and a lisp, "We are agents of fwee expwession! They will never siwence us!"

"Let me guess," said Strix. "This one's into conspiracy theories?"

"The world is a simuwation! We are but pwaythings for a higher being!"

"That's a yes."

Luz made a sympathetic face. "Wait. These aren't crimes. None of you actually did anything wrong." She looked at the wanted poster of Eda. "You're all just a bunch of weirdos. Like me."

Suddenly, the room shook as heavy thudding footsteps approached. "It's Warden Wrath!" exclaimed the fan fiction writer. "Hide!"

Luz, Strix and King ducked into an empty cell and slammed the door close. A door opened and out stepped a huge, muscular man wearing a plague doctor's mask and robe. "I can hear you," he growled. Strix and Luz held King close and whimpered. "Just what are you fools whispering about?" The warden saw the wanted poster Luz accidentally dropped. "Ah. The Owl Lady." His right fist crumpled the poster before it turned into a hammer and smashed the cell door Luz and her friends were in. "I'll get my hands on her soon enough."

The conspiracy theorist shouted out, "Fight against the oppwessor! We will wesist! We will conquer! We will never be afwaid of you, you old cweep!" Wrath opened her cell door. "Hooway! I'm fwee!"

The Warden grabbed her, silencing her. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. There's no place in society for you if you can't fit in." Strix made a sympathetic look as he watched the Warden walk into another room with the tiny prisoner.

Luz and her friends left the cell and she tried to free the other prisoners. "Don't worry. I can get you out." But she couldn't even push up the levers to open the doors. "No! My weak nerd arms!"

The fan fiction writer said sadly, "Just get out of here while you still can, kid. Enjoy freedom for us."

Luz turned away sadly before going down a corridor with King and Strix by her sides. At that moment, Eda flew in. "Hey. I just checked. The warden is distracted, tormenting some tiny creature. He won't be coming around here anytime soon."

"Mom, shut up."

"What's got your tights in a knot, Strix?"

Strix and Luz ignored her and approached a door that had the word "Contraband" on it. "My crown! It's close! I can sense its power!" King scratched at the door like a dog wanting to get out of the rain.

"Aw, he gets so cute when he's thirsty for power," said Eda with a smile.

"It's not fair that they're all in here," said Luz. "They just want to be themselves. Why does everyone think that being a weirdo is so bad?"

Before Eda could answer, King yanked the doorknob off and pushed open the door before running inside. "Come on, before he hurts himself."

"OW!"

"Too late," said Strix.

Inside the room was nothing but a huge column of light. King tried desperately to get in it, but he kept bouncing off it. "We have a human, remember," Eda reminded him.

"Oh, yeah."

Luz inhaled, exhaled and slowly stepped into the pillar. Inside was a huge pile of artifacts and on the top was the crown King coveted. But then she looked again. "Wait a second. Is that a..."

A disappointed Luz handed King the cardboard crown. The kind that can be found in a Burger Queen kid's meal. He took it and put it on with glee. "My crown! Yes. Yes! I can feel my powers returning!" He pointed to a stuffed toy. "You, there. Nightmare critter. I shall call you Francois, and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness. Ha‐ha!"

"That crown doesn't give him any powers, does it?" Luz asked.

"No," said Strix. "To be honest, I don't even think King ever was a king. Just a delusional imbecile."

"Hey, I heard that!" King tried to scratch the boy only to be kicked to the side.

Eda sighed and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Oh, look at us, Luz. King, Stryx and I don't have much in this world. We only have each other. So if that dumb crown is important to him, it's important to me. And besides, us weirdos have to stick together, you know? Well, we owe you one. Now, let's get out of here before the warden finds us and loses his head."

"Too late." Warden Wrath's right hand turned into a blade and sliced off Eda's head. Luz screamed as she caught the head in her hands. Then the head spoke, "Ow! Oh, I hate it when that happens."

Luz screamed even louder. "Eda! Are you okay?"

"Yeah. This just happens when you get older."

Luz felt her eyelid quiver as she squeaked, "Does it?"

"Luz, this isn't even the worst injury Mom's had," said Strix.

"I don't even want to know what that was!"

"Finally, I have you cornered, Eda the Owl Lady," Warden Wrath said as he picked up King's cardboard crown. "My guards could never get you, but I knew if I took your pet's toy, you'd come running." He crushed it before tossing it aside.

King fell to his knees and wailed, "No! My power!"

"What do you want with me?" Eda demanded. "I've never actually broken any of your stupid laws... in front of you."

"Smooth," Strix said sarcastically.

"I want you... to go out with me," Wrath held up a bunch of flowers.

Luz, Strix and Eda took one look at him and went, "Whaaaaat?"

"Go, boss!" one of the guards accompanying the warden called out while the other gave him a thumbs up.

"You've always eluded our capture. You've always been the one who got away. I found that alluring."

"I think I'm going to be sick," said Strix, sticking his tongue out.

"I hate everything you're saying right now," said Luz.

"You two stay out of this," the Warden snapped before he turned his right arm into tentacles and wrapped them around the two kids. He picked up Eda's head and held it to his eye level. "So how about it, Owl Lady? The most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles and the feared Warden Wrath. We'd be the strongest power couple ever. I mean, it's‐‐ it's not like you can say no right now."

BOOM! BOOM!

"AUGH!" The Warden dropped Eda and Luz and Strix and recoiled in anger. He turned to see Strix, only something was different now. His face was green and his eyes were red. In his hand was an old-fashioned hand cannon. "How's that for a power couple?!" he shouted.

"Strix!" Eda exclaimed as she put her head back on. "I told you not to put that thing on!"

"Yeah, well, since when do you keep promises?"

"GET HIM!" A squadron of guards charged at him, but he pulled out a machine gun and blasted them all into hamburger.

"Okay, we're going now," Luz said, grabbing King, Eda and Strix and they all hopped on Eda's staff. Luz tried to make it fly, but it wouldn't go. "Expecto... flying? Magicus... escapicus!

"Seriously?" Strix groaned. He slapped the staff like a horse and shouted, "Giddyup, magic stick!" The staff took off and flew out the window just as the Warden got up.

"Owl Lady, I won't let you get away again!" he snarled as he chased after them.

The group flew by the cells and Luz got an idea. "Eda, lend me a hand!" Strix popped Eda's hand off and handed it to her. Luz laughed. "That's funny, Strix. BUT THIS SERIOUS!"

"You wanted a hand, you got one!"

"Fine!" Luz took the hand and used it to open the cells, freeing the prisoners.

They flew out the tower, but the Warden caught up to them and sent them falling to the ground. "Ow, my bones!" shouted King.

Strix pulled out a machine gun from his pocket and open fired on the Warden, who blocked the bullets with his tentacles. Eda pulled the key to the magic door from her hair and handed it to Luz. "Luz... go back to the human world."

"What about you guys?"

"If you think this guy is bad, you shoulda seen her last boyfriend," said King as he ran to help Eda and Strix.

"Not my boyfriend," Eda said as she grabbed Strix and King and pulled them out of the way from Wrath's bladed tentacles. "Go! Go!" she shouted to Luz.

"But I..." Eda slapped the staff and it took Luz up into the sky.

Wrath pulled his bird mask off and breathed fire at Eda, only to start coughing and spluttering when Strix sprayed his mouth with a fire extinguisher.

Up in the sky, Luz saw the prisoners looking out the hole in the wall the fight just made. Taking control of the staff, she flew back down and approached the prisoners. "Why are you guys just standing there? This is your chance to escape!"

"The Warden will catch us," the eye eater said. "He always does."

"We belong here," said the fan fiction writer.

"Self‐doubt is a pwison you can never escape fwom," said the conspiracy theorist, now sporting a black eye.

Luz snapped at them, "So, you have a different way of doing things, a different way of seeing things. That might make you weird, but it also makes you awesome. Don't you see?"

"Why are you helping us?" the fan fiction writer asked.

"Because us weirdos have to stick together. And nobody should be punished for who they are." This riled the prisoners up and they cheered her on. "Now, let's get 'em!"

Strix fell to the ground, his mother and King stuffed into his mouth. Warden Wrath stomped toward them. "No more running away, Owl Lady. Today I capture you and your son once and for all!"

"Go, go, go, go!" The sound of Luz shouting made Wrath turn to the right and he got tackled by the prisoners.

Strix spat Eda and King out and watched the scene with a raised eyebrow. "Was that Luz?"

The prisoners shouted their beliefs as they beat up the Warden.

"I eat my own eyes!"

"I think I think the world is a twiangle!"

"And I practice the ancient art of fan fiction!"

They tied up the Warden's tentacles behind his back and he roared at Luz as she lowered to the ground, "YOU! Who do you think you are?!"

"Do not underestimate me, Warden Wrath, for I am Luz, the human, warrior of peace. NOW EAT THIS, SUCKAH!" Luz tossed the bundle of firecrackers she had saved into the Warden's mouth. The fireworks display was the best the Boiling Isles had ever seen. The Warden, still shooting fireworks out of his mouth, retreated back into the castle while the prisoners cheered.

"That was actually one of her better breakups," said King.

"Not a breakup. Anyway, let's bounce before any more monsters fall in love with me," said Eda. "And as for you..." She grabbed Stix by the face and ripped the Mask off like it were skin.

"YWOUCH!"

"You're grounded, mister!"

"Mom!"

"I told you not to wear this! It's too dangerous!"

Strix sighed. "Yes, Mom."

After returning to the Owl House, Eda placed the Mask in a trunk and put a magic lock on it. "Well, a deal's a deal," she said to Luz. "Let's get you home." She pushed the eye on her key and the magic door unfolded.

Luz took a step forward toward it, but stopped when she turned to see King looking downhearted. "Before I go‐‐ I know it's not the same, but..." She reached into her bag and took out a Good Witch Azura action figure, took off her tiara and handed it to King. "A king shouldn't be without a crown."

King put the tiny tiara on his head. "This shall suffice. You there, plant! You are now under my command."

"Oh, and don't forget your book," said Strix. "I'd hand it to you myself but I'm grounded."

Luz nodded at his current state, buried up to his neck in a flower pot. She took the book and the Reality Check Camp brochure from the coffee table and walked toward the door. Suddenly, she stopped when she looked at the cover of the book and at a mirror hanging from the wall. It looked just like a scene straight out of her Good Witch Azura book.

She smiled and nodded. She made her decision. She said to Eda, "Okay. I know you got your head cut off, and we started some kind of prison riot, but this was the most fun I've ever had. I don't fit in at home. You don't fit in here. If I stay, we could not fit in together." She took the brochure, crumpled it into a ball and tossed it. "I'm not going back to summer camp."

"What's that?" asked Strix. "Some kind of concentration camp in the summer?"

"I want to stay and become a witch like you, your son and Azura."

"What?" Eda held up her hands, telling her to stop. "All right, that's crazy. Humans can't become witches."

"Maybe that's because they haven't tried," Luz said with confidence. "If you teach me to become a witch, I'll do anything you want."

"Let her stay," King said before whispering in her ear, "She can make us snacks."

Eda thought it over. "Well, I could use a hand keeping this goofball out of the cupboards and my idiot son out of trouble.

"HEY!"

"Well, you are! All right. I'll teach you how to be a witch. But you have to work for me before you learn any spells. Deal?"

Luz gave her and King a hug. "Too tight, too tight!" they said. "What is going on?"

"How come I have to sleep in the pot while Luz sleeps in my room?" Strix asked as Eda rolled him into the garage with the sleeping dragon.

"Because I said so. Also because I don't want Luz getting burnt from Selwyn's snores. I don't want her burning a valuable human."

"But Mom!"

"Good night," Eda said as she slammed the door.

Luz unrolled her sleeping bag and pulled out a photo of herself and her mother. She suddenly got a text message from her, speak of the devil. It asked, "How is summer camp?" Luz didn't know how to respond.

"Ahem." Luz looked to see King standing at the doorway, holding a stuffed bunny. "Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy." Luz smiled and invited him over. He sat down on the end of the sleeping bag, curled into a ball and began snoring softly.

Luz knew what to say to her mother now. "I think I'm gonna like it here."