Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with The Owl House. I only own the original characters from Camp Reality Check.
Freedom to be Weird
Luz had started living in the Owl House for about a week. She got used to waking up in a room that wasn't her bedroom at home, and that she had two housemates that weren't her mother. She got used to the fact that she didn't have all her stuff from her bedroom, too. As much as she wanted to go home and grab some stuff, she didn't want to alarm her mom or tip her off that she wasn't at that camp.
It was an easy adjustment, all things considered. At home, she was considered weird. Back on Earth, she was easily picked out in the cafeteria as the girl who brought in snakes for her book report, or believed that griffons were real and had spider breath. In the Demon Realm, weird was the norm. Griffons having spider breath wasn't some myth, it was fact. Just the other day when they went out to sell Eda's human collectibles, she actually met a snake person, and nobody freaked out. Being in the Demon Realm allowed her to embrace her weirdness, and that 'Reality Check Summer Camp' would've attempted to squash it.
"So, this summer camp thing you turned down is basically like school and home rolled into one for three months?" Eda checked when Luz explained where she was actually supposed to be back on Earth. "And the humans there would make you be like everyone else?" The witch glanced at the pamphlet Luz had with her on the day they met.
She didn't think humans would enjoy being put into boxes. Even though the boy on the cover was smiling, the position he was in did not look comfortable at all.
"Yeah," Luz confirmed, enjoying a nice drink of… whatever Eda had given her in the kitchen. Demon Realm food was surprisingly tasty. "At the end of my first day here, I was really happy that I chased down your owl to get my book back. I have a feeling I wouldn't have survived that camp."
King leaned over to snatch the pamphlet from Eda, nearly tipping over the kitchen stool he was on as he did so. He briefly skimmed through it. "Yeesh, that place sounds like the Conformatorium, except with more stuff to do and more room to move around."
"I thought the same thing the last few nights," Luz agreed, picking at what she thought was a Demon Realm fruit. Or vegetable. Everything was still so new, she had to learn what foods went into what categories. And had to learn if their food groups were even remotely similar to Earth's. "I feel bad for the other kids that were sent to that camp, y'know? None of them were nearly as lucky as I was to accidentally find a portal to the Boiling Isles. They're probably stuck in some classroom reading autobiographies, or putting together a 500-piece puzzle that looks exactly like a brick wall. Every day they're there, their weirdness is being destroyed bit by bit." She sighed heavily, leaning on the table. "I wish I could do something to help them like how we helped those guys get out of the Conformatorium. It'd even be easy to do since we wouldn't have to worry about a crazy warden or magic spells stopping us."
Eda sat back in her chair, thoughtfully humming.
"What're you thinking, Eda?" King asked, seeing the look on his roommate's face.
"The woods near the house don't contain anything extremely dangerous, mildly dangerous maybe… and since we have magic, we could probably provide for them depending on how many we're dealing with," Eda mused.
Luz looked up at Eda with a shocked expression. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
Eda smirked back at her new apprentice. "What do you think?"
"I think," Luz answered as she broke into a wide grin, "that those campers should prepare to say goodbye to Camp Reality Check, and say hello to Camp Support Weirdness!"
Maxine was only at Camp Reality Check for a week and a half, and she already hated it. Her pirate costume, her backup pirate costume, and her backup backup pirate costume, all had been confiscated already. When she attempted to make an escape on night three, using her bed and one of the camp canoes as a substitute pirate ship, she was caught before she had gotten across a third of the lake. To top it off, all attempts to make friends with the local birds to find a replacement First Mate the Parrot were thwarted.
She had sent five postcards home since arriving, pleading for her parents to get her out, but she got no assistance of the sort. For now, it seemed she was stuck learning to paint flowers with their proper colors.
"Maxine, sunflowers are not blue," the counselor in charge of the painting activity scolded her when she came around to examine her work, "and they most certainly don't have a skull and crossbones in the middle."
Maxine snorted rebelliously. "Maybe yours don't, but mine do. Hey!" She screamed when the counselor tore the page out of the easel.
"Start over, and color the sunflower properly this time," the counselor said, taking the page back to her station at the front of the room.
Scowling at the counselor's back, she dipped her brush into the blue paint, planning on doing her flower again just to spite them.
A pebble hit her in the side of her head.
"Ouch," Maxine hissed, putting fingers to the afflicted area and turning towards the source. Her pain was quickly forgotten when she saw a girl in a white and blue hoodie crouching out the window next to her.
Who the heck was she?
The girl put a finger to her lips, and motioned for Maxine to meet her outside. Without waiting for an answer, she ducked out of view.
Maxine glanced at the counselor, who was in the process of telling another camper to paint more within the lines. The camper, apparently not a fan of being criticized how they paint, threw a tantrum that the counselor had to stop. With the counselor sufficiently distracted, Maxine quietly rose from her station and snuck out of the arts and crafts center.
Rounding the corner, she found the girl who had tossed the pebble at her.
"What do you want? Who are you?" Maxine demanded, not in the mood after the morning she had.
"Who I am doesn't matter right now," the girl replied, smiling. "Look, this camp stinks, right? I saw what happened with your sunflower. A pirate-themed sunflower is pretty neat. I like how you put the skull and crossbones in the center."
Like a hose dousing out a fire, the compliment took away all her anger. "You saw my flower? That's so… wow, thank you."
"You're welcome," the girl said, glancing up at the nearby window to check if attention had been drawn to the two of them. Returning her gaze to Maxine, she continued, "Anyway, you don't want to be here, right?"
Maxine scoffed, crossing her arms. "No way. I could be home preparing to be the world's first modern pirate, but no. My parents sent me here so I could become a 'normal' member of society. Well, I want to bring back the society where no one cared how someone else behaved, bring back the society that was willing to explore with whoever would join them."
"Oh cool! I want to be a witch, like Azura."
"That book series where the witch's staff doubles as a rocket launcher?"
"Yep!"
"Cool. Not as cool as being a pirate, but still cool."
"Listen, I can't let this camp turn everyone from delightful weirdoes into boring businesspeople. I won't let them. I am actually supposed to be attending this camp," the girl admitted, "but I found another place that's way better. How would you like to attend a camp, that's not so much a camp but more of a getaway from here? Where you can be a pirate again, and paint pirate sunflowers as often as you want?"
Maxine raised an eyebrow, somewhat skeptical of this new girl's offer. "Where would this camp be?"
The girl took Maxine's hand, and tugged her towards the edge of camp. "Follow me."
"No, you got it wrong. The turfire sounds like this- bubowah!" One of Cory's cabin buddies corrected.
"I think it's simpler to say that they say their name like in the anime. They probably only did those sound effects for the games to keep the data file small," another boy stated.
"I like both the sounds from the games, and them saying their name in the show," Cory's third cabin buddy said happily.
Just as Cory was about to speak up and say that it had to be one or the other, something caught his eye. Jumping to his feet, Cory pointed and shouted. "Guys, look! It's a real life bonfox!"
Three other heads twisted their necks to follow the pointed finger so fast, Cory was surprised nobody snapped anything.
There it was. At the edge of the woods stood a black, little fox creatures on its hind legs and it was wearing a skull on its head and a collar. It looked almost exactly like a bonfox from the games!
The little creature waved at the group, and ran into the woods.
"After it!" Cory shouted, and the four boys sprinted into action.
Throughout the day, more and more campers mysteriously vanished. The counselors grew concerned when the camp became increasingly empty of campers, and even when they tried to round up the remaining ones to keep an eye on them, they managed to disappear somehow. The situation got so bad that they called in the police, and even they were baffled when they tried to keep watch.
"Where'd they all go?" The arts and crafts counselor wondered aloud during yet another meeting. "It's like they disappeared!"
"Hey everyone," Luz stood before the rescued campers alongside Eda and King in the woods near the Owl House. "Say good riddance to Camp Reality Check, and say hello to Camp Support Weirdness!"
The campers all clapped and cheered.
"Now that you're all here, I'm Luz the Cat Girl," Luz introduced, "and these are my roommates, Eda the Owl Lady and King, the king of… the Owl House?"
"You all bow down to me now!" King boasted, holding up the stuffed rabbit he had snagged from the Conformatorium. "Francois, hand out the coat of arms labeling them as my army!"
"Now, you're probably wondering where we are. This is the Boiling Isles, it's a place in the Demon Realm. Here, you can be as weird as you want to be and it's completely normal compared to Earth. I found my way here by accident, and after spending a day here, I didn't want to leave so soon because I found a place where I could be weird with other weirdoes without anybody trying to make me behave differently. I was supposed to attend Camp Reality Check too, but I blew it off to stay here all summer. Since I chose to stay here, I thought it was only right you guys get the same chance.
Instead of learning to balance checkbooks, or learning to think a certain way, you guys can do whatever you like now. You can be like Maxine, and be a pirate. You can be like Percy, and make models of squid dragons. Or, you can be like you and do whatever it is you enjoy. Sure, there will be a few ground rules Eda will go over with you, and you will need to learn how to survive in the Boiling Isles, but once you get past those, you have your summer back.
But, if the Demon Realm is too much for you, we understand and will gladly send you back to Earth, whether you want to be dropped off back at camp or you want to be dropped off at your own house. That's all I have to say for now, so I'll give the floor to Eda so she can explain how Camp Support Weirdness will work, and will tell you what to do in order to survive. I speak from experience, the Demon Realm can be kinda dangerous if you're not careful, or used to the area. Eda?"
Luz took a step back, and let the witch take the stage.
"Alright, human kiddos. Since these woods are where you're going to be camping for the next three months, let me explain you about the slightly dangerous stuff that lives around here…" Eda began to explain, some of the campers already slightly alarmed by the potential danger of their new surroundings.
While Eda gave her lecture, Luz let herself relax.
Everyone who stayed weren't going to be forced to give up the hobbies and interests that made them weird, and that made her happy. As long as everyone stuck together, the summer was going to be a happy one.
The End