It's Good To Be Queen
Chapter 1
The doors closed behind them.
Charlie Bradbury could hear the metal doors slam shut with a loud clang. She turned her head back to the doorway where she had just gone through not seconds ago.
It was gone.
So were Sam and Dean Winchester.
There was only a path made out of yellow bricks. The yellow brick road.
How many times had she watched the movie with her mother when she was young? How many times had she read the books that described the very road that she was currently following? This was her reality now. Was the life she had in her own world gone? She hoped not. She was sure the people in Oz would never enjoy the pleasure of hacking into NATO for harmless laughs.
"Red?" called out Dorothy in front of her. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm all right. Just a little...overwhelmed, I guess. I mean, I'm actually here. In Oz!"
"I understand. I felt the same way on my first visit here. Of course, I was very young then. And that exhilaration went away pretty quick."
"Right. When you were Home Aloned here." They walked a few paces before Charlie squealed with joy, "We are following the yellow brick road. Always wanted to say that and actually mean it."
"Guess I expect to hear more praise for my father's book while I'm with you."
"I swear I'll try to hold them in. Where are we heading, by the way?"
Dorothy pointed to the enormous green castle in the distance. "All the way to Ozma's castle up ahead there."
"You mean we're actually going to meet her?"
"Don't get your hopes up. Remember what I told you. She's an ass. Typical princess."
"Ok, so if she's so terrible, why go to her?"
Dorothy snapped, "Because she may have kept my dog for her own."
"What? She took Toto for her own? In my world, that's beyond an ass. That's a bitch." Charlie quickly chuckled. "A bitch stole your bitch. We'll just banish her to Munchkinland."
Dorothy chuckled. "You are so going to fit in here."
Charlie looked dejected. "I'm not so sure. They don't exactly have Wi Fi here."
"Well, last time I was here, when I was Protector Of Oz, I brought in a smaller version of the computer that the Men Of Letters have in their hideout. It's in Ozma's castle. Hope she hadn't done anything to it."
"Cool. I probably could hook up my laptop to it. See what I can do."
"Very good. Let's get going then."
The two of them continued on the yellow brick road. After a few minutes of hearing the birds and creatures from Oz, Dorothy mentioned, "By the way, at the risk of damaging your childhood further, Munchkins are not as wimpy as father depicted them in the books. They're actually good fighters."
"Ah, good to know. Anything else I should know about Oz before I start wallowing in adventure here?"
Dorothy considered before adding, "The beetlebubs may sound cute, but they can kill you in an instant with one swipe of their claws."
"Yes, very good to know. A little frightening, but manageable in the panic room of my brain. Although, I died before and was brought back Green Mile style by Dean. Somehow."
"He didn't tell you how he resurrected you?"
"Nope. And, apparently, I can't tell Sam."
"Those two have too many secrets between them."
"Well, they are brothers. Of course, I never had any siblings. But if I did I wouldn't waste the time I had arguing with them."
Suddenly, Dorothy burst out, "Oh! Time! It moves slower here in Oz than our world."
"Really? Cool. Like, what's the ratio?"
"Oh, well, I never calculated it exactly. Roughly a day here in Oz is about a month in our world. Since I've been in our world for seventy-five years, here it's...well, you do the math."
"29.41 years," Charlie answered in a flash.
Dorothy stopped walking and looked at Charlie, stunned. "I was joking."
Charlie smiled widely. "And I was creating algorithms at age ten."
They started walking again and Dorothy asked, "So, is that number correct? Almost thirty years away from here? Seventy-five in ours?""
"Roughly. I thought of using Keplar's third law, but this really isn't a different planet. Then I went to Einstein's time dilation theory, where one place in time space is only relative to another section of that time space. Each has its own different elapsed time. Where Oz goes through one day, our world spends a month in that day. It's about a little less than half of seventy-five years, given leap years. And you look confused."
"No, I'm impressed. You thought of all that in a few seconds?"
"Pretty much. Call me special. Or a nerd, as the kids did when I grew up. Thankfully, nerds are in now."
Dorothy raised her dark eyebrows. "Sam was right. You are the smartest person in the room."
"Aw, you don't have to say that. But I'm glowing, so go right ahead. Besides, I'm in Oz now. Bet there's smarter people here."
Dorothy scoffed. "You give them too much credit. They certainly have heart. Brains, well, my friend the scarecrow was the only one I knew with them."
"What about the Wizard?"
Dorothy flashed Charlie an incredulous look. "Forget what you've read in my father's books. The Wizard is an actual wizard. And he can be dangerous. The last time I was here there was a rumor that he was leading the charge against Oz. He may have been working with the Wicked Witch, too."
"Ugh! Childhood. Ruined."
"Sorry. My father portrayed the Wizard as some wise man who saved the day. I sometimes thought that he wrote himself as the Wizard in his books. The all and powerful wizard in Oz, but a failed magician in Kansas. When he was young, my father travelled to all kinds of places doing cheap magic tricks. That's how he met the Men Of Letters. They saw his potential. They were right when he discovered this place."
"Wow. That must have been exciting growing up."
"Not really. He was obsessive about everything but me. He tried to compensate by writing down his adventures for me. He embellished almost everything to make it sound less dangerous and violent." She paused and said, "And you know what I just realized? I'm spilling out all about my life, but I know nearly nothing about you, besides being math genius. So, spit it out, Red. What's your story?"
Charlie was always careful when she told her version of her life. She had so many different ones since her parents' accident. She kept to the basics with Dorothy. Computer hacker getting into impossible places. Hermione Granger worshipper. Star Wars geek. She had to sidebar and explain to Dorothy the cultural significance of Star Wars and Harry Potter in their world. She decided to skip the subject of her sexual orientation for now. That was a whole separate subject that needed more explanation. She skipped to how she met Sam and Dean. She described the Leviathans and the their boss, Dick Roman. Dorothy didn't seem fazed by the mentioning of human-devouring monsters.
She also decided to edit out her LARPing experience for now, too. Also too much to explain. She told Dorothy of the time when Dean trained her as a hunter and the vampire she just barely killed alone. She did disclose the death of her real mother who had been in a coma for years. By the time Charlie got to current events leading up to her killing the Wicked Witch, they found themselves at the start of a long red path leading to Ozma's green castle.
"Oh! We're here. I must have talked your ear off."
"I didn't mind," said Dorothy. "You've had quite a life."
Charlie shrugged and said, "So far."
"It's like my father used to say that we live our lives in chapters. Hopefully, you can start another chapter here in Oz."
As Charlie admired the now red brick path that led to the bright green castle, she realized what Dorothy said. "Hey, what do you mean, hopefully?"
"Well, as you calculated, I haven't been back here in almost thirty years. Things could have changed just like in our world. If I remember Ozma, she does like to change the rules. Like every five minutes."
Charlie wondered for the first time, "Do you think Ozma will accept me being here? Or will she cut off my head, Red Queen style?"
"She's not that bad. Let's just say, she's difficult. Besides, telling her that you killed the Wicked Witch should win her over."
They both walked up to two oversized green doors. In front of the doors were two guards dressed in bright green uniforms with top hats that came down almost over their eyes. As the two girls approached, one of the guards stopped them.
"Halt! Identify yourselves, strangers!"
Dorothy announced, "It is I, Dorothy Baum, returning to Oz from my land of Kansas. This is my travelling companion Charlie...uh..." She shot a quick look at Charlie.
"Oh, Bradbury. I'm not from Kansas, but...elsewhere in the land of...wherever she said."
"Right." She faced the guard. "I seek an audience with Princess Ozma of Oz."
"Whom did you say you were?"
"Dorothy. I am Protector Of Oz, knighted by the Princess herself. "
"I'm afraid that is impossible. The Wicked Witch killed Dorothy many years ago."
"Well, yes, she did kill me once."
"She's not dead yet," Charlie said in a fake British accent.
"Yes, I was revived. I chased the Witch back into my land where I trapped her for seventy–"
"Twenty-nine!"
"Yes, twenty-nine years. I have come back after the death of the Wicked Witch. I have come to speak to Princess Ozma of Oz!"
The guard said, "I'm afraid that is also impossible. There is no Princess Ozma. She is now Queen Ozma of Oz."
There was a pause before Dorothy uttered, "Oh."
