Wizard of Oz: The Return of the Witches

By Mutitoon90

Chapter Two

Vicki awoke with the sunshine shining on her face, and it took her a couple of moments to wake up fully and to pull herself out of bed. The sleep that Vicki had was not the best that she had, and the only time she felt restless in her sleep was whenever she had a feeling that something happened to someone close to her.

"Morning, Sleepy Head." The voice of Vicki's roommate rang into her ears, causing her to remove one friend from her concerns as she turned to the girl.

Mary Lennox was a teenage girl, who was once very unhappy, and with the love and support of her uncle, her cousin and those that worked for Craven family, Mary found the love and the happiness that she was needing for that part of her childhood. At this point, Mary is now in college to become a florist due to the secret garden that once belonged to her aunt helped her and her new family regain their love for life.

"Did Flip get himself into trouble again?" Mary asked, and then she added, "You were out like a blown light bulb when I got in last night."

Vicki knew what Mary was asking about, and she answered with a yawn, "No. Professor Genius didn't come by in the Royal Dirigible of Slumberland last night."

Vicki went to the walk-in closet, which she shared with Mary, and opened the door that led to her side of the closet, revealing a wanted poster of a clown-like man, Flip, and the reward of one quadrillion of Slumberland's currency. Shaking her head, she knew why Mary asked about Flip.

Flip was a resident of Slumberland, who was wanted by the authorities for causing a lot of mischief. Flip was not a bad-natured person; it was that his idea of 'having fun' caused trouble for others. That mischief eventually caused the Nightmare King to be released, leading to the kidnapping of King Morpheus. Thankfully, the king was rescued by Prince Nemo, and Flip was granted a full pardon for helping the prince, mush to the dismay of Professor Genius. While Flip's smoking has been reduced due to a combination of a double Royal Decree by both Prince Nemo and Princess Camille and a celebrational prank with a giant cigar that backfired on him, which caused him to have a sneezing fit, Flip is still having his 'fun' with Flap, a giant blackbird that has had saved the mischief-maker many times over the years.

Vicki's first encounter with the troublemaker did not go very well, since Vicki did not like clowns, because she watched a certain movie that she was not supposed to watch, but over time, she learned that Flip was not scary at all and overlooked his clownish apperance and saw him as a memeber of her family. Although, she had to go to Slumberland once in a while to keep him in line as a peace agreement between the Witches' Council and Slumberland.

Vicki started to change her clothes, and Mary was still wondering why her roommate was oversleeping.

"Did the Council call you to a job?"

"No." Vicki replied, knowing that Mary knew about her being a witch and the existance of the Witches' Council.

"Oh!" Mary exclaimed, startling Vicki a little, "I almost forgot."

"What is it?"

"Did Lisbeth put up the notes last night?"

At that point, Vicki was fully dressed in her favorite outfit: a short-sleeved purple T-shirt that was mostly covered with red roses and white snowflakes, black denim jeans and white tennis shoes. As she was pulling out her light blue leather jacket, she answered, "Yes, she came in while I was chatting with Tech."

"You were chating with Tech?" Mary grinned teasingly at Vicki, whose dark skin was glowing bright with a red blush.

"That's all we doing, espeically since we haven't met in person yet." Vicki defended herself, causing Mary to respond with her hands in front of her.

"I was only joking; no need to put a hex on me!"

"I'd never put a hex on you or anyone else." Vicki dismissed the statement as she went to her dresser.

At the dresser, Vicki went to her jewerly box and pulled out a few items that she wanted to wear for that day.

The first item that Vicki pulled out was a hairpin that was shaped like a flower and the color was blue. The 'Sapphire Blue Flower' was a gift from Mary as a birthday present.

The next item was a pin that was designed with a blue shell; the 'Blue Seashell Pen' was a birthday gift from Lisbeth after she found out about Vicki was a witch.

A brooch was pulled out next, and that was a gift from her aunt, whom Vicki had never met. The giver of the 'Heart Sapphire Brooch' was the former Grand High Witch of the Witches' Council and was known as Miss Evangeline Ernst. However, Miss Ernst managed to give the brooch to Vicki through her assistant, Miss Susan Irvine, with a note stating that she loved her dear niece, before she passed away. The bittersweet event happened before Vicki went to college.

Getting items onto their respective places on her person, Vicki knew that she and Mary were more than ready to go out and celebrate surviving the finals and keeping their minds off of the waiting for the results.

"Ready to go to the River Ridge Mall?" Vicki asked her friend, who hopped off of her own canopy bed and said with great excitement, "You bet I am!"

The two friends went to the door and opened, however they stopped when they saw a blond, young-looking woman in a white outfit with flower patterns, a white shoes and stockings in a postion of the attempt of knocking on the door.

"Miss Irvine!" Vicki was surprised upon seeing her aunt's former assist, because that she was not expecting her.

"Aw, man..." Mary moaned, knowing that Miss Irvine only showed up when Vicki had an assignment from the Witches' Council.

"Please let me in." Miss Irvine spoke in a hush tone that told both girls that it was urgent.

"Sure. Come in." Vicki nodded and opened the door wide enough to let the blond-haired witch in the dorm room.

Once Miss Irvine was in the room, she spoke about the reason why she was paying the visit.

"I'm sorry for intruding, but we have a situation that requires immediate attention!"

"A Chosen One's work is never done." Vicki sighed, since she wanted to relax after taking her finals.

"This time, it's more personal for you." Miss Irvine looked at Vicki, who was confused about her friend had said to her.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked, being just as worried as her roommate and friend, who was able to ask a question.

"What happened, Miss Irvine?"

The older witch hesitanted for a moment before saying the question to Vicki and Mary.

"Someone very dear to you has been kidnapped."

That statement caused Vicki to feel the world that she has known pulled out of beneath her feet. Her stunned state was able to dissolve to allow her anger to give her a voice as she turned to Miss Irvine and started demanding answers.

"Who's been kidnapped?! How did it happened?! Who did it?! Why!?"

"I can't talk about it out here, Miss Payne; you know that." Miss Irvine pointed out, reminding the younger witch that other 'mortals' could hear the explaination, even if Mary was already cleared to receive the information by the Council.

Vicki wanted to know what happened, but she knew that Miss Irvine was right about the others hearing stuff that they were not suppose to know about, so she asked, "The Witches' Council, then?"

"Of course." The nearly white-claded witch nodded.

The three women turned their attention to an antique mirror, which acted as a poral to the Witches' Council. The mirror had been given to Vicki from her mother to help her reach the Council to recieve missions or jobs.

"Let's go!" Vicki announced as she rushed to the mirror.

Mary and Miss Irvine followed the determined witch to the mirror, although they were not as fast as Vicki.

"Calm down, Miss Payne." Miss Irvine spoke to Vicki in a stern manner, "They are still alive, and their captors are not willing to kill him."

"For now!" Vicki pointed out, and Mary stated in a tone that was as stern as Miss Irvine's, "They will be fine, but you can't help them if you're all worked up about this!"

With a heavy sigh, Vicki admitted, "Right."

"Then, we'll leave now." Miss Irvine went to the mirror and touched the surface.

Upon being touched by the witch, the mirror's reflecting glass changed from being a complete solid to a near liquid, rippling like the still water of a pond being disturbed.

"Let's go, Vicki." Miss Irvine was the first to enter the mirror, causing more ripples on the surface.

Vicki was about to enter the mirror, but Mary stopped her, saying, "Please, be careful, Vi. You know how Lisbeth cares about you, and I'm gonna be worrying about you too."

"I'll try to come back to you guys." Vicki nodded to Mary, who also added, "And after you rescue the person that got kidnapped, tell him or her that I've said 'Hi.'"

"I'll tell them." Vicki said as she came nearer to the mirror, but she stopped, turned back to Mary and told her, "How did you know that Lisbeth's back?"

"She e-mailed me that she was back last night, when she got out the plane." Mary confessed, which Vicki to ask, "Then why didn't I get an e-mail?"

"I don't know. You could ask her the next time you see her." Mary pointed out to the younger witch, who saw that she could not argue with her friend.

"I'll try to remember that." Vicki nodded before she entered the mirror to meet with the Witches' Council with Miss Irvine.

Left behind, Mary prayed that nothing horrible happened to Vicki and that Vicki was powerful enough stop the people that kidnapped Vicki's dear friend from completing whatever scheme that they were planning.

On the other side of the mirror, Vicki saw Miss Irvine, who was looking very annoyed. Vicki was quick to explain herself to the older witch.

"Sorry about that. Mary wanted to wish me luck."

"Come on!" Miss Irvine motioned the younger woman to follow her, and Vicki made no attempts to disobey her.

The area, which was a room filled with mirror-like portals, echoed with the heavy footfalls made by Miss Irvine and Vicki as they made their way to a door, which was the way to the Council's briefing room. The stone rooms had always reminded Vicki of the corridors at her half-cousin's school, Hogwarts.

In the briefing room, there were a lot of witches and other magical people in the room. Normally, the room only had the main members of the Witches' Council, but if there were a large grouping of magic-users, something very bad has happened. Then, Vicki saw two people that were rarely seen together, and to the young witch, that really meant something really huge had transpired.

One was a witch with long blond hair and wearing a white dress with silver, transparent sleeves and collor and a tiara rested on her head. Kindness and wisdom was reflective in her eyes and features, but there was concern mixed in the youngful face.

The other was a man with long, brown hair and blood-red eyes, and he was wearing a dark-colored kimono and a white hair tie. The dark aura covered itself around him, but that was expected from a powerful half-demon.

The woman was Glinda, and the male was Naraku. The both of them are Vicki's mentors, although Naraku was Vicki's first mentor and Glinda was Vicki's current mentor.

"What are you two doing here?!" Vicki was surprised at their behavior and how close they were to each other, "Normally, you two would be forced to stay at opposite sides of the room to keep you two from each other's thoarts!"

The two mentors looked at each other, shot a dark look at each other and returned their attentions back to their pupil.

"Something terrible has occurred in the Land of Oz." Glinda was the first to talk, but Naraku bluntly added, "Glinda's homeland."

"Please, don't fight now." Miss Irvine pleaded with the two magic-users, who heeded the former assistant of Miss Ernst and continued to explain the situation.

"Do you remember the story of Mombi from my home?" Glinda asked Vicki, who took a few moments to recall the story and answered the question.

"I think so. Wasn't she that witch that liked taking girls' heads and making them her own fashion statements?"

"That's correct." Naraku confirmed, earning a dirty look from Glinda, who resumed speaking to Vicki.

"Yes, she was imprisoned for her crimes against the Land of Oz and the princess herself."

Vicki remembered that Mombi was working with the Gnome King to take over the Land of Oz. She remained flesh and blood while everyone in the Emerald City was turned stone and allowed the Gnome King to steal all of the emeralds from the city. As for the acting ruler of the time, he was turned into a green ornament and placed into the Gnome King's private collection of knick-knacks. Thankfully, the Gnome King was destoryed, the Emerald City and its denizens were restored to their normal selves and Mombi was imprisoned and made powerless. Oddly to Vicki, Princess Ozma was more forgiving to the witch than the latter was to the former.

"She managed to escaped from her cell in the dungeon, and she found some of the Power Emeralds." Glinda stated with worry in her voice.

"Then, we get them back." Vicki stated, seeing no real problem in the situation.

"It's not that simple." Naraku firmly dismissed the simple answer, "With the Power Emeralds, she was able to regain most of her powers, and she was able to being back one of the most powerful wicked witches of the Land of Oz."

"And that would be?" Vicki did not know who Glinda and Naraku was talking about; after all, Vicki was not from the Land of Oz.

"It's the Wicked Witch of the West." Naraku flatly stated.

"Still no clue about the witch." Vicki admitted her confusion, "The only 'wicked witch' I'm familiar with is the one that possessed my aunt, Azkadellia, when she and DG were younger."

"I know that," Glinda was understanding about Vicki's confusion, "but the OZ and the Land of Oz are two different worlds, and the Wicked Witch of the West and Mombi are trying to do something similar to what the witch that controlled Azkadellia tried to do."

"Oh, no..." Vicki gasped upon hearing that news, but Glinda was able to calm the young witch's worries by saying, "Thankfully, none of the Power Emeralds are capable of holding the moon and sun in place."

"However," Naraku spoke up with a worried look on his face, "they were able to find a way to acculmulate great darkness from the hearts of anyone in the Land of Oz."

"Is that even possible?" Vicki was simpily stunned by the statement.

"Darkness resides within every heart," Glinda sadly stated and confirmed her rival's statement, "no matter how pure they are."

Vicki knew that it was true, but she was hoping that the Land of Oz did not have enough darkness in the denizens' hearts to allow the witches' plan to work, espeically since she did not like the dark.

"However," Naraku stated, bringing some hope to the younger witch, "since there's not enough darkness in the denizens of the Land of Oz to make the darkness powerful enough to last in the whole land."

"That's good to hear." Vicki's relief was evident in her voice, since that meant the witches were unable to do anything yet.

"Sadly, they found a way to spread the darkness using the Power Emeralds." Glinda managed to speak about the sitiuation, since she was about to reach the more difficult part of briefing Vicki about her lastest mission.

"It's about the person that Mombi and the Wicked Witch of the West, right?" Vicki knew the answer, but she wanted it confirmed by either Glinda or Naraku.

"That's correct." Naraku was looking nervous, which he rarely did around Vicki or anyone else.

"Tell me who's been kidnapped, so I can save them and get them home!" Vicki demanded the truth from her mentors, who looked at each other with concern on their faces.

"Who?" Vicki asked again with a calmer tone of voice.

Another moment of an intense silence came and went before Vicki finally got the answer to the question.

"It was Tech E. Coyote." Both Glinda and Naraku answered in unison.

The statement was so shocking enough to Vicki that she nearly fainted. Thankfully for Vicki, Miss Irvine had some smelling salts, which was used to keep Vicki from fainting after Naraku and Glinda managed to catch her, although they did glare at each other for a second or two.

"Are you all right, Miss Payne?" Miss Irvine asked innocently, knowing very little about Vicki's reaction, but Naraku and Glinda was more aware of the younger witch's feelings and quick enough to prevent her from verbally attacking the former assisant of Miss Ernst.

"Tech is Vicki's dear friend." Glinda answered the flower-patterned witch in Vicki's place.

"Yeah," Vicki hissed in a groggy state, "but I going to save Tech! Where's the portal to the Land of Oz?"

Getting to her feet, Vicki was about to march to the portal room to find the portal to the Land of Oz was at, but Glina was the one to stop her by saying, "You can't get to the Land of Oz by using a portal."

"What?" Vicki was shocked by this information before asking, "How do I get there, them?"

"There are a few ways." The male co-mentor of the young witch stated with mild-regret in his voice, "One way is that one was be a native of the Land of Oz and powerful enough to take themselves and others to and from the Land of Oz."

"So, you can take me to Tech?" Vicki's voice was filled with hope upon hearing that the Good Witch could take her to the Land of Oz.

"It's not that easy in this situation." Glinda shook her head, "Right now, they are aware that I'll be getting a Chosen One to put a stop on their plans and have set up a powerful defensive barrier to keep me and any other Good Witches of the Land of Oz from interfering with their scheme."

"It looks like you're the only chance we have to stop them." Naraku stated, not even taking the opprtunity to insult Glinda, which added to the level of concern about the situation.

"I wouldn't say that just yet, Naraku." The native of the Land of Oz stated with a little hopefulness in her voice, "There's two others that will join you in the mission. Well, three if you count Toto."

"Toto?" Vicki asked, not knowing if Toto was a person or a pet of one of the other two.

"Yes, and he's the cutest little dog." Glinda managed to find some good in the bad time, as well as answering Vicki's unvoiced inquiry.

"One of the girls that you'll be with on this mission is one that you've done a mission already." Naraku added to Glinda's statement, "Alice Kingsleigh will be joining you on your mission."

Vicki was shocked about hearing the name of her friend during the revolution of Underland. Alice Kingsleigh was the one chosen by the Vorpal Sword to destory the Jabberwock and free all of Underland from the rule of it's tyrant, Iracebeth of Crims, who was known as the 'Red Queen' and the 'Queen of Hearts' and the sister of Marana of Marmoreal or the 'White Queen.' Vicki had been sent to Underland to guide and protect the girl when the Witches' Council heard a rumor about Iracebeth being influenced by the Jabberwock's magical powers.

"You mean Alice is going to join me in this mission?" An excited Vicki asked Naraku, who gave Glinda a look that said, 'I'd just said that,' and the Witch from the Land of Oz giggled at the man's reaction before answering the answer in his place.

"Yes, but when I took her there, Mombi and the Wicked Witch realized what was going on and placed the barrier."

"You're trying to fool them into believing that you're only sending one person to fight them." Vicki thoughtfully stated, knowing that Glinda was not the kind of witch to make the same foolish move twice.

"That's right." Glinda confirmed the statement before adding, "Thankfully, we have an ally that was more than willing to assist us in this time of need." Then, she turned to Naraku and asked him to get the ally, since she was in the briefing room.

"Right away, Glinda." Naraku nodded before seeking out the ally, leaving the three witches to talk about the mission so more.

"Who's the other girl in this mission?" The youngest witch asked Glinda, who was willing to answer the question.

"Yes, this girl is Dorothy Gale, who was the one the destoryed the Wicked Witch of the East and the Wicked Witch of the West and the one that saved Ozma, the Emerald City and the Land of Oz from the Gnome King and Mombi."

"Dorothy Gale?" Vicki asked, thinking about her cousin, DG. Glinda did not need to read the young witch's mind to know that what was going on in that girl's brain.

"DG and Dorothy are NOT the same person, Vicki."

"Sorry!" The dark-skinned witch laughed at herself for thinking of such a thing.

"She's been summoned to the Land of Oz all ready by Ozma herself." The native of the Land of Oz explained more about Dorothy, "Please try not to scare her; she's still in shock from hearing about the return of the Wicked Witch of the West."

"So?" Vicki saw no problem about it, and she thought that Dorothy should not be in shock about the witch's return.

"She was a child when she killed the Wicked Sisters." Miss Irvine chimed in, causing Vicki's eyes to grow wide with shock.

Glinda had an answer for Vicki, who asked loudly, "What was a kid doing in the Land of Oz?!"

"Before you lose your temper with me, Vicki, I'd thought she was a witch myself before I did my research and found out she was only a child."

"But how did she get to the Land of Oz?" Vicki asked, and Glinda answered by saying, "I honestly don't know; she told me that she was brought to the Land of Oz by a tornado."

"Really?" The young witch was intrigued by Dorothy Gale and had a lot of questions to ask the savior of the Land of Oz.

Then, Naraku's voice redirected the conversation, reminding the witches about their ally.

"Over here!"

Vicki saw the ally, who was a young-looking girl wearing a pure white dress to match her hair and a jeweled circlet to match her golden eyes.

"The Child-like Empress?" Vicki was surprised to see the ruler of Fantastica in the Witches' Council's briefing room.

"It is good to see you again, Vicki." The forementioned ruler spoke in a pitch that matched her appearance and a tone to match her true age.

"Same here." Vicki gave a little bow to the Empress before adding, "Just wishing it was under better circumstance."

"I know." The young-looking ruler sighed out of concern of the situation and Vicki.

Then, the dark-skinned witch asked the Childlike Empress, "Where's Bastian?"

Bastian Balthazar Bux was a young boy that saved Fantastica by very unusal manner: he gave her a new name.

"He is in his world, helping his father with a few things." The Empress stated, "I believe that this is good, for I would not send Bastian to a truly dangerous mission."

"What about the time he'd fought the Nothing?" Vicki asked, and the Empress answered bluntly yet gracefully, "He was protected by the AURYN and his own humanity. This mission is much different than the ones in Fantastica."

"Right..." Vicki was a little disappointed about not seeing the young boy, but the Childlike Empress was right about the difference of the missions; after all, the young-looking ruler was probably as old as humanity itself.

"I've heard of what has occured in the Land of Oz, and I've also came to help you with getting to that land, Vicki." The Empress of Fantastica confessed as she pulled out an amulet.

"The AURYN?" The young witch was not expecting that the Childlike Empress would simply give her a powerful artifact like the AURYN, which made whomever wore it the repesentive of the young-appearing Empress of Fantastica.

"I cannot, on good faith, send Bastian to the Land of Oz, but you, Vicki, are powerful enough to put a stop to the Wicked Witches' devious plot." The Empress explained herself as she placed the amulet in the young witch's hands.

The AURYN was an amulet decorated with two snakes, one was light-colored and the another was dark-colored, that were intertwined and connected to each other; a symbol of Fantastica's neverending existance.

"But you can't just-!" Vicki tried to talk the Empress out of the idea, but a raised hand at the young witch's direction halted the voiced concerns.

"Vicki, do you know how long it would take the darkness, under the control Mombi and the ressurected witch, to reach another world? Some people do not know when to be content with what they have, and it will not take very long for them to reach other worlds with the unwilling assistance of your beloved."

Vicki was speechless, but she was aware of the truth of the Childlike Empress's words. With a heavy sigh, the witch allowed the AURYN to be worn around her neck. She felt the power of the amulet radiate around her body.

"So, how do I get to the Land of Oz?" Vicki asked Glinda, who was able to answer the question.

"I can provide a spell that'll led you to the Emerald City, but you must be careful; they might be suspious of you, since you may be sent there without me. Thankfully, I've thought ahead and have written a letter that should give them a reason to trust you."

Vicki was given the letter, which was put into her pocket and commented, "I feel like I'm being sent to school with a doctor's note."

"Sorry about that." Glinda giggled a little, but she remembered something and told it to her pupil, "One more thing: the Wicked Witch of the West has gained an immunity to water, so you must find another way to defeat her along with Mombi."

"Thanks for telling me." Vicki nodded to Glinda before asking, "What about the others? I mean, do they know about the Wicked Witch?"

"They are aware of her new immunity to water." The Good Witch confirmed to Vicki.

"Good to know." Vicki sighed out of relief, and then she asked, "That inclues Dorothy too?"

"Of course," Glinda answered with a nod, "I told her that myself."

"That's good." The young witch readied herself for the trip to the Land of Oz.

The Good Witch pulled out her wand and twirled it while aiming it at Vicki. A small bubble appered on the end of the wand, and it grew bigger and bigger with each twirl. Glinda stopped twirling once the bubble was the right size to transport Vicki to the Land of Oz and pulled out the wand from the huge bubble.

"Real cute." Naraku muttered under his breath, earning a nudge from Miss Irvine's elbow.

Vicki stood perfectly still as Glinda blew at the bubble, causing it to roll towards the younger witch. Soon, it engulfed Vicki and started to float into the air, taking Vicki with it.

"Good luck, Miss Payne!" Miss Irvine shouted to the floating female, who was waiting for the next part of the journey.

Then, the Childlike Empress waved her hands, using her power to make the AURYN glow, and then Vicki, and after her the bubble, was glowing with the amulet.

Seeing the Childlike Empress's glowing golden eyes, Vicki reached into her jacket
and pulled out her sunglasses to put them over her eyes, knowing that she was going to gone in a flash of light.

Upon seeing Vicki putting on the sunglasses, the Childlike Empress used her power and the the AURYN's power to teleport Vicki to the Land of Oz. The young witch noticed that she was being noticed by the many witches, wizards and the many other magic-users that were in briefing room of the Witches' Council. However, the view was short-lived, since the magic of the AURYN became so bright that Vicki had to shield her already-covered eyes with her arms.

Once the light faded, Vicki opened her eyes and saw that she was no longer in the Witches' Council's briefing room. What she saw was a bright green city that was surrounded by a grassy field with a huge field of flowers to the right of the city. The young witch noticed that the bubble was floating towards the city, knowing that she was about to meet her fellow adventurers in this mission.

Meanwhile in the palace of the Royal Family of Oz, a small, black dog was barking at the bubble that held the newcomer, and he attrached the attention of his owner.

"What is it, Toto?" A young woman went to the window that the little black was barking from, and then she noticed the distant object.

The dog's owner went to a small table, grabbed the binoculars and returned to the window. With the binoculars in hand, the girl got a closer look at the bubble. At first, she thought the person in the bubble was Glinda, but she saw that the person was dark-skinned and dressed differently by the dog owner's understanding.

"I hope that's the witch that Glinda was talkin' about before she left." The dog was the recipient of his owner's statement, "If she isn't, I hope she's not an enemy of the royal family and me."

Then, the ground beneath her feet shook, causing her and her dog to became very concerned about the quake.

"What's goin' on with these earthquakes?" The girl asked as she scooped the dog into her arms, If these earthquakes keep up, the Emerald City is goin' to be the Rubble City again!"