Once, many centuries ago, the great great-granddaughter of Dorothy Gale, was princess of the O.Z. She was an ordinary girl, named Delilah, with long brown hair and green eyes. She loved to sit in her garden and paint the whole day away. She didn't have very many friends, so there really was nothing better to do. She loved to use her magic, and her favorite pastime was making the flowers dance in a beautiful serenade that only she could hear. She would play with her magic for hours until it got dark and one of the advisers would have to escort her back into the palace. Her mother and father were very strict, and took their role of King and Queen very seriously. The queen would not allow her daughter to mingle with commoners. Any maid, bodyguard, or cook would be immediately discharged if they spoke to her without being spoken to first. And as you can imagine, this made the task of making friends that much harder.

The queen's adviser, An-non, always felt sorry for the young princess. So when they were alone, he would always tell her stories of the great Queen Dorothy and her adventures. She always reveled in the stories about how her friends saved her and protected her. Oh, how she would love for someone to love her like that!

"What became of the descendants of the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Lion?", she would always ask.

"I'm not sure, Princess Delilah. Maybe one day you'll meet one.", An-non would always say to cheer her up.

After that, she would turn in for the night; always praying that she would have an adventure of her own one day.

One night, her chance finally came. Delilah sat straight up in her bed, sweat pouring over her. She didn't know what had awaken her so violently, but she didn't like it. Her head ached, and she was glowing with her magic. A sudden wave of panic swept over her, and she found herself too frightened to move.

"Great, Gale.", she whispered. "What's wrong with me?"

Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long because a moment later, her mother rushed into her room, looking every bit as frightened as she was.

"Delilah! My darling, are you all right?!"

"Yes, mother. I'm fine."

Her mother ran to her side and wrapped her arms around her. Her breathing started to return to normal as she stroked her daughter's hair.

"Oh, thank the stars that you are strong-willed! She couldn't get to you!"

Delilah was confused. She had never seen her mother this weak.

"Who, mother? What has happened? Does your head ache as well?"

Her mother looked at her with concern.

"Your head aches?"

She didn't wait for a response, but instead placed her hand on Delilah's head. A bright white glow went from her hand to her forehead, and then quickly disappeared. She started to relax a little, now that the pain was gone.

"What's going on?"

Her mother gave a deep sigh and regained some of her composure before she began.

"I do not want you to be afraid, my child. But the Old Witch of the West has somehow escaped from her prison. She is very old now, but still just as powerful. I believe that she tried to take you away from us while you were sleeping. That is why your head was throbbing. Her dark magic was ripping into your mind, trying to possess you."

Delilah's eyes grew wide.

"Possess me?! Why me?! Why not you?!"

"Because, my dear, you are very young. Your magic has not yet reached it's full potential. You are more vulnerable."

She sat silent for a while, compteplating all this. Her brain was scattered, and it took several moments for it to actually process any of what was going on.

"So...", the word somehow managed to stumble out of her mouth,"Am I safe? Will she come back?"

"Yes. But I am not sure when. The old hag used up a lot of her magic tonight. It may take her several days before she gets enough strength to try again."

Delilah was starting to panic. A tear ran down her cheek as she asked,

"Am I safe?"

Her mother looked at her with reassuring, brown eyes.

"As long as I have my magic, you will always be safe in this castle. But this means you can no longer sit outside alone all day,Delilah. You must be watched and looked after until this is over. Same goes with all of us."

The queen didn't want to scare her daughter any more than she already was. She didn't want to tell her that if the witch got her strength back, then she could disguise herself and try to walk right into the castle. She could see her daughter trembling in the moonlight that shone through the window and she attempted to make her feel better.

"I shall get in touch with the Mystic Man immediately. See if he can send us some of his best tin men. They are good men who will look after you and keep you safe, Delilah."

Delilah stayed quiet for a while. This was too much information for her brain to comprehend all at once. The only words that she seemed to remember were: Witch and tin men.Though, as soon as the 'w' word entered her mind, she forced herself to forget it. Then, there were the tin men. She had never known one personally, though she would see them in Central City when her family would stay for a visit. She wondered what they were like. Her mother often spoke fondly of them, and praised them for protecting Delilah when they stayed at their City castle.

"O...o...okay.", was all she could say.

The queen kissed her daughter's forehead and said,

"You are safe now, darling. Try and get some sleep."

Delilah nodded her head as her mother got up and exited the room.

She curled up under her covers and waited for sleep to come. But it didn't come for a few hours. Not until the first sun had almost risen. When she finally drifted into a deep sleep, she started to dream.

In her dream she found herself in a beautiful garden surrounded by flowers. As she started to walk through them, she was stopped by a young woman wearing a plaid dress and pigtails. She suddenly realized who she was.

"Oh my. Your Dorothy! Your the Gray Gale!"

Dorothy made no acknowledgment as whether Delilah was heard. Instead, she looked at her with pity in her eyes. She looked incredibly sad.

"Oh, dear. What's wrong?"

Dorothy just hung her head and cried. Delilah then saw something she hadn't seen before. Dorothy was holding a witch's hat in her hands, and the black magic was burning her from the inside out. She could now see her bones peeking through her skin. Delilah screamed and backed up. All around her, the flowers were dying and white smoke was rising from them. The fields turned a sickly brown, and were shriveling up. Delilah was still backing up; she didn't want to take her eyes off of Dorothy for a second. Not looking where she was going, she accidentally ran into something and fell backwards. Delilah screamed a second time when she saw what she had tripped over. A man was laying in the dying fields. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was dead. She scooted back until her hand pressed against something hard. Delilah looked down and saw something shiny laying in the dirt. She reached for it, but before she could see what it was, her eyes shot open.

Delilah laid there in her bed. It was morning. The sun peeked through her curtains welcoming the new day. Delilah however, did not. She felt horrible, and could not get the terrifying visions out of her head. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her pillow. She could still smell the stench of burning flesh.

"Oh, gods."

She buried her head into her pillow and started to sob.