The grass was always the first thing he noticed about any new world. Most people would look to the landscape, the buildings, the way people dressed. But the grass, that was where Victor always got his first impression. There was something very telling about what species flourished throughout a land. The grass here was thinner than in most worlds. Not the like the hearty broad leafed grass he saw in the Enchanted forest, or the thin brittle grass of his own home. The grass here was light, as though a breeze would lift it right out of the ground and set it down gently somewhere else. He had told Jefferson about it when they first arrived. Jefferson had given him one of his I-know-this-is-all-new-to-you-but-seriously-what-i s-wrong-with-you looks. Then they had continued on their way.

Oz should have been just another stop in his search for a cure for his brother. A place where he would gain insight into the machinations of the human heart. It would have been, it almost had been. But then Jefferson had said they should stop for the night, a little inn just up the road. Victor had been against the idea, he wanted to continue on. It was important that he get as much done as he could when he first arrived in a new land, before the fruitless searches began to take their toll. Before the failures began to pile up. Before the futility of it all began to set in. If they had just continued on, moved forward as Victor had intended, Oz would have been just another crossed off name in his list of realms in his journal. Just another failed expedition.

It had come down to a flip of a coin. One that Victor later thought Jefferson must have fixed. He should have asked to see the coin first. Jefferson won the toss and they switched course. He often wondered how much of his life was of his own choosing, and how much of it was nothing more than simple chance.

There was a sickness, several children had taken ill. The inn was crowded with people in pain. He had wanted to keep his profession a secret, most realms didn't even know what a doctor was. But it was such a simple thing, he knew how to treat them, how to fix them. He scraped some mold off of a piece of bread and a few days later everyone was cured. It was a trick he had been taught in medical school, a way to deal with illness in the field. It was a scientific discovery. They called him a wizard.

He hated it when they called him that. He tried everything he could think of to get them to call him doctor. Even going so far as to tell them that Doctor was his first name. The title of Wizard persisted. It wasn't magic he would insist, but they would hear none of it. Magic was all they knew, science was the unreal here. He hated realms like that, ones that couldn't see any other solution to a problem than to wave a wand over it.

He didn't even notice her at first. She was just another person vying for his attention, distracting him from his main purpose for being in this land. Slowing him down. He had been in the same town for almost a week at that point, far longer than he had stayed anywhere since his brother had died. Jefferson had wandered off after the third day. That man was more restless than even Victor was. Jefferson was probably in another realm by now. Victor was hardly concerned, it wouldn't have been the first time Jefferson abandoned him in some strange world. He would return eventually, usually claiming that he had only been in the next town over. Victor had once spent eight months in a realm that may or may not have existed solely on the back of a giant turtle, simply because Jefferson said he would be back in two weeks. Sometimes he didn't wonder if that man was missing the part of his brain that kept track of time.

He had just finished giving another round of injections when she cornered him.

"Would now be a good time to talk Doctor?"

She called him Doctor. After so long of being called Wizard, he was slightly surprised to be called by the right title. It was probably the only reason he didn't brush her off, for what she later told him would have been the fourth time.

"I...Yes. I suppose now is as good a time as any. What was it you wished to speak to me about...?"

"Glinda."

"Glinda, yes, right."

"I wished to speak to you about what you were doing in this realm, clearly you are not from this land. I heard you traveled here with a Hatter?"

"Yes, Jefferson. Although he's not around at the moment if you are wishing to travel to another realm yourself. When he returns, I'm sure he would be more than happy..."

"I'm not interested in leaving this realm. My interest lies in whether or not you intend to."

"Of course. I'm just here for a short time. Once I find what I am looking for or Jefferson returns I will be on my way."

"And what is it you are searching for Doctor?"

He hadn't told her the truth then. He hadn't told her his true purpose. Months later, he had. He had confessed to his actions and his obsessions. At the time however, he had simply said an ingredient to a medicine. Something that would benefit many. She had believed him, and yet. He could tell she knew he was hiding something. He had been determined to avoid her. If she found out the truth, she might try to have him chased out of this realm. He couldn't allow that to happen. Not before he found the cure he so desperately sought.

So the next day, he moved towns. He treated the people, moved about his day, and suddenly she was there. It was the same at the next town. And the next. He would have confronted her about it, but all the people he was treating spoke so highly of her. She was a leader to them, and it wouldn't do well to piss off the leader of these people. For the next month she would trap him as he was leaving a house, or when he was trying to eat, and try to talk to him. The conversations always felt so forced on his part. He would struggle to figure out what it was she wanted him to say. She had no such issue, any awkward comments or silences on his part she would just breeze through as though they never happened. He had never met anyone so sociable in his entire life. He found her completely irritating.

She was a witch, magic was to her what science was to him. Except, science was an art. You had to train, to constantly be studying, constantly questioning the rules and even your own understanding of the world around you. Magic was more like a natural talent. Not everyone could learn magic, and not everyone used it. He wasn't sure if he should be annoyed or respect the fact that she never actually seemed to use magic. Except for her innate ability to be at his next destination before he even arrived there. He was sure he was leaving these towns before her and yet there she always seemed to be. At the moment, annoyance was winning.

"What do you mean, no? Aren't you a witch, can't you just magic something up?"

"This sickness is beyond my powers."

"This sickness is caused by a virus due to bad hygiene practices. There's no evil sorcerer behind it, surely you could fix this with a wave of your hand. Instead of me going to every single town in your realm and giving an injection to every single person."

"Magic…"

"Yes, I am well aware of the limitations of magic. But you have to understand, this will take me weeks. People could die in that time, before I ever get to them. Not to mention the fact that I didn't come to this realm to cure your sick. This is…."

"So stop."

"Excuse me?"

"Stop moving from town to town. Stop wasting your time, you have already spent months giving all of these injections yourself. Do what you came here to do, find what you came here to find. Stop."

He was dumbfounded. Stop? But there were still sick and dying people.

"That never occurred to you, did it Doctor? The idea of abandoning an entire people to die to serve your own need, it never crossed your mind. I would move to a new town, and in each town I would think, 'This time. This time he will not show. He will have given up, have seen the hopelessness of trying to save everyone, and will have abandoned us.' Every time I would steel my heart, but every time you would show. You would come and cure the people and ask for nothing in return."

"I…I'm a doctor. That's my job."

It was the first time he had ever heard her laugh. It was a strange sound, one he found difficult to forget.

"It is more than your job, it is you. You are precisely the man we have been waiting for, Doctor."

"Waiting for what?"

"You are going to save us."

"That's what I've been trying to do." She had already walked away by the time he got the sentence out. He hated it when magic users spoke like that. Like they knew something about your future. Like it was all pre-determined. He dismissed her words without another thought. Her laugh however, seemed to stick with him for the rest of the day. And the next day. He found himself less and less irritated by her constant presence. Eventually he began to seek her out at the end of the day. She was…unusual, but he found himself unable to be put-off, even by her magical tendencies. She was intelligent, their talks often lasting for hours.

Eventually there were no more towns, no more patients. He had lost track of how long he had been in the realm of Oz. Some nights he even feared that he was losing sight of his true purpose. Gerhardt…

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you would like to see the Emerald City? It is the heart of our realm, our strength stems from its keep."

"Is that where your government and leaders are?"

"In a manner of speaking, it was thankfully untouched by the sickness that swept through the country."

"Where is this city of yours?"

"It is rather far, however not so far if you would allow me to take you there."

Victor was uncertain. She had offered to use magic to transport them from village to village, but he had always resisted.

"I promise we won't leave any pieces of you behind Doctor."

She would tease him, smiling all the while. He couldn't remember why he used to be annoyed by that.

"I suppose if I have your word on that."

She took his arm. The world swayed.

"There it is Doctor, the Emerald City."

Victor was at first, stunned by the city. The tall green spires, the gates surrounding the entire cityscape. It was an impressive feat. It would have given even the architects in his realm a run for their money. But then they began to walk closer. And the city began to lose some of its appeal.

"It wasn't always called the Emerald City was it?"

Glinda never seemed to show surprise when he managed to figure out an aspect of her world without having to tell him. But the slight rise of the eyebrows gave her away.

"No. Originally it was known as King's Crown. It was changed to the Emerald City years ago…"

"When the entire thing began to rust and turn green. Copper is a very good conductor, I'm not sure how great of an idea it is to build an entire city out of it. How do you keep everyone from being electrocuted during a lightning storm?"

"We have magical fields that protect the city."

"But not enough magic to prevent corrosion?"

"The amount of effort it would take…"
"Yes, yes. The energy expenditure, even magically related, would be greater than the simplicity of simply renaming it the Emerald City? Is all of your realm like this? Is everything just illusions and tricks to keep people from seeing that it's all rusting around them?"

"Some amount of…trickery, has been necessary these past few years. But that is all going to change soon. Soon Oz will return to its former glory."

Victor knew better than to ask how it would all change. She kept hinting that he was integral to the plan, to the betterment of the realm. He doubted it, but if Oz had the library of information that Glinda had hinted at, he was more than willing to let her have her fantasy. She was a singularly smart woman, but her childlike belief in returning Oz to its glory days, worried Victor. He had seen other realms that had once been great and it had fallen into decay. Abandoned realms. Every empire falls away and turns into dust and legend eventually. Perhaps this was just the end of Oz. He could see no greater portent of that end than the fact that their great city was eating away at itself. Eventually its walls would become brittle and fall, no prophesy would prevent that.

She showed him the library, the halls, the kitchens. Every part of the Emerald City was the same. It had once been grand and awe-inspiring, but the dust and the disuse crept into every room. Even rooms with people in them seemed, empty. Abandoned. It was more than just the sickness that he had been fighting that had caused this apathy. They all knew it, they could all sense that the time of Oz was over. They were the keepers of the catacombs and tombs that the city would soon become. Everyone was resigned to their fate, everyone except Glinda.

She spoke of every room they walked through as it once was and how it would be again. How magic and science would work together to revitalize the land, bring the people back together.

"I wouldn't be surprised if your friend had taken several people with him through that hat of his."

"That's not really how it works, you see the hat operates using..."

"Yes well, the people are giving up hope. Abandoning Oz, fleeing to other realms. We can finally say that the prophesy coming true. That you are here to save the people of Oz and…"

"Glinda, please. You keep speaking of this prophesy, of me saving everyone. Haven't I already done that? Isn't it just as likely that by curing the sick, I have technically saved Oz?"

It didn't do to question the prophesy around her, or to call into question the reliability of a Seer who lived hundreds of years ago. So he tried to explain it to her logically, he had already done his part, the prophesy was complete.

"But Oz, the Emerald City…"

"Is just a city. A structure that will fall down like every other structure has done when time catches up with it. Glinda….maybe if people are already abandoning Oz it is because they know that this place is…"

"No. That can't be what the prophesy meant. It is very clear... 'A man from another realm will arrive and bring forth the way to new life. The darkness will flee for fear of the fire, and Oz will rise out of the ashes to begin anew.' You see Victor you saved everyone, alright that is the first part, but you still have to help rebuild Oz."

He should have left. He should have argued harder. Picked apart the supposed prophesy, shown her how many hundreds of different ways it could have been interpreted. But. But she was looking at him with such….hope in her eyes. Such certainty that he would help them, that she could believe in him. No one had ever looked at him like that. No one had ever believed in him so strongly.

So he made the second greatest mistake he had ever made in his entire life.

"Alright. Tell me how it is I am supposed to save Oz."