Chapter three is here! Where else will Phoenix end up in Oz? I really loved this chapter and found it quite humorous, hopefully you will too. I'm happy that you, my lovely readers, are enjoying this one so much. Time for chapter three and our third prince to make an appearance. So please read and review!
I give a sigh of relief at his familiar face. "Why do you wear that pumpkin on your head when you have such a nice face?" I ask. The real Pumpkinhead didn't have a head other than the pumpkin. So why does he?
Ed's face turns red at my words. "Well... It's just because... I have to. I'm a member of the Pumpkinhead family, its what we do." He says simply.
"Oh. Well, Roberto and I are going to see the Wizard in the Emerald City. I'm going to ask him if he can help me get back home." I say.
"And I'm asking for a brain." Roberto adds with a huge grin. "How about you come along? I'm sure there's something you could ask for, too. The more the merrier!" Roberto slings his arm around Ed's neck.
I can see the indecision in his eyes and he looks a little embarrassed. "Is there something you want to ask for?" I ask.
"Yes." Ed says simply.
Roberto tilts his head questioningly, "Well, don't leave us hanging, Ed. What is it?"
"Promise not to laugh?" Ed asks.
"I promise." I say.
Roberto nods his head.
"For confidence." Ed says.
I can hear a small chuckle and automatically clamp my hand over Roberto's mouth, giving him the death glare which quiets him.
"It's alright, Miss Phoenix. I knew he'd laugh. It is quite silly of me to ask for something like that." Ed says looking at the ground.
"No its not. Surprisingly, a lot of people don't actually have confidence, it's all about just making it look like you do. So, to want to have real confidence is a good wish." I say with a gentle smile. "I should know. I don't have a whole lot of confidence, either." I add.
Roberto pulls off my hand to talk. "My dear Phoenix! How can you not have confidence?!"
I shrug my shoulders. "Well, I did. Then something happened to make me question everything about myself. Like if I was really good enough to do my duties, was I doing and saying the right things, and stuff like that." I say.
"But, you're perfect, Phoenix!" Tarmo says from my basket.
I look down at the twins, to see Onni nodding to what his brother said. I smile and ruffle both of their heads of hair. "Thanks, boys."
"Who are they?" Ed asks looking questioningly at my butler bunnies.
"Haven't you ever seen a rabbit before?" Tarmo gets defensive, and punches his paws in the air.
"They're my... pets." I say simply. They both look at me a little sad by their description. "They're very dear to me, and irreplaceable." I add. That perks them up.
"Oh. Ya know, I kinda just ignored them." Roberto says, finally taking notice of them. "So they came with you from where you're from?" Roberto asks.
"Yes." I answer.
"Where are you from, Miss Phoenix?" Ed asks.
"Originally? A place called Kansas, though I was in Noreric when I came here." I say.
"What odd place names they have." Ed says thoughtfully. "Though, they do sound quite lovely." He smiles lost in thought, probably trying to imagine what they look like.
"They are." I say. "But I'll never get back there if we don't start moving." I look toward Roberto. "Now will you please take me straight to the Emerald City?" I ask. "No detours." I say sternly.
"Yeah. Come on, my dear Phoenix. Let us go to the beautiful Emerald City." Roberto says.
We link arms with me in the middle, and make our way back towards the cornfield, singing and chatting as we go.
~OZ~
"Roberto. Are you sure this is the way to the Emerald City?" I ask, as we still haven't gotten near the dark forest where we should meet the Tin Man.
"Yeah, yeah. My dear Phoenix, it hurts how much you doubt me." Roberto acts wounded.
"I'm sorry, I don't know which way to go for the Emerald City. I never pay attention on the rides there." Ed says.
"It's okay, Ed. I just have a feeling Roberto is leading me astray again." I sigh.
Roberto was now walking a little ways ahead of us, as if leader of the group. I look at what looks to be an old sign that says, "Welcome to Chinatown".
"Chinatown?! That's not the Emerald City, Roberto! And I'm pretty sure this isn't on the way." I cross my arms starting to get annoyed with the brainless Scarecrow. If he wasn't brainless... I fume inside my head.
"Okay. So I had one more detour in mind for you. If you didn't come here, I doubt you would have even gotten to see Ed's home or Chinatown. And what girl wouldn't like Chinatown?" Roberto says.
"Well, I do love Chinese food, but that is beside the point!" I stomp my foot.
"Hey watch it!" A small male voice calls from a distance.
"Huh?" I look around but don't see anyone.
"Down here!" The voice calls.
I look down and jump back. There is a china doll boy standing next to where my foot was.
"Glennie-Poo!" Roberto calls happily squatting down to get a better look at the boy.
"I told you not to call me that!" The china boy says angrily.
"Glenn?!" I approach and get a closer look at the porcelain boy. It was definitely Glenn, only as a two foot tall, porcelain doll. It looked exactly like him. So China as in porcelain, not China as in the nation of people. I couldn't hide the shock on my face seeing him this way.
"Do I know you?" Glenn asks completely annoyed.
"No, this is Phoenix, she's not from around here." Ed says joining us in surrounding Glenn.
"Huh. She's looks familiar, though." Glenn says. "Anyways, watch where you're going. I'm looking for my little brother. We're playing hide and seek, and I don't need you breaking him." Glenn says maturely and with his usual attitude.
"Alan's here too?" I ask, worry clouding my heart at the possibility of Alan falling and breaking into hundreds of pieces.
"How do you know my brother's name? I didn't say it." Glenn gets suspicious.
"She's known all our names so far." Roberto says.
"Let's help him find Alan. Who knows what trouble he could get into out here." I say.
"Alright. We'll help, Glenn." Ed says.
"Thank you. Though, we're not as fragile as you're making us out to be." Glenn get defensive. Oh boy! As if the age complex wasn't bad enough, now I'll have to deal with him having a fragility complex, too. I sigh inwardly at the thought.
I stand, and turn to look at the surrounding ground. "Alan?!" I call. I set my basket of bunnies down, and look at them. "Will you guys help look for Alan?" They nod and hop out. "Don't go too far, who knows what creatures are here that would like eat rabbits." I say. They nod though I can see the fear in their eyes. They hop towards some bushes to search for Alan.
We all split up and search around the surrounding area. I was searching near some trees, a ways off from the sign, when I hear a small crying sound. "Alan?" I call softly.
The crying stops. Then a small voice, "Who are you?" I look down, and there by the tree trunk is a little porcelain Alan, probably only 7 inches tall.
"Hi, Alan. I'm Phoenix. I'm a friend of your brother's." I say. It's not exactly a lie.
"Hi, Phoenix. You're pretty. Are you a princess?" Alan asks.
I couldn't help the laugh, because it's what he first asked me when we met. "Actually, I am." I say honestly.
His eyes light up. "Really? Who's princess are you?"
"Nobody's. I'm my own princess." I answer.
"Can you be my princess?" Alan asks.
I smile. "Sure." I say without thinking about the fact, that I wanted to leave. "Why were you crying when I found you?" I ask.
Alan bites his lip. "I fell, and cracked my knee."
I look down at his knee and see a small crack along the surface. I sit up and yell, "Glenn! He's over here and he's hurt!"
The three boys hurry over and Glenn goes right up to his brother to check him out. "Alan. I told you to be careful. Mom isn't going to happy about this. You're lucky it's just a scratch." He chides his brother.
I know the conflicted look Alan has on his face. It's his I-want-to-cry-but-I-don't-want-to-look-like-a-baby-in-front-of-my-brother face. "I'm sorry, Brother." Alan looks down.
Glenn pats his head. "I'm just glad you're alright, and you can easily heal from this." Glenn turns to me, "Can you carry him in your basket to our house?"
"Sure." I go get my basket and put Tarmo and Onni back in, before adding Alan to the basket. "You guys be careful of him, okay?" I say to the rabbits, and they nod.
"Ahh, they're so cute, warm, and furry!" Alan says making himself comfortable next to the rabbits.
"I don't want to be cute!" Tarmo whines in annoyance. I give him a pointed look and he quiets down.
We follow Glenn into Chinatown and to his big home. It's the biggest within the town.
I set the basket down, get Alan out, and give him to Glenn.
"Thank you, Phoenix. I'll be right back, after Alan is taken care of." Glenn takes his brother inside.
"That was really nice of you, Miss Phoenix, to offer your help in finding his brother." Ed says in admiration.
"It wasn't a big deal. I wanted to find Alan and make sure he was okay." I say.
"Ah, my dear Phoenix, you're so helpful. You helped me off my post, you helped Ed feel better about wanting confidence, and you helped Glennie-Poo find his brother and get him home safely. You're such a good woman." Roberto says putting his arm around me.
"Yeah." I say, maneuvering out of his arm. "It's just the way I am." I say.
"Well, I'm glad to have met you, Phoenix." Glenn says, coming out of the house.
"Is Alan okay?" I ask.
"He'll be fine. Though, he has to stay in bed for a few days until it fully heals. He told me to look after his princess til he got better." Glenn says looking at me questioningly, as do Roberto and Ed at his last few words.
"What?" I ask them.
"You're Alan's princess?!" Roberto cries out. "How could you do this to me, my dear Phoenix?!"
"He asked me to be. I don't see the harm in letting him think that." I say.
"She's right. It's not a big deal." Glenn says. "So what are you guys doing, that brought you here?"
"Ask straw-for-brains." I cross my arms.
"You can't still be upset with me, my dear Phoenix?!" Roberto asks shocked.
"Yes, I am. I want you to take me to the Emerald City, not all over the lands and towns of Oz." I'm completely exasperated with him.
"Alright, alright. I told you this was the last detour. I swear. Next place we go will be through the forests towards the Emerald City, so please forgive me!" Roberto pleads.
"You know, there are a lot better people to ask for directions than Scarecrow and Pumpkinhead. By the way, where is your head?" Glenn asks Ed.
"I left it at home, so it wouldn't frighten Miss Phoenix." Ed says.
"It didn't frighten me. You just surprised me, that's all." I say.
"Well, since I promised Alan, I'll make sure you get to the Emerald City. Why do you want to go there anyway?" Glenn asks.
"I'm going to ask the wizard for a way home." I answer.
"Oh. That'll be a problem with Alan, but I'll break the news to him. Why are these two going? Because they're doing a terrible job at being your guides." Glenn says.
"I'm going to ask the wizard for some confidence." Ed says looking at the ground.
"And I'm going to ask the wizard for a brain." Roberto says with a goofy grin.
Glenn blinks his eyes at them, then says seriously, "Wow, Scarecrow. I never thought I'd see the day... That's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say."
I bit my lip to keep from laughing and I could see Ed crack a smile too. We waited as Roberto finally processed what Glenn said.
"HEY! WHY YOU LITTLE-!" Roberto started to chase after Glenn.
I was torn between wanting to laugh or sigh, so I sat down and waited for one of them to give up.
Gotta love those princes!
Hopefully you guys aren't upset that I'm making Ed ask for confidence, because I feel he does have it in some areas but when it comes to asking the MC what he wants where she's concerned he could use a little more, plus it's something the character of Pumpkinhead needed, in my opinion.
Now Glenn. He's based on the China Girl character from the new movie "Oz the Great and Powerful" with James Franco. (In case you had no idea where I was coming from with the inspiration.) Plus I figured he would need to be a character that would give him a complex like in the actual BMP world with his age. And he's a doll! I just couldn't help myself, because when I thought of it, it made me laugh for quite a while, especially because I felt it fit him perfectly.
So, let me know what you think of these new developments in the story, feedback is always welcome, and don't be shy about reviewing. It gives me the motivation to continue all my stories, lets me know what you're thinking because I know you're reading my story, and you can always review on my chapters even if it's days-weeks after I updated them.
So see you next time in Chapter 4: The Tin Man! Bye!
