Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are only a few chapters away from the end, I swear to you, and no doubt, it will be an ending you're not likely to forget. I am sorry that I have not updated in yonks, but believe me, it is worth it.

Dorothy's eyes burst open as her body lurched upwards, her cracked nails scratching at her throat

Dorothy's eyes burst open as her body lurched upwards, her cracked nails scratching at her throat. She breathed heavily as her head bowed, tears brushing past the corners of her mouth. Her straggly hair hung in clumps and her skin felt sore and stretched.

"What the…?"

"Dorothy, are you alright?"

Dorothy looked up into the eyes of Glinda, and nodded roughly. "Yeah, I think so. What happened?"

"You fell." Glinda whispered, twirling her cane in her fingers, which Dorothy had noticed was an annoying habit of hers. The Scarecrow stood beside herm wringing his tired looking hands.

"You fell, but Glinda disintegrated you so you didn't come to any harm. Had she not, you would have been lost to us all." Purred the High Chancellor, as he took the girl's hand and pressed a light kiss to it.

Dorothy smiled, blushing a little as she glanced over at Glinda. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A week. We brought you out of your sleep because we were getting worried." Glinda said, frowning.

"Oh, er, thanks."

"Not because of you Dorothy, because of the Harpies."

"What?!"

The High Chancellor took Dorothy's hand and led her to the window. Dorothy stared in both wonder and horror as thousands of flying harpies flew across the skies, their eerie bodies casting a gloom across the Emerald City.

"Oh my God. Glinda, you said that…"

"Yes, an omen of death and destruction. And there's only one way for them to disappear."

Dorothy spun around. "What is it? What must we do?"

"You. Only you can help this city." Glinda mumbled delicately, clutching her cane tightly, her normally plump lips stretched into a thin straight frown, her eyes darker than they should have been. She turned to the men and said, "If you'll excuse us, your Majesty, High Chancellor."

Both the High Chancellor and the Scarecrow left the room, grumbling under their breaths, and Glinda waited a few minutes before glancing at Dorothy.

"Dorothy, this is going to be one of the most unusual conversations you'll ever have. You remember me telling you that Harpies are a symbol of death?"

"Yes. Do all these Harpies mean that the city is in danger?"

"Sit down Dorothy." Glinda said sharply.

Dorothy raised an eyebrow, before sitting on the bed. Glinda continued, taking cautious steps towards the window.

"Do you know how you came to be here?"

"Yes, I hurricane came and blew my house here and-"

"No, I mean recently. Not when you first came here."

"Um, no, not really."

"With the permission of the two Kings and the Knight, I forced your soul to come here."

"Forced? I've never heard of that happening in Kansas."

"There is a way to do it in your world, but not quite the same. In your world, you call it an 'Out of Body Experience'. It enables the soul to leave the body, but only to a certain degree. It cannot pass through worlds. It can only stay in its own world. To force a soul to pass worlds, well, you can't imagine the strain, the power, the stress the body goes through when that happens. You must be either a phenomenal witch, or someone must call you through. When you first came to Oz, it was an accident, it was the first time someone passed through to our world. We expected many more to come, but it seems you are the first, and last, witch of your world."

"Witch? I'm not a witch."

Glinda turned to Dorothy. "When I called you a witch when we first met, it was not a mistake. Do you think I called you a witch for a laugh! When I call someone a witch, I do not mean it as a compliment! When you killed the Witch of the West, do you think it was mere coincidence that she died at your hands? We all knew water could kill her, we would have done so years ago, had we the power that you have. You think that bucket of water that you doused the King with was placed that just for you? No! The witch knows that no-one of this world can kill her, so she puts no measures to protect herself. She did not expect for you to escape, so she didn't think to hide all sources of water from you."

Glinda paused, sighing as she pinched and rubbed the spot between her eyebrows.

"I've lost my place. Ugh." Glinda grumbled. "Ah yes. Anyway, you were a powerful witch, and from a different plane of existence, no doubt. You were, are, the most powerful weapon in Oz. Only you could kill the Witch of the West."

Dorothy stared at the floor, distressed by Glinda's harsh words. Glinda clicked her tongue, and continued: "Anyway. They asked me to bring you here, to save you from this Doctor Jones, thinking you'd be alright. But you're not alright, Dorothy. By forcing your soul to come here, I've ripped your soul in half. The soul shouldn't go through so much stress, so much pain. The body your soul existed in, in your world, is deal, so is that world's half of your soul. A soul cannot be separated like that, without a great deal of pain. When you woke up just now, how did you feel?"

Dorothy looked up at Glinda. "I almost couldn't breath."

"Take a look at yourself. Your nails are cracked, your hair has lost it's life, your skin is dying. You are dying."