Ch 2
( a few days later)
Dorothy plays with her ring, watching the small emerald shimmer in the light of her classroom. It was the best she could do with the money she had, lucky enough one of her student's parents owned a pawn shop and gave it to her for a discounted price. Dorothy thinks to herself, It has been a few days since the call between Marvel and I but it feels like yesterday, I hope that package he sent get here today in one piece. She snaps out of her trance at the sound of her door opening, standing in the doorway was Esteban Fusaro, the Spanish and Italian language teacher, with a sly smirk on his face, he remarks to her.
"Am I too late to sweep you off your feet Passerotto mio (my little bird)?"
Dorothy spins her chair to face him, she internally groans as she douses his attempt of fiery flattery with a bucket of water. He may have every other teacher here wrapped around his fingers but I'll be damned before he gets me. Dorothy clears her mind before speaking to him in a dry tone like the field of Kansas
"Hello, Sir. Esteban, what brings you here, classes are going to start within a half hour?"
He laughs to himself as he walks closer to her, he picks up her hand to eye the ring closely.
"Sei molto simpatico (You're so funny). Can't two coworkers have a pleasant chat every once in a while?"
As he said that last part, he looks into her eyes as he lightly kisses her hand. At that moment Dorothy pulls her hand away and holds it close as she stares him down. Esteban backs away pretending to straighten up his shirt, coughing slightly. Dorothy says calmly in the same tone,
"Mr. Fusaro that is no way to act to another teacher, if you could please stop with your constant fool'in around and realize I am not here for your amusement."
He backs away as Dorothy stands her ground, he turns from her and heads to the door slowly but looks back to her smirking and bows slightly.
"I see, well Miss. Dorothy, I apologize for the making you feel so… insulted. I hope you have a wonderful day."
He slams the door behind himself as he left, showing his true emotions. Dorothy smiles to herself in victory, Ha ha ha that will teach him to underestimate me, she sighs as she laid back in her chair until she hears a soft voice start to sing.
"If only I had a brain."
The voice sounds strained and sad, Dorothy felt her chest tighten as if something was wrong. She stands up trying to move closer to the voice, having this sense of urgency to help them. When she turns to her grand piano in the corner of the room, something starts to pull her to she gets to the piano, she starts to play the tune
"I'd unravel every riddle,
For any individual,
In trouble or in pain"
She begins to sing a song she had forgotten long ago.
"With the thoughts that you'll be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain."
She felt a small tear go down her cheek as she played on with the mysterious voice to the last note. As she played Marvel stood in the doorway unable to avert his eyes, he wasn't sure to be happy or scared for her. But one thing's for sure her life is going to be turned upside down.
~^owo^~
In OZ, Scarecrow was wondering in the garden twirling a blue rose in his hand. The palace was on high alert and rare moments like this made him remember the good old times. As he came upon a fork in the road he chuckled to himself remembering the whole ordeal when he first met Dorothy, till his emotions suddenly darkened. He leaned against the emerald pillar nearby, he looks up into the sky as he starts to sing his once cherry tune.
"I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers,
Consulting with the rain;
And my head I'd be a scratchin'
While my thoughts are busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain."
He sighs deeply remembering her touch as she tried to pull him up, he starts to hear a faint sound of a piano as he continued
"I'd unravel every riddle,
For any individual,
In trouble or in pain"
Suddenly he hears a sound of a familiar woman, her voice sounds like she is longing for someone or something.
"With the thoughts that you'll be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain."
He shot straight up as his mind started to race, the only other person who would know that song is …. Dorothy. Could it be? He goes onto the next verse
"Oh, I could tell you why
The oceans near the shore
I could think of things I'd never
Thunk before,
And then I'd sit down and think some more."
"I would not be just a muffin',
My head all full of stuffin',
My heart all full of pain;"
Together they sing
"And perhaps I'd deserve you and be
Even worthy even you
If I only had a brain."
He turns to look at the pillar once he noticed a light glow emanating from behind him, inside the gem he saw a what looked like the interior of some building. He eyed the scene closely then it started to move to face some kind of doorway with an old man standing there. He faintly heard him say
"Hello Dear, oh how much you have grown up."
Scarecrow tilts his head as he inspects the old man, that can't be… Wizard, but what, how…. What are you doing, who are you ..with. He then hears the woman speak,
"Oh, Marvel you scared me, what in heaven blazes are you doing here?"
Scarecrow sits there on his knees frozen by hearing her voice once again, Marvel chuckles as he walks closer to her.
"Well, Dorothy I did say there were things we needed to talk about and it was safer to bring you all the materials myself, rather than postal. I see you got some emerald like I told you to do."
Scarecrow sees him left Dorothy's hand and gets a close up of the man's face, Marvel mouths out, I'm sorry Scarecrow before everything fades away. Scarecrow yells out as he hits the pillar
"Dorothy… Wizard what have you gotten yourself into… what have you gotten her into?"
Scarecrow sits there as another form approaches from behind and places a hand his shoulder. He turns to see Glinda with a hurt smile on her face, he stands up to face her as he says just above a whisper
"Glinda, what is going on… why is the Wizard with Dorothy…. What are you getting her into?"
His anger started to show with his fist clenched to his sides. Glinda steps back knowing the how it was going to end,
"She is in danger, Scarecrow we are doing our best to protect her."
He turns to the pillar hiding his face in his hand, his voice was rough with anger
"What caused it Glinda?"
Glinda is silent as she backs away, Scarecrow looks up at the sky towards the mass of green clouds on the edge of the kingdom
" Tell me Glinda."
She sighs regretfully as she told him
"It's the witch of the west."
He turns slowly back to her, the color in his face had drained away.
"Dorothy killed her, I saw it happen."
"Old sprites like her will always be an influence on the land. There are more witches then just the ones you know of."
Scarecrow starts to pace back and forth
"Who are they Glinda and what do they want with Dorothy?"
Glinda walks over to a nearby bench and sits down
"What anyone else who has lost a loved one- revenge."
Scarecrow sits next to Glinda as he contemplates this in silents, She had a family than just her sister but she… oh, Dorothy do you even know what is coming for you, He looks to her as he tries to hide his frustration.
"What about Dorothy, I know if Wizard can get there surely they can get to her as well, we need to protect her, we we….."
Glinda puts a hand on his shoulder as she smiled lightly
"I'm glad to hear you say that because we may need her help to protect OZ."
He stands up looking at the green mass in the sky once more
"What's the plan Glinda"
"To bring her back to Oz"
He looks down at her.
"Is that truly the only way to keep her safe."
She stands up next to him
"Sadly yes, with her here we will have a better chance of saving the kingdom and protecting her. Her world has no magic or the understanding of it, here we can do more than just watch"
Scarecrow hangs his head
"I wish she was coming back on better terms"
"So do I but look at it this way you all get to see her again if she agrees to"
Scarecrow looks at her raising an eyebrow questioning
"So she has no idea what is going on?"
"By all, she knows Oz was some weird dream"
She links her arm to his to starts to lead him back to Palace with a wicked grin on her lips
"A dream mostly about you"
Scarecrow turned his head to hide his deep blushed, Glinda laughs out loud
"Did you really think you could hide it forever."
He looks down in defeat
"Yes, yes I did."
They kept on walking, Scarecrow in burning silents and Glinda humming for the bit of happy news she gave him. He turns to her with one more question
"How did you know she was in trouble."
She looks away sighs
"Its because she remembered, once she left she was supposed to forget it all. Closing the link between her and our world but her heart wouldn't let her. This bond she has with our world is oddly strong and hinted with magic somehow. Its strong enough for even low-level magic users to sense and it has only gotten stronger over the years. Soon enough the other witches can use that as some kind of homing beacon and cast spells on her."
They enter the palace and continue to head to messenger room
"If they are strong enough they could even teleport to her and that's if they have the skill. that's why Wizard is there to give her some kind of cover with his own presents and to see if she would like to come back or-"
She stops and looks down as she took a deep breath before starting again
"Completely erase her memory of this world and its people."
She stares into Scarecrow's eyes before continuing to their destination
"That includes you (sigh) but that is only if she doesn't want to come back and since she took Wizards advice on getting an emerald, I'm sure she will come back to us in no time. So don't worry your Highness, you two can work out these feeling of yours soon."
She laughs lightly as they make it to the room dragging a madly blushing strawman with her.
"Now let's tell the others to get here as soon as the can, shall we."
~^owo^~
Well, darling here we go one chapter down some unknown number more. Sorry if my grammar doesn't make sense mostly sleepy as I wrote this and my understanding of grammar rules sucks. I am in college and just became an entry-level officer for the game guild at my university and midterms are coming. I'll be back soon. Till then have a wonderful day loves.