Disclaimer, the usual
After a large breakfast, and a few hours, dorothy, Madeline, and Ozma, were now standing next to a large underground lake. Dorothy and Madeline were both wearing Matching midnight blue bathing suits, while Ozma was wearing an emerald green one. Madeline however was still wearing a hat to keep herself distinguished from dorothy. The lake water was clear as crystal, and a decent temperature for being underground. The cavern was illuminated, only by a single large glowing crystal set in the center of the ceiling.
"the Nome King heats the water for me." Madeline blurted out.
"why?" both dorothy and Ozma asked curiously.
"well, at one point, this cavern was full of crystals, now that one in the ceiling is the only one left, I offered them to him in exchange for the service." Madeline said.
"I see." Dorothy said sliding the slippers off and walking to the edge of the lake.
"it looks incredibly clean." Ozma said.
"yep, it is, come on, here at the edge it will come up to your waist." Madeline said.
As the three of them stood at the edge of the water, Madeline was the first to go in, followed by dorothy.
"wow, this is warm." Dorothy said moving around a bit.
"and good for your skin." Madeline said.
"Ozma, come on, you can see us standing, you can't start sinking here." Dorothy said looking up at her.
Ozma shivered before slowly getting into the water. She then waded over to dorothy and took her hand tightly.
"Ozma, seriously, relax, I promise no harm will come to you while we're down here, and Wendell and Morris are just outside, ready to transport at my call." Madeline said giggling.
"Hatter, that doesn't make me any more reassured." Ozma said.
Dorothy and Madeline both giggled and dorothy slowly began to lead Ozma over into slightly deeper water. Ozma was shaking like a leaf in the wind. dorothy, however did manage to get her to try floating on her back, which was successful, but that was all Ozma wanted to do. Dorothy sighed and supported the girl ruler's head so that she wouldn't tilt it, go under, and subsequently go into a panic.
"are there any other effects of this water, like will it turn us blue or something?" dorothy asked curiously.
"Dorothy, it won't turn us blue, I promise you that" Madeline said.
"oh, can I take a crack at guessing?" Ozma asked.
"be my guest." Madeline said.
"it turns you bright pink and makes you feel warm for the rest of the day?" Ozma asked curiously.
"um…well, 23 hours but otherwise yes, how'd you guess?" Madeline asked taking her hat off and floating it on the water.
"lucky shot." Ozma said going wide-eyed.
"Maddie, is that just an effect of the water or is it something Roquat put in it?" dorothy asked.
"the warming feeling is the residual of the hot stones used to heat the water, the pink, well, Roquat and Mother Nature say it's the mix of minerals in the water, it's harmless." Madeline said making the hat spin in the water.
"well…" dorothy said looking down at Ozma.
"um…" Ozma added.
"yep, it's strange, but I trust them." Madeline said.
"you know, I've never actually met Mother Nature." Dorothy said thinking about it.
"oh, I'll have to introduce you." Madeline said smiling.
"don't trouble yourself, I'm sure I'll have a run in with her eventually." Dorothy replied shaking her head.
"anyways, how do you think things are going at the palace without us?" Ozma asked curiously.
Meanwhile in emerald city
After a rather energetic training session, Alex and Jack found themselves both sitting on the floor of the chambers, sweating profusely, and panting heavily.
"well, that was, fun." Jack said taking a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his brow.
"yes, it was." Alex said doing the same.
"I'll have to have someone run me an ice bath later." Jack said causing alex to give him a strange look.
"wow, I'm boiling, but even I wouldn't go that far." Alex said.
"Lemonade?" Ellie asked walking into the chambers with two glasses.
"yes, please, thank you." Alex said as ellie handed them the glasses.
"you two look beat, did you two end up in an all-out duel?" Ellie asked.
alex nodded taking a sip from the glass. Ellie giggled and shook her head.
"probably not our best decision on a hot day like this." Jack said.
"no, no it probably wasn't." Ellie said continuing to giggle.
"Ellie, please, while we both still have some sense of pride left?" Alex asked.
"right, sorry, anyways, if you need anything, I'll be with my sister." Ellie said leaving the chambers.
"odd, normally they're still planning the wedding." Jack said.
"well, everyone deserves a day off now and then." Alex said downing half the glass.
"some more than others, take dorothy for example." Jack said.
"yes, I know, she deserves one, but she I don't think she's had a quiet day in a long time." Alex said.
"alex, you know that's not a thought, that's a truth." Aislynn said walking in followed by toto, pockets, and eve.
"Oh, hey ace, I thought scarecrow would be with you." Alex said turning to look at her.
"he's helping bring in the food shipment, I got bored watching and then I found these three, do you know when eve was brought here?" Aislynn asked.
"I didn't even know she was here at all." Alex and jack both said causing them to look at each other.
Eve then walked onto Alex's lap, stretched out and purred.
"jack?" Alex asked.
"she says you're comfortable." Jack said.
"right, anyways, dorothy is always worried about something." Aislynn said stifling a giggle.
"true, I think she worries about you more than anything else, mostly due to your unhealthy book obsession." Alex said looking at the cat on his lap.
"okay, I'll be the first to admit, I am indeed obsessed, even scarecrow is getting worried about me, but there's always something I want to read about." Aislynn said.
"well, why not learn from experience?" Jack asked.
"now you're sounding like Scarecrow." Aislynn said rolling her eyes.
"don't roll your eyes, it's impolite." Alex said.
"sorry." Aislynn said picking up one of the wooden swords.
"alex made those, I have no idea when, or really why." Jack said.
"nice piece of craftsmanship." Aislynn said looking it over.
"made from oak, I got bored a few months back and crafted them, thinking that, in order to, you know stave off said boredom I could teach jack how to use a sword, then I got more preoccupied with the band." Alex said.
"Oh." Both Aislynn and jack said.
"hey eve?" Alex said causing the cat to look up at him.
"getting uncomfortable?" Aislynn asked.
"well, I'd like to stretch my legs, eve, can you find a nicer spot to lay down?" alex asked.
The cat meowed and got up, she then walked over to Aislynn who picked her up. Alex then stood up and tilted his head to both sides causing his neck to let out cracking sounds which caused both Aislynn and Jack to wince and toto to start barking.
"Alex, why do you do that?" Jack asked curiously.
"habit mostly." He replied
"oh, there you are ace." Betsy coming into the chambers with trot.
"here I am, I thought you two were with the china princess and Marshall mallow?" Aislynn asked.
"we were, then they started getting all lovey-dovey with each other." Trot said causing Aislynn to giggle.
"oh, come on you two, you're going to have to get used to that, it's what adults do." Aislynn said.
"Oh, and we learned something today." Betsy said.
"what's that?" the three of them asked.
"giant owls tend to have rather rough landings." Trot said.
"oh, Wiser is back?" Alex asked.
"yea, is he the only, giant owl in Oz?" Betsy asked.
"as far as any of us are aware." Aislynn said.
"Oh." Betsy and trot said
"oh, fair word of warning, when dorothy, Ozma, and Madeline return, they will be pink, because of the mineral contents of the water of the underground lake." jack said causing everyone to look at him strangely.
"yea, um, well, at least it's not going to be blue, or something." Aislynn said.
"I'm with ace on this one." Betsy said.
"it's strange, sure, but normally people don't leave the underground, and most of the residence are afraid of the lake for some reason, probably because both mother nature and Roquat say is perfectly safe." Jack said.
"do people not trust mother nature?" Trot asked.
"it's not that, it's just that, some of them think the turning pink thing is a little sinister or something." Jack said finishing his glass of lemonade.
"But it's perfectly safe." Came the voice of the Nome King as he appeared in the room causing everyone to jump.
"oh, hello Roquat." Jack said.
"Good day." He said.
"Nome King?" Trot asked turning to ace.
"in the flesh, and stone." Roquat said lighting his pipe.
"did Glinda know you were coming?" Alex asked.
"actually, she summoned me, for a commission, I've been here for a few hours, I was passing by when I heard jack mention the lake." He said blowing a few smoke rings.
"ah." Alex said.
"how's the sword been serving?" He asked turning to alex
"it's been serving well, haven't had to use it in a while." Alex said.
"hey, what did Glinda commission?" Aislynn asked.
"I don't tell, until it is done, but now, I have stayed long enough, I'm sure we'll all meet again eventually." He said vanishing leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke from his pipe.
back at the underground lake
After a few more hours, they managed to get Ozma comfortable enough to learn to tread water. And now they were all sitting on the edge wrapped in towels. Their skin was now a nice shade of pink.
"well, I think we made some great progress." Dorothy said smiling.
"Indeed, thank you." Ozma said getting up and stretching.
"come on, let's get to my old house, we can change into some regular clothes there and I can show you my little garden" Madeline said getting up and helping dorothy to her feet.
Dorothy smiled, taking the slippers in hand, the three of them then left the cavern with Madeline giving orders to Wendell and Morris to seal up the cavern. It didn't take long for the three of them to get to Madeline's house. Once inside they found outfits already set out for them. Once they were all changed into their outfits Madeline led them out back to where a beautiful rose garden was growing hovering over the garden was a golden ball of light, no bigger than a soccer ball. The light it let of as relatively warm.
"is that what I think it is?" Ozma asked.
"yes, I think it is." Madeline said.
"a sun orb." They both said in unison.
"what's a sun orb?" dorothy asked curiously.
"it's basically a ball of sunshine." Ozma said.
"how do you know about them?" dorothy asked turning to her.
"Mombi had one, once, traded it to a crooked wizard in the mountains for some potion ingredients, I think." Ozma said.
"I got mine from winning a bet." Madeline said causing dorothy to give her a look of disapproval.
"what kind of bet?" Dorothy asked sternly.
"I bet her that just using what I had, I could get my flowers to stay in bloom without sunlight, and with some materials from inside, I did it, and in a year, won the bet." Madeline said referring to some now vine covered lanterns.
"oh." Dorothy said sighing in relief.
"I'm shocked that you thought I would do something deceptive." Madeline said.
"Maddie, no offense, but given the fact that you are made up of most of my bad days as well as my good days, even I'm guilty of wanting to trick people on a bad day." Dorothy said.
"but your conscience always got the better of you, which is good." Madeline said.
"besides, who hasn't had that urge at least once?" Ozma asked.
"Ozma has a point, anyways, another week they'll be the perfect shade of red." Madeline said.
"so, are we eating lunch here or are we going to go back to the city, I'm hungry." Ozma said
"well, the closest thing I have to food around the house these days is tea." Madeline said.
"so, back to the city then?" dorothy asked.
"the shipment should be in by now." Ozma said.
"Morris! Wendell!" Madeline called.
Immediately the two of them appeared right in front of her
"yes boss?" they both said.
"we'll be returning to the emerald city, make sure the house gets cleaned up, I'll be returning here next week" Madeline said
"yes boss." They both said running to the house.
"So, dorothy, would you like to take us back, or shall I?" Madeline asked.
"Glinda isn't going to be too happy that my skin is pink." Ozma said.
"at least it's temporary but given that we are probably going to get a speech from her, it would probably be best if I take us back, that way you can get a 3-minute head start, though I might be blowing this out of proportion because Glinda and Ellie both really like pink." Dorothy said.
"I'm still liable to get a stern talking to." Madeline said.
"well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, you two ready?" dorothy asked offering them both a hand.
"as we'll ever be." They both said taking her hands.
"well then, to emerald city." Dorothy said clicking her heels.
And in that moment, they were off.
