Disclaimer, the usual

"12 baths, and you still reek of molasses." Alex said.

"Alex don't rub it in please." Dorothy said.

Dorothy had found herself sitting in a chair, having her hair cut by her aunt as some of the molasses that had gotten into her hair had crystalized and congealed upon arrival at the city. According to Glinda it was caused by the scepter discharging some energy, as the act of transporting them back to the city wouldn't have been able to cause it. The crystallization wasn't moving but the congealed mass was. And one thing that became apparent was that her hair was going to have to be incredibly short.

"honestly I'd give you a telling off for this, but you've suffered enough." Glinda said walking into the room.

"and I'm never going to live it down either." Dorothy said groaning.

"I'm sure Madeline has some perfume that can cover up the molasses smell, honestly it should have faded by now." Glinda said.

At that moment however, the scepter which was floating in the corner of the room let out a high pitch squealing noise causing all of them to turn to it.

"odd, has it ever done that before?" Em asked curiously.

"no, but it's been acting strangely, how much did you guys see?" dorothy asked worriedly.

"enough to know you honestly should have listened to the scepter, the warning signs were rather clear, however had you listened to it, we'd likely would've had to rescue Marshall mallow instead." Glinda said.

"okay, why would the scepter choose to act like this now?" dorothy asked.

"Not sure, I've never actually seen an object of power acting like that, I've read about it, but as I was telling the others earlier, there are only three or four documented cases of it happening." Glinda said

At that moment the scepter let out a low pitch pinging sound that seemed to be coming from the crystal orb at the top. It let off an air of disappointment.

"seems like it feels that we should know what's happening but is disappointed that we don't." Alex said holding out his hand for it.

Immediately the scepter flew to him and let out a high-pitched ringing noise.

"seems like you may be right, but I can't help but feel we should look into this." Dorothy said turning to him.

"Glinda, do you have any notes on those documented cases you mentioned?" Alex asked curiously.

"somewhere, I'd have to head back home and look for them, I know I didn't bring them here." Glinda replied.

"what about the Grimmerie?" Madeline asked appearing in the room, now carrying a new hat which she handed to dorothy.

"What about it? I can't read anything in it save for one spell, otherwise the book has a mind of its own and scrambles about the letters on the page at random." Glinda said

"but the book was never meant for you, as has been stated, the Grimmerie can be considered alive, as it does have the ability to think, to judge, but it doesn't have the full power to take action without a conduit, someone like dorothy, perhaps she'd be able to read it as the Grimmerie chose her as champion?" Madeline suggested.

"interesting theory Maddie, but I don't want to handle the Grimmerie, like the scepter, its more trouble than its worth, at least I've gotten used to having the scepter around." Dorothy said.

Immediately, as if in response, the scepter let out a low-pitched noise that sounded like a mix between humming and growling.

"The scepter seems to say otherwise, dorothy." Glinda said before Madeline could respond.

"however, this is an odd case, because, as far as memory serves, no object of power has tried to communicate with their owners with manners of bangs, bells and whistles." Madeline said.

"it's also the only object of power that listens to two masters fully, as has been pointed out on numerous occasions, which I might add, has also been pointed out to be impossible by all known laws of magic." Alex said.

The scepter, then flashed three times, and let out a pinging noise as if to say, 'that's a fair point.'

"perhaps you two, over the next couple of days should try to see if it really is trying to communicate with you, then we can see if you can bridge this communication gap, but honestly the more we talk about it, the sillier it sounds." Em said taking a step back from her niece.

"Emily, I'd be careful what you say around that thing, you know what it's capable of." Glinda said starting for the door.

Dorothy sighed and looked at herself in the mirror, her hair was well above the length she was used to. It didn't cover her ears anymore.

"well, at least it'll grow back." Dorothy sighed getting up and brushing herself off.

"I think its cute." Alex said walking over to her.

The scepter let out a fast pitch chiming sound as if in agreement.

"Seems the scepter agrees." Em said smiling.

"Maddie why are you taking notes?" dorothy asked curiously

"Why wouldn't I be taking notes? This is interesting." Madeline said scribbling some notes on a notepad.

"Maddie if you're willing to wait while I change into something more suitable than a night gown, we can do a study of the scepter and what's going on with it later." Dorothy said sighing.

"much as I'd like that, I do have some things to attend to" Madeline said smiling.

Dorothy shook her head and sighed before grabbing the hat Madeline had given her and leaving the room and heading for her closet. Changing into a red version of her usual outfit, she sighed and looked in the mirror. Grabbing the hat Madeline had given her, she looked it over and tried it on. It was a sleek and shiny top hat, made from a shiny black material with a white band above the brim. She decided it would look better in red matching with the outfit.

"looks nice." Alex said causing her to jump.

"Jesus alex, don't do that!" dorothy said sitting down in a chair and catching her breath.

"sorry." He said walking over to her.

"Alex, did you mean what you said?" Dorothy asked looking at him.

"what about?" alex asked curiously, letting go of the scepter and letting it float between them.

"That I look cute with my hair this short." Dorothy asked getting up and making eye contact.

"of course, I meant it." He said smiling.

Dorothy smiled back and hugged him tightly before turning back to the mirror.

"I guess, its not that bad, like I said it'll grow back." Dorothy said with a sigh.

"anyways, are you hungry at all? Your aunt wants us to get something eat, usually I'd jump at the chance for food, but our trip to candy county has rather put me off eating for a while." Alex said.

"I feel the same, my stomach is still a little queasy." Dorothy said taking his hand

"are you sure you don't want to try some of Jon's candied ginger?" alex asked pulling a brown wax paper bag from his pocket.

"how long have you been carrying that?" dorothy asked curiously.

"not long, couple of hours at most, I had to find something to do while you were bathing." He replied.

"not now alex, maybe later, or tomorrow, lets just head to the kitchens, its best not to go against my aunt." Dorothy said holding her hand out for the scepter.

"she is quite intimidating to be honest." Alex said.

Dorothy smiled, and they left the room together, toto and pockets passed them, going back to Dorothy's room. The scepter seemed to be humming, letting out a low reverberation, it seemed content with the situation as it was presently.

"you know the worst part?" Dorothy asked curiously.

"apart from the fact that neither of us are going to live this down? Or the part that people asking who or what smells strongly of molasses won't let you?" alex replied, the scepter buzzed a bit making an inquiring tone.

"well, that about covers it, and I still feel sticky, like I just came out of that pool." Dorothy replied squeezing his hand.