Disclaimer, the usual.

It took dorothy a week to fully adjust to the new situation. a group of representatives from the university showed up to ask for a permit to start a bit of an archeological dig and expedition to a set of ruins from before Lurline blessed the land of Oz. pointing it out on the large map. Ozma was quick to give a blessing on the express condition that she be allowed to visit and get progress reports. Glinda wasn't allowed to argue. Now as the group left with their permit in hand, good for five years, as it wasn't unknown that pre-enchantment ruins were difficult to get into, these ruins had sat undisturbed for years because many for were afraid of it. walking within five miles would give anyone a strong sense of foreboding, and Shiz university was four miles away from it. this fact, was, as the small group sat in the chambers tossing Ellie's rubber ball around, the factor that worried most of them.

"I was hoping they were coming to deliver the news I wanted to hear, I guess Cassandra is being stubborn as usual." Glinda said.

"and that's a shock to whom?" Alex asked curiously

"well I'm also curious as to why anyone would want to get near those ruins, my private dorm was the farthest point from it, but the last time they tried to start a dig there, and an expedition, the terrifying presence felt there was almost like what was described as the chill of death herself." Glinda said finally bouncing the ball to Ozma.

"most of us are fully aware of the first attempt, but this time Oz has a ruler actually capable of helping." Ozma said catching it and bouncing it to dorothy.

"technically it has two if you count me." Dorothy said catching it and bouncing it to Glinda.

"well we do, no matter how reluctant you are." Glinda said smiling and bouncing the ball to alex.

"actually Glinda, you just described death, as a she?" Alex asked passing it back to her.

"yes, Death used to take form of a man, centuries ago from both of our standpoint, she can change form at will, but people started expecting him as a him, and trying to run, for all the good it would do." Glinda said sighing and passing the ball to dorothy.

"that's not what he's questioning Glinda, I think we're more or less questioning how you know what death looks like." Dorothy said bouncing the ball back.

"that's a story for another day, and not today." Glinda said smiling and passing the ball to Ozma.

"guess we'll have to be patient then, not much of a choice." Ozma said shrugging and bouncing the ball to dorothy.

"by the way, have any of you seen Zeb? I haven't seen or heard a peep from him since breakfast, and given the circumstances, them having just moved in a week ago, I'm surprised uncle ned allowed him to stay." Dorothy said.

"last I saw him he was chatting with Alyssa and Elena about something, they're probably at the café or something, he can't have gotten far though, Finley was with him." Glinda said.

"oh, he finally left the confines of the cellar and or the library?" Alex asked.

"yes, but he still doesn't like it." Glinda said shrugging.

Dorothy shook her head and bounced the ball back to Ozma before grabbing the scepter and starting for the door.

"where are you going?" Ozma asked.

"to go look for him, make sure he isn't causing any trouble." Dorothy said sighing.

"Finley or zeb?" alex asked curiously.

"both." Was Dorothy's response as she heard alex run over to catch up.

As they exited the chambers ellie was waiting outside for them. She smiled and slipped passed them without a word. However, it didn't take long for them to find Zeb and Finley as they were both in the courtyard, Zeb dozing on a bench with his hat over his eyes, Finley watering the flowers.

"do you always have to take it upon yourself to do servant work?" Alex asked going over to Finley.

"yes." Was his only response.

"Zeb get up, this is a Nice courtyard, you should be taking in its beauty, not sleeping." Dorothy said giggling.

"it's a warm day, nice time to take a seat somewhere and spend the day dozing and daydreaming." Zeb said.

"if only you weren't sitting in direct sunlight, at least there were some shaded areas at your ranch in California, out here your more than likely to get a bad sunburn." Alex pointed out.

"I've had some pretty bad ones before, doesn't get much worse." Zeb replied.

"so, what were those people from Shiz doing here anyways, what business did they want I mean, not that I really want to know, those guys give me the creeps." Finley said looking up from the watering can.

"they wanted a permit to return to an archeological dig and to be allowed to explore it, as a set of pre-enchantment ruins." Dorothy said.

"ah." Was all Finley said before returning to his task.

"so, any plans?" Zeb asked.

"not particularly, alex and I were thinking about heading down to the western castle to make sure things are clean and tidy for Alyssa and Terrance's honeymoon, but otherwise, no." Dorothy said.

"why?" Zeb asked.

"why go to a castle and make sure its tidy?" Alex asked.

"yes." Was his response.

"it's quite a long story, but on the short, it belongs to dorothy." Alex replied.

"I see." Zeb said.

"we'll have to show you some of the nicer places in Oz." alex said.

"that sounds nice, Elena gave me a map of Oz, is candy county as self-explanatory as its name implies?" zeb asked.

"yes, but it's a bit of a mess right now due to a heatwave that just went through" Madeline said appearing behind them.

"I thought Marshal Mallow was going to try to appeal to mother nature to divert heat away from candy county?" alex asked.

"he was supposed to, I'm not sure he ever got around to it quite yet." Madeline said.

"in candy county there is only one real rule and that's don't eat anything, there are exceptions to this rule, but it's really easy to make a mess of one's self while there as well." Dorothy said.

"the messiest place in Oz is the paint flower meadow." Madeline said appearing behind them.

"paint flower meadow?" alex asked.

"yes, the flowers are essentially pitcher plants, but they produce paint, when they fill up too much they tip over and pour the paint onto the ground." Madeline said taking a map from her pocket and unfolding it.

"I assume these maps are not to scale? I mean these places can't be so close to each other, otherwise there'd be a huge mess." Zeb said.

"you're right, they aren't drawn to scale, if they were the paper would be larger than this entire courtyard." Madeline said with a smile.

"there are some rather dangerous areas of oz as well, it's not all good." Dorothy said.

"typical of life isn't it?" Zeb asked.

"oh, right, dorothy, I was asked to deliver this to you, it's from the village, from Clarence I believe." Madeline said handing dorothy a green envelope.

Dorothy smiled and took it. opening it she was met with a matching green piece of paper with white writing on it.

"Clarence has started a consulting service, 'here to help you find out who you are' it's an advertisement." Dorothy said smiling.

"an advertisement aimed directly to you?" Alex asked.

"well, why not, stranger things have happened to us." Dorothy replied handing him the letter.

"oh, and I have an invitation to tea for you two at the garrisons if you wish to attend, I did get Glinda's blessing." Madeline said taking another envelope out and handing it to dorothy.

Meanwhile at castle garrison.

As the jester emerged from the vault he was surprised to find Rose waiting for him.

"you know, you'll have to tell them eventually, Ozma has ways of finding out, and the moment she finds out, dorothy will as well." Rose said.

"says the one who invited her over for tea, I do intend on telling her eventually, but now is not really that time." The jester said running his wand over the locks

"Why even lock it, they can't get out anyways." Rose asked.

"keep lily out, that gem only works for you, I've almost finished making one for Glinda." The jester said.

"but why did you tell her, if you were worried about dorothy finding out then telling Glinda was the worst thing you could have done because of Ellie." Rose pointed out.

"if I didn't tell her, and she found out, do you think I'd survive that confrontation?" The jester asked curiously.

"well, not likely, she would have gotten furious, all things considered this is a bad idea, if you hadn't appealed to the tribunal about the hourglass, you wouldn't have had much of a leg to stand on." Rose replied.

"I'm supposed to be the only one that has access to the vault, but the council and the tribunal forgot that I can be extremely clever and crafty." The jester said.

"couldn't we have it moved into the winter castle then?" Rose asked.

"The servants would throw a fit, so all in all, no, not even considering it, anyways if they do come they'll be here soon, go keep an eye out." The jester said, "I need to, take care of a quick thing first." He added waving his wand over the lock once more.

Rose nodded and headed up the stairs. The jester waited for her to shut the door before he leaned against the vault.

"I want you on your best behavior, no knocking until I get back down here, talk to yourself if you'd like you might get more intelligent conversation than you do with me, or talk to each other, but no knocking and no noise, the kid can't know, not yet, do you understand?" the jester asked.

A single knock came against the door. The jester smiled and locked the door once again, his paranoia was getting the better of him. As he ascended the stairs and to the parlor he found dorothy and alex there chatting with Rose, a moons tear sitting on the table between them.

"but is it possible to stop people from accessing certain memories with it?" Alex asked.

"yes, but it takes training, and it can be draining if someone is really trying hard." Rose said.

"so possible, but not recommended?" Dorothy asked.

"exactly, ah, was wondering when you were going to be finished." Rose said smiling at the jester.

"just making sure everything was alright with the vault." The jester said.

"what exactly is in it anyways?" Alex asked curiously

"nothing important to either of you, at least, not now, maybe not ever, life has had a bad way of hitting us with stuff like that." The jester said.

"so, a few more weeks to go, then the wedding, you two prepared?" Rose asked curiously.

"incredibly so." Dorothy and alex said in unison.

"that's good, oh, Brianna sent me a letter asking me to procure some exotic fruits for her, can you deliver them to her when you two go back?" Rose asked.

"of course, Brianna has been experimenting with punch recipes recently, she found something to counteract pink-fruit." Dorothy said.

"what's that?" The jester asked pouring himself a cup of tea.

"Lacasa." Alex said.

"hmm interesting, I never thought about that, the nectar probably has something in it that counteracts it." the jester said.

"that's Brianna's current theory, also, Glinda wanted me to ask you guys, do you know about those ruins not far off from Shiz?" dorothy asked.

"the pre-enchantment one?" the jester asked.

"yes." She replied.

"well, no one's ever managed to actually open it for starters." The jester said.

"and no one has been able to stay there for more than five minutes without running away terrified." Rose said.

"odds are its one of the shrines to the immortals, considering the size, I'd say probably to mother nature and death." The jester said.

"odd combo." Alex said.

"they're sisters, the only ones of the immortals that are." Rose said sighing.

"really?" dorothy asked.

"yes, and they're always at each other's throats, because mother nature is about, well nature, preserving and creating life and such." Rose said.

"and the other is quite self-explanatory." The jester said.

"right." Dorothy said taking another sip from her tea, the scepter finally decided to pipe up and make some bored sound tones.

Meanwhile back at emerald city.

Zeb had gone to the library where he found Glinda, standing on one of the ladders, looking for a specific book.

"you know, when you come into a room, it's at least nice to acknowledge that you're there, otherwise you end up scaring people." Glinda said finding the book and floating down from the ladder.

"right, sorry, I should have coughed or something." Zeb said.

"anyways, did you need something?" Glinda asked.

"I was just looking for a place to think, that didn't involve taking the five-minute walk to my room, the monkey, Finley I think his name is, went back down to the dungeons so I've been wandering for a bit." Zeb said.

"well apart from here, the quietest place in the palace is our sick wing, since no one really uses it, save for dorothy if she manages to get injured, and Elena, since she works in there." Glinda replied

At that moment the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room struck two.

"is there a clock in the sick wing?" zeb asked as his ears started ringing.

"not one that does that, it chimes every fifteen minutes but not as loud as the grandfather clock, there is also a clearing not far from here, that's where dorothy sometimes goes to think, or sulk, it depends on the situation." Glinda said.

"why would she sulk?" Zeb asked curiously.

"usually if her parents are brought up, or she starts remembering, or ends up in a situation that upsets her, she goes there, and sulks, it's been a while since she was last there though." Glinda said smiling.

"I guess that's good, hey, um, what can you tell me about a lot of the places on this map?" Zeb asked pulling it from his shirt pocket and unfolding it.

"I see Elena loaned you this, odd she doesn't usually lend that out without following the borrower like a hawk." Glinda said.

"why would she need it if she works in the sick wing?" Zeb asked curiously as he laid it out on the table.

"some medicinal ingredients are only available in certain areas. The map isn't large enough to scrawl anything on the margins or on pictures of areas, so she puts a tick mark next to them then writes in a notebook what medicinal can be found there, she then cross references it if it ever comes down to it." Glinda said.

"well apart from Madeline, Elena seems to be the only other person with a map like this one." Zeb said.

"that's because there aren't many of them that are like this, to get one with a majority of the places in Oz on it these days it would likely cover both those windows over there like the curtains." Glinda said sighing.

"so, you don't even have one?" Zeb asked curiously.

"I've tried to find one, its best if you can try and get one of these small ones yourself, as its easier than getting one that you needs its own separate room to read, I know my way around the entirety of oz well enough to get myself out of danger if I were to end up without my wand but I'd still like to have one of those as it also gives you a little blot mark to indicate where you are, see that red dot in the middle there?" Glinda asked.

"makes it hard to get lost." Zeb said.

"yes, but it's not to scale and very few of those were ever made, the person who printed the originals is also not in that business anymore." Glinda said sighing.

"so how do people cope when they get lost?" Zeb asked.

"pick a direction and walk usually, if you're so disoriented that doing that doesn't get you anywhere, and you manage to hit the border of the deadly desert or something, at least you know to turn around and you're bound to hit at least a small village at some point or another." Glinda said.

"I see." Zeb said trying to cope with all this information.

"it's rather hard to understand for people who are new to Oz, some outsiders from countries like Ev over or here, or Ix, have a course that teaches you the basics of Oz in the event one of their people decides to travel here, which isn't often." Glinda said pointing the two countries out on the map.

"if they aren't part of Oz then why leave them on the map?" Zeb asked curiously.

"because all the countries are, for the most part, partnered, I guess is the word for it, we're allied in the event that we're really against the wall, the problem being the deadly desert and the nonestic ocean separating a lot of the lands." Glinda said.

"not easy to cross?" Zeb asked.

"well the deadly desert is self-explanatory for the most part, but if you so much as touch the sands of the deadly desert you'll turn to dust yourself, and not too many people from oz have traveled far enough to see the nonestic ocean, but I'll tell you, it's quite pretty." Glinda said smiling.

"you've been there?" Ellie asked coming into the library with a few books.

"once, before you were born, Cassandra got permission to take us out there." Glinda said sitting down in one of the armchairs

"people must get lost in Oz rather often I assume?" Zeb asked curiously as he looked over the map.

"not really, the yellow brick road goes through a few major towns so if you can find it, you'll find civilization eventually, otherwise, just pick a direction and walk." Ellie said putting her books back in their places.

"I already told him that." Glinda said.

"oh." Was ellie's response.

"Look, I think I'm going to go have a lie down, can you return that map to Elena, I don't really need it, just wanted to know more about this place." Zeb said starting for the door.

"stay out of trouble." Ellie said smiling as she walked over and refolded the map.

Zeb shook his head and left the library, rummaging through his pockets he eventually found the key to his room and started in the direction of it. even after a week, though he would never admit it to anyone, he was still quite confused.