Do I still need to put this disclaimer here? Anyways quick side note, this chapter is long, only for the reasons that I couldn't find a way to mix the tones by splitting in into parts without myself falling asleep, several rewrites later…
Once everyone was in the banquet hall and socializing, dorothy excused herself back to the chambers with alex. Once they got there dorothy let the scepter float in place for a bit, pinging irritatedly before it released another burst of energy.
"Seriously, just a few minutes, that all you had to do, be quiet for a few minutes and you can't even manage that." Dorothy snapped angrily at it.
The scepter let out a low, ashamed sounding ping, before buzzing and shooting out another small burst of energy.
"Its not her fault you know." Madeline said causing them both to jump
"her?" alex asked catching his breath.
"well, isn't that what most people eventually refer to their tools as? By the female pronoun?" Madeline asked.
"well, that's not the point, what were you talking about?" Dorothy asked.
"it's the blue moon, it causes magical things to act rather strangely, I'm sure someone will have noticed that the slippers are glowing unusually bright, something they usually only do when you're not wearing them." Madeline said.
Dorothy looked down at her feet and indeed Madeline was right, the slippers were glowing unusually bright, they didn't feel any different, they were just glowing.
"anyways, come on, Roquat has an announcement to make, and even I'm curious to find out what it was ellie and the others commissioned." Madeline said grabbing them both by the wrist and dragging them out of the chambers, the scepter following closely behind.
"ah, where'd you two go?" Alyssa asked as they approached.
"back to the chambers, to give the scepter a scolding." Madeline said.
"so, not far, anyways, Roquat has an announcement but I asked him to wait for you two to come back before he made it, I think its about whatever the others commissioned." Alyssa said.
"indeed, it is." Came Roquat's booming voice.
"As many of you know, with the wedding, as none of us could agree who would take their places as captains, and let's face it, I don't think any of us could live up to their standards." Elena said taking the stand her uniform transforming into a white dress.
"So, eventually we all agreed that the two armies should combine and march under one banner." Ozma said coming up with her.
"however, a part that Ozma, Glinda, Locasta, and even dorothy was unaware of was that we had commissioned something from the Nome king to make it even more of a special thing." Alison said as her uniform did the same.
"Aislynn, or ace as we call her, the granddaughter of the wonderful wizard himself, found some blueprints of her grandfather's and passed them on to ellie." Brianna said coming up as well in the same condition.
"we all met up in secret at Brianna's ice cream parlor and went through the designs that we liked but could only agree on one." Caitlyn said joining them as the same transformation occurred.
"Ellie, being resourceful as her sister usually is, devised a plan to have Roquat bring this design to life." Chrissy said coming up with ellie their dresses changing simultaneously.
"and that design, was of an air ship, a literal flying ship, for a bit, after blocking my sister out, Roquat, Caitlyn, Chrissy and I altered the design to fit the nature of what was needed." Ellie said smiling
Dorothy looked over to Glinda and Locasta and was met with a look of both shock, and slight disapproval. Immediately ellie took out her wand and send a ball of light out of it. the room dimmed and the room was immediately filled with the image of a large ship with a metallic hull.
"designed to float using a special magical crystal, it's size can be found on the blueprints I shall make available to your queen, its appearance however is deceiving, it is much larger on the inside, and once you two return from your honeymoon I shall teach you how to control the thing, however, one question remains, what do you wish to christen it? that is, name it?" Roquat said.
"you two don't have to decide immediately, but we all agreed it'd be best if you two would be the ones who named it." Ellie said coming up to them as the image faded from the room.
Dorothy sighed and looked over at Aislynn, who seemed to be doing her best not to meet anyone's gaze, with her nose now in a book. Dorothy smiled, while on one hand, she didn't approve of Aislynn keeping this from her but on the other hand she wasn't surprised. She thought it was rather sweet that Aislynn was able to bring one of her grandfather's idea's to life. However, her thoughts were broken by alex taking her hand. He looked at her, with a look she knew well, he thought she didn't approve of ace's decision, but the truth was quite the contrary. However, this train of though was broken by Alyssa hitting a fork on the side of a glass and clearing her throat.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the food is an open buffet, my husband and I have something to discuss quick and we'll right back, really quick." Alyssa said as she took Terrance's hand and dragged him out of the ballroom.
Dorothy looked at alex and held his hand tight.
"I don't think there was anything wrong with what ace did." Dorothy said.
"I'm glad you think so, I personally think it was a rather sweet thing for her to do, I mean, I've seen that smoke contraption in the chambers, and if ace's grandfather could do that, imagine what people who build contraptions professionally could do." Alex said leading dorothy over to the buffet table.
"Wonders." Roquat said happily.
"now, my question is, why wasn't I let in on the secret?" dorothy asked curiously.
"dorothy the fact that you felt the need to ask that question offends me." Madeline said trying to stifle a giggle.
"what? Surely Glinda couldn't penetrate your mind, of all things?" Dorothy asked.
"our mind, but its surprisingly not that hard, she would just have to catch me off guard to do so." Madeline said as she turned and walked over towards the large punchbowl
"I have to admit, it was clever of them getting the plans from ace, I wouldn't have suspected her involvement in all this." Glinda said walking over to the two of them.
"I think that was probably the point, as I was only aware of ellie and company planning it, ace gave no hints, not even a word that she might have had a part in it." dorothy said glancing back at her.
It was at this moment that Terrance and Alyssa came back into the ballroom, both of them having a grin on their face dorothy had only ever seen Madeline give and it made her feel slightly uneasy. The two of them, without a word, went over to the buffet table, each filled a plate with different things and then went over to the large table set for them. Both Alyssa's parents, and Terrance's parents were also set up at that table but something both dorothy and alex noticed simultaneously was that there didn't appear to be a place set up for Elena. At a guess they both assumed that Elena didn't want to be too close to their mother in case something happened. Grabbing a plate for herself dorothy picked up various food items and went to look for hers and Alex's seats.
"over here." Madeline said pointing to a table
The table was only set up for two, alex and dorothy shared a glance before alex shrugged and they walked over to it. on the table were two name plates, one with Dorothy's name, which had a little kitten next to her name. and one for alex which had a wolf on it. they both chuckled and sat down, as they did they both immediately found silver goblets appearing on the table in front of them. Both were filled with the punch which Brianna had made. They looked around the room for a minute, they could see their family members in close proximity. But they were also rather close to the grand table. Toto, pockets, and the rest of the cats took their vigil in a corner where Brianna had put them down some food. As they looked around, something became slowly but evidentially apparent.
"If I were to hazard a guess" alex started, "I'd say, we were somewhere in the middle of the distance between the sets of tables." Alex said
"not too far, not to close." Dorothy said looking it over.
"why would they go through this kind of trouble on their wedding day just to make sure we're content?" alex asked curiously.
"no idea." Dorothy said shaking her head and picking up a bread roll with what appeared to be berries
Alex picked one up and sniffed it.
"huckleberries I think." He said taking a bite, "yep definitely huckleberries." He concluded.
"I'm rather shocked by the fact that you know that." Alyssa said causing both of them to jump.
"Jeez, leave the scaring to Maddie!" dorothy said catching her breath as Alyssa exploded into a giggling fit.
"how did you do that anyways?" alex asked between breaths
"I helped a bit." Madeline said appearing on the other side of them causing them to jump again.
"okay, Maddie, seriously you know none of us like that." Dorothy said sternly
"I'm aware, but that doesn't stop me." Madeline said smiling.
"by the way, I heard you finished Dorothy's mask for rose's masque ball in a few days." Alyssa said.
"what about our party?" came the voice of the jester as he walked over.
"dorothy and I are actually coming to it." Alex said.
"oh, you managed to convince her?" The jester asked through a chuckle.
"nope, mads did, she's even made a masque for her." Alex said.
"okay I'm confused what's the difference between the way I said those two words, masque and mask?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"not much I think, anyways, lets see what you've come up with." The jester said turning to Madeline.
Madeline smiled and as if from nothing pulled a porcelain mask out of thin air. It was a harlequin mask, that bore more of a striking resemblance to dorothy, the porcelain was mostly a creamy tinted beige with pinkish blushing where the cheeks would be. The eyes were surrounded by a black lining that was meant to symbolize another mask. Where the lips where was blood crimson porcelain.
"I used my own face as reference for the measurements, it'll stay on perfectly without a string." Madeline said.
"and I just lost a bet." The jester said.
"who with?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"none of your concern at the moment, but where in Lurline's name did you get the inspiration for that?" the jester asked curiously
"a book I had been reading her, it was in French and all we had was an illustration to go by, I've just got a soldiers outfit in my room that I'm going to wear, not too much of a fan of masques," alex said,
"is there a story behind that?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"no." alex quickly said.
The scepter, however, having done its best to be good, pinged a few times in disagreement causing both dorothy and Madeline to giggle.
"you are NOT I repeat NOT telling her that story!" alex shouted.
"alex, hush you're just making a fool of yourself." Alyssa said.
"looks like your mother is trying to attract your attention" The jester said looking over to the grand table.
Alyssa turned, as did everyone else to see Alyssa mother with what appeared to be a paper airplane in her hand, poised to throw it at her daughter.
"you four might want to head to the other side of the room" Alyssa said sighing.
Dorothy, alex and Madeline all nodded. The jester stayed stalwart however and opted to watch. Dorothy grabbed the scepter as she got up and she, alex and Madeline walked back over to the buffet table where Elena was standing, watching the scene unfold.
"Glinda, if you would be so kind?" Elena asked turning to her.
"on it." Glinda said raising her wand and pointing it at the grand table.
Immediately it seemed a barrier formed around it. cutting them off from the rest of the room. The room fell deathly still and silent as they watched Alyssa talk to her mother. Suddenly however it seemed she said something that struck a nerve with Alyssa. Elena sighed, shook her head, and looked at Glinda.
"told you." Elena said.
"okay, you were right, what of it?" Glinda asked.
"I almost guarantee our mother is voicing her displeasure once again about the entire situation, she does like Terrance, its just our other live choices she doesn't approve of." Elena said turning back to what appeared to be a shouting match.
"reminds me of how my father and I used to be." Mr. teak said as he served himself some punch.
"what this kind of thing was just your average Sunday?" Alex asked curiously.
"honestly it was more of our routine, my father never approved of anything I did." Mr. teak said.
"yes, so you've voiced on several occasions." Both Elena and dorothy said in unison.
"now the argument seems to be reaching a fever pitch, Glinda, as I am almost sure I know what's about to happen can you please remove the barrier?" Mr. teak asked curiously.
"I do know what's about to happen and its how every single one of these arguments between us and our mother ends." Elena said nodding to Glinda.
Glinda sighed and waved her wand again, the barrier collapsing, suddenly they were met with the shouting.
"WHY IS IT THAT EVEN WHEN ITS SUPPOSED TO BE SOMETHING GOOD YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN IT FOR MY SISTER AND I!?" Alyssa shouted, her voice breaking.
"ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT YOU KEEP GOING AGAINST OUR… "But that was as far as their mother got before Alyssa cut her off.
"OUR? YOU MEAN YOUR, YOU KNOW FATHER NEVER AGREES WITH THE FACT. WHY IS IT THAT YOU CAN'T JUST ACCEPT MINE AND ELENA'S CHOICES? WHY DO YOU WANT US TO THROW EVERYTHING WE'VE WORKED ON AND FOR AWAY?" Alyssa shouted.
"WHY DO YOU TWO ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SUCH A DISSAPPOINTMENT!?" their mother shouted back.
This seemed to strike a nerve with Mr. teak as he backed up and alex noticed. He knew this was similar to the argument his father and his late grandfather once had. Alyssa however took a step back.
"I was not expecting that." Elena muttered under her breath.
"A-A DISSAPPOINTMENT!? IF THAT, IS HOW YOU SEE, EVERYTHING, MY SISTER AND I HAVE DONE, THEN YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME AT OUR WEDDING! GUARDS!" Alyssa shouted
Immediately two of the royal guards marched into the room and saluted to Alyssa.
"please escort my mother out of the palace and out of the city, father dearest, make sure mother doesn't try to make another run for it." Alyssa said.
"just once, I wish our mother wouldn't cause a scene, I don't even think its intentional, but if the argument hadn't stopped soon, I imagine what happened once at your castle would have happened here." Elena said turning to Glinda.
"for context you two, for whatever reason, anytime their mother gets too angry or upset she's prone to suddenly releasing a burst of magical energy the way you tend to when you lose control." Glinda said turning to dorothy.
"that doesn't come as a comfort." Dorothy said watching as Mrs. Fulton was escorted out by both her husband and the guards.
"its not supposed to, she isn't even a proper practitioner of magic, we described her as a teacher, but she was also a witch, but she was never really good at it, any time she tried even a simple spell it would blow up in her face." Elena said pushing her glasses up her nose.
"so, she wanted you to excel where she couldn't succeed?" Mr. teak asked.
"I'm sure that strikes a rather hard cord with you, doesn't it?" Elena asked.
"you know it, that argument ended exactly like the one my father and I had, and dorothy were it not for your parents, bless 'em, I don't think I would be half the man I am now." Mr. teak said sighing
"yet for the longest time you became like him, my question is, why don't you ever accept your father for what he was, he made you strive to not become like him, to choose your own path, I cant help but feel like while it backfired, causing you to act just like him, maybe, and this is just a thought, those were his intentions?" alex asked.
Mr. teak was taken aback by this; indeed, the thought had crossed his mind several times, but now that he was hearing it from someone other than himself. He said nothing, he simply shook his head and backed away.
"alex, I'm surprised at you, how could you talk to your own father like that?" dorothy asked curiously.
"dorothy, this is something I'll need to explain to you later." Alex said.
"yes, you will, however, now the question is, who's going to make sure Alyssa is alright?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"not it." both Elena and Glinda said.
"but she's your sister." Ellie retorted walking back over to them.
"Ellie, when it comes down to it, I am not a smooth talker, I mean, you can clearly see Alyssa is distressed by all this." Elena said.
"but you're still her sister, its kinda part of the job description." Chrissy said walking over.
"or are you just too scared to admit that even though she's become nicer over the years again, that you're still intimidated by her?" Alison asked.
"I never said I wasn't, Alyssa is literally a head taller than me, bigger than me, faster than me, the only thing I beat her in is intelligence, and even Caitlynn, Brianna, and you ellie, have me beat in that." Elena said.
"but your mother always ruins everything thing that's special to you, is that the reason you never return home?" Alison asked.
Dorothy rolled her eyes and shook her head, she knew this wasn't going to go anywhere, at least not anywhere good. She looked at alex who nodded and the two of them walked over to the table where Alyssa was sitting, her hands covering her face. Terrance doing his best to console her.
"you two want to try, I mean, its not like we didn't know this was going to happen." Terrance said sighing.
"why did you invite her then?" Terrance's mother asked curiously.
"because we figured it was worth a try, as you can see, that didn't work out." Terrance said.
Dorothy nodded and cleared her throat.
"Alyssa?" dorothy asked.
"what?" she responded bitterly.
"are you alright?" dorothy asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine, I'm just, frustrated is all." Alyssa said leaning back into her chair, uncovering her face revealing that she had been crying.
"Alyssa, I know I'm probably not the best person to be consoling you over parental issues." Dorothy said before Terrance's mother cut her off.
"why not dear, you seem to be an expert at dealing with most matters, knowing the right thing to say." Mrs. Chambers said.
"not in this case, no, I was never really old enough to have arguments with my parents before they, passed." Dorothy said walking around the table and over to Alyssa.
"passed?" Mr. Chambers asked sounding confused.
"both of Dorothy's parents, her mother and father, died rather unexpectedly and tragically when we were quite young, before I had actually met her." Alex said.
"actually, when it comes to issues of parental problems, alex is a better expert at that than I am, as while he and his father have a bit of a strained relationship, they at least try to get along, though thinking on it, I'm not sure if that's for my sake, or for his own." Dorothy said sighing.
"bit of both, but I think what dorothy wants to say, is that even though your mother doesn't approve of the things you do, the decisions you make, you should just take in your stride, you said you knew this was liable to happen, heck even dorothy told me about your entire plan to have the guards on standby, but you shouldn't let her get to you." Alex said, his voice suddenly echoing around the room.
It was then that the two of them turned around and realized that all eyes were now on them, the scepter pinging happily at this.
"well, I guess now would be a good time for you two to do your speech, as I know you have one." Terrance said, clearing his throat.
"well, not properly prepared and honestly it would be more proper for Elena to start but considering, oh never mind, dorothy over to you." Alex said.
Dorothy looked over at the crowed nervously, she had only ever spoken publicly like this once. And that was in a war tent. She sighed, let go of the scepter, and cleared her throat.
"Alyssa, alex does have a point, you shouldn't let your mother's disapproval of yours and Elena's decisions wind you up, I mean remember when we first met?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Oh, why am I not surprised she started there?" Came the voice of Locasta from the other side of the room causing dorothy to turn, "sorry." She added.
"you weren't exactly the nicest, as I have made clear to just about everyone at one point or another, you were by the book strict, controlling, and honestly quite mean, to the point where you were causing more harm emotionally to everyone, including your own sister." Dorothy said taking Alyssa's hand.
"you were fully aware what you were doing was wrong, but you became bent around the orders you had been given, which for the sake of time and an argument, we won't be bringing up today." Elena said walking over.
"yes, I felt that I needed to be in control, I remember how I was, and were it not for you dorothy, I imagine I would have just gotten worse." Alyssa said smiling.
"because you had gotten so bad, to the point where the rest of the girls just straight up followed your orders, and didn't try to argue anymore, until I managed to drop back in just in time for the wedding of the china princess and marshal mallow." Dorothy said.
"you were the first person, in years, to extend any kindness or courtesy to me, and its what made me take a look at myself in the mirror and realize I was in the wrong." Alyssa said recollecting the events.
"and while you've had a lot of ups and downs, the both of you have." Dorothy said looking at Elena.
"not as many as you though." Elena said
This caused dorothy to chuckle, she wasn't sure why, as usually this would annoy her, but as she looked out the window at the blue moon. She realized the point she was trying to get at.
"Elena is right though, and you can learn from me, despite the fact that I am not the best person, I'm not perfect, for every good thing there just seems to be something that catches up to me, and turns the world on its head, you shouldn't let your own parents get to you, because, like with Alex's father, if you strive too hard not to be like your mother, because I know under that wedding gown you have your sword strapped to your hip." Dorothy said causing Elena to cut her off with a giggle.
"of course she does, one because our mother wouldn't approve and two, because a soldier- "was as far as Elena got before their father came back in.
"is always prepared, for anything." He said cutting her off.
"thank you, as I was saying, if you strive far to hard not to be like her, to go against what she is and wants you to be like, a point alex brought up no more than five minutes ago, you'll wind up becoming like her, just as Mr. Teak started emulating his own father's behaviors with alex." Dorothy said turning to alex.
He smiled nodded and took over.
"you and Terrance have something great, between you two, when I first met you two I wasn't exactly the nicest person either but thrown directly into the fray I had to adapt, and I now see why exactly the two of us" alex said before Alyssa cut him off.
"were chosen as best man and maid of honor, yes, because you two, while not perfect as you both have your faults, which for the most part you at least try and embrace, are the people we knew would need if anything happened to go awry, and you're right, thinking on the relationship between you and your father, its literally just like myself and our mother." Alyssa said standing up from her chair.
"I mean, and no offence to you sister dear." Elena said cutting in, "I was rather skeptical of the entire thing, I wasn't sure that mother would allow you and Terrance to be wed, but despite the odds, she approved, and so far that's the only thing she's ever agreed with, at least verbally, when Terrance came into the picture it was because all of oz was preparing for a war against one man, you two immediately seemed to get along with each other, like two peas in a pod." Elena said.
"and when I first met him, I knew, or rather, I had hoped, this man would become my son-in-law." Mr. Fulton said smiling.
"hoped is probably the better word for it." Mr. chambers said chuckling.
"right" the group all said in unison.
"and when we… "both Alyssa and Terrance started to say in unison but immediately stopped and shared a glance.
"oh, go on, I'm sure you both are going to say the exact same thing anyways." Elena said chuckling.
The two of them shared another glance and nodded.
"when we first met, it was like…" the two of them started to say before becoming at a loss for words.
The room fell silent for a moment, the two of them turned and started whispering. Not even dorothy could tell what they were saying, and it sounded more like they were speaking in some kind of code they had devised. After a few minutes of deliberation, the two of them both turned and smiled.
"it was, for lack of a better metaphor, like an incomplete circuit finally coming together to create both a spark and a light." Terrance said
"and over the years, through adventures and misadventures, Terrance and I grew closer, but I also grew uneasy, not thanks in part to my mother whom as you all just heard, almost spoiled this entire event for the two of us." Alyssa said.
"but you two don't stay down and out for long." Alex said.
"and neither do you two, one of you is almost always there to pick the other up, just as our vows said." Alyssa said smiling.
"and that is the kind of relationship you two have and will always have." Both of Terrance's parents said smiling.
"and looking at it now, maybe, and Elena, hear me out on this one, maybe their right, and we have been too hard on our mother, and no doubt she's either watching us through that enchanted mirror in our house or that crystal ball of hers assuming she's able to actually make it work without catching something on fire." Alyssa said as she was suddenly cut off.
"right in one respect." Mr. Fulton said sighing and producing a hand mirror and handing it to her.
For a moment dorothy and alex saw Mrs. Fulton's face in the mirror, but as Alyssa gazed into it, they both knew it faded. As she set it down it was once more, just a mirror.
"surprised she didn't voice her opinion." Elena said.
"so am I but that is beside the point, despite our mother's disapproval of, well just about everything, the facts of the matter are, that she allowed us to make our own path, and even gave Terrance her blessing, and like we said in our vows, war brought us together, but not even war will tear us apart." Alyssa said smiling, releasing Dorothy's hand, turning and taking both of Terrance's
"technically that is my own fault, the whole war thing." Dorothy admitted.
"no, technically it's my fault." The jester chimed in, causing the scepter to now let out an annoyed sounding low pitched sound like someone slamming on a bunch of piano keys at once, "thank you, and mean, I pursued it, I know I shouldn't have, but all of you, found it in your hearts to forgive me and allow me a second chance, which, by the sounds of it, is something that dorothy allowed you to have as well." He added smiling
The caused an applause, which Ozma immediately responded to by running to the head of the room, and raising her hand, immediately everyone fell silent again.
"please, no applause until everyone is finished." She requested.
"thank you, your highness." Alyssa said.
"its my pleasure." She replied before returning to where she had been.
"well." Alyssa started saying as she released Terrance's hand and picked up her cup, Terrance doing the same.
"well?" Madeline finally chimed in as she walked over with both cups from dorothy and Alex's table.
"you're all right, but dorothy, basically is the one who brought us together, not intentionally, and not under the most ideal circumstances, but if you ask me, it was the best circumstances any of us could have asked for at the time." Alyssa said smiling.
"and that is how we came to another conclusion." Terrance added.
"about what?" Elena asked curiously.
"what to christen the ship you all decided to have made for us, for whatever reason." Alyssa said turning her gaze to dorothy.
For a moment dorothy and alex shared a glance, then suddenly it clicked in Dorothy's mind, it was just a hunch though, but she knew she was about to be proven right. As she turned to them they both shared a glance and smiled.
"you didn't!?" dorothy groaned.
"we talked about it for a few minutes, and your majesty, if you would be so kind to allow it." Terrance started.
"wait a tick." Alex said as the realization clicked with him.
"penny drop?" Madeline asked.
"yes, it did, please tell me you aren't asking what I think you're asking." Alex said.
"well, we thought about it, and we would like, your permission, dorothy, to christen the ship, if you two want to chime in now with your realization." Alyssa said.
Suddenly it clicked with Elena.
"oh seriously, you're not really going to do this?" Elena asked.
"oh, for Lurline's sake, we all know what's coming, just get on with it!" came Ozma's voice sounding like she was trying to repress a giggle.
"well then, on three?" Alyssa asked.
The five of them shared a glance, and dorothy and alex begrudgingly nodded.
"well, at a guess, and I really hope I'm wrong, but at the same time right, you wanted to call the ship?" dorothy started before trailing off.
"alright, 1, 2 ,3" Elena said.
"the Gale." All five of them said in unison.
"how long did it take you two to work that out?" Terrance asked curiously.
"me a matter of moments." Dorothy said sighing.
"and me, slightly slower." Alex said.
"because its your night, and honestly I can't think of a legitimate reason to object to this, well unusual request, you have my blessing." Dorothy said.
"but you could have named it anything, I mean, yes, dorothy is the one partially responsible for bringing you two together, but why name it after her?" Alex asked curiously.
"alex, think about what you're asking for a moment." Dorothy said trailing off a bit.
"what?" he asked thinking about it for a moment before coming to the realization, "oh, right, sorry, I've just been so caught up in the fact." He added.
"well, we figured since this was really the only time we would likely ever get your approval for, well, just about anything, why not christen it in the name of Oz's second most popular public figure, and protector?" Alyssa asked.
"look I don't wish to sound ungrateful or anything." Dorothy started saying.
"but why are we going out of our way for something so unimportant or minute?" Alyssa and Terrance asked.
"Yes." Dorothy replied.
"no real reason this time, other than, we both agreed it would be best." Alyssa said smiling.
Dorothy, though a tiny bit annoyed by this, at the same time, wasn't too shocked and would have been lying if she said she hadn't expected something like this. While it was rather common knowledge at least amongst the girls that Alyssa and Terrance wanted to do something for dorothy to show their appreciation, she had hoped that if they did it wouldn't be something so big. But as it was their wedding day, dorothy knew she couldn't, in good conscience, refuse. However, the more she thought on it, the less she seemed to be annoyed by the fact, and the more she felt actually honored by it. Alyssa was her friend, and if this was what she wanted, this was what she would allow her to have.
"well as the northern and southern armies now march under the same banner, I hope The Gale, never has to see battle." Dorothy said smiling
"thank you, your majesty." Alyssa said curtseying.
"now, I guess a toast, is in order, for the happy couple." Alex said handing dorothy her cup, the scepter once more pinging happily before letting out a few awkward sounding pings.
Dorothy smiled and took the cup in her hand.
"while I feel it would be more appropriate for Ozma to be the one doing this, like I said, you two have my blessing, and I know we all agree on one though, and that's wishing you both the best." Dorothy said raising her cup.
"to the happy couple." She and alex said in unison.
"to the happy couple." Came a thunderous reply from everyone.
Alyssa and Terrance both clinked their cups together before looping their arms around each other and giving each other a sip from the others cup.
"now would be the time for applause." Mr. Fulton said.
And with that everyone clapped, this went on for about thirty seconds before Elena raised her hand drawing once more, silence.
"now, that that's done and over with, you feel better sis?" Elena asked curiously.
"much." Alyssa said smiling.
"actually, I'm curious now, did you select red for dorothy because the Lacasa in the punch stains rather badly?" Madeline said jumping tracks.
"well that was part of the reason." Alyssa said.
"the other part is that red is just a good color on her." Terrance added.
"thanks." Both dorothy and Madeline said in unison.
All of them shared a laugh at this before alex and dorothy decided to return to their seats. After several minutes of eating the two of them decided to go and converse with the others. Their first stop was aislynn's table, where she, Betsy, trot, and Emma were set up. As they walked over she got a big grin on her face similar to the one that Alyssa and Terrance had earlier.
"bout time you two came over here." Aislynn said.
"ace, really now?" alex asked.
"why not? I mean, I'm sure I'm about to get a speech anyways." Aislynn said.
"well, not really, neither of us really have a problem with what you did." Alex replied.
"actually, we both agreed it was rather sweet of you to do, helping bring one of your grandfather's visions to life." Dorothy said smiling.
"really?" Aislynn asked curiously.
"I'm more hurt that you didn't let me know of your involvement if you want me to be thoroughly honest." Dorothy said sighing.
"but you understand why I didn't let you in on it, don't you?" Aislynn asked curiously.
"of course, Glinda was prying around enough as it is, wait a tick, Betsy, trot, were you aware of this?" dorothy asked changing the subject.
"we were aware of the blueprints, but her giving them to ellie, no we were essentially just about as in the dark as you were." Betsy said.
"and I only just got here a few days ago, all I knew was Glinda was trying to pry into their business." Emma said picking up a flower and transforming it into an apple before transforming it back.
"that was impressive." Trot said in amazement.
"so, why'd you two leave the scepter over there, I mean, its acting rather strangely, but you can feel that it trying to hold back." Aislynn said.
"we know, according to Maddie, it's the blue moon that's causing it." Dorothy said sighing.
"you don't understand it, but at the same time don't want to pursue the information either." Came Cassandra's voice as she hobbled over.
"oh great, lady Cassandra, with respect, can we not get a lecture, please?" alex asked.
"oh, a proper lecture will come in due time." She said chuckling.
"then why get involved in the conversation?" Madeline asked as she came over.
"the same reason you see fit to do whatever you want." Cassandra replied.
"wait, is your sister and Theodora here?" dorothy asked curiously.
"yes, as is Eveline, over there in the corner if you wish to speak with either of them." Lady Cassandra said pointing a boney finger at them.
"that's strange, that's not where Alyssa put your settings?" Aislynn interjected.
"I know, but Angela, Theodora and I talked it over, agreed it was best, and moved it ourselves." Cassandra said before hobbling away.
"alex, why don't you go, and, I don't know apologize to your father or something for earlier, there's something I need to do, and I would like to do it alone." Dorothy said.
"shocker." Madeline said teasingly.
"oh, be quiet." Dorothy said rolling her eyes.
"never." Madeline said grinning again.
Dorothy shivered before making her way over to the table. When she got there, she noticed the table was set with five seats instead of four. She knew the chair was meant for her.
"they knew, didn't they?" dorothy asked.
"that if we showed up, you'd want to talk to her?" Angela asked
"of course." Dorothy said looking at Theodora.
"been a while, hasn't it?" Theodora asked.
"too long if you ask me, and, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for what I had to do." Dorothy said.
"don't apologize, you did what you had to, Evanora was out of control." Theodora said.
"she turned on her own sister, on her own family for that matter." Eveline said.
"but still I can't help but feel like, she wasn't really in control, yes she harbored jealousy towards Cassandra and Angela, but she never really voiced it, then suddenly out of nowhere, she started getting a lust for power, and that's when chaos ensued." Theodora said causing a shiver to run down Dorothy's spine.
"it's not the first time I've had to do something like that, but I wasn't fully in control when I did it either." Dorothy said sighing.
"you had help from the Grimmerie, yes, I know that, but like I said, she was losing control, it was like the balance between chaos and order suddenly tipped and something pushed her way over the edge, you were the only piece on the board apart from Ozma standing in her way of taking over all of oz, and honestly given the chance, the whole of the nonestic isles." Theodora said.
"that just seems too horrible to think about" dorothy said shivering.
"well, given the options it was either you or the council of immortals that would have taken her down, and only because she was holding Ozma captive." Theodora said trailing off a bit.
"I assume sooner or later I'm going to have to meet that council?" Dorothy asked.
"as a representative of oz? oh almost definitely, they'll be curious as to why not only me, but just about the entire land of oz has taken a liking to you." Came Ozma's voice from behind her, once more causing her to jump.
"seriously, can anyone go five seconds without scaring the daylights out of me?" dorothy asked catching her breath.
"wasn't intentional dear I assure you." Ozma said smiling.
"what do you know about them?" dorothy asked curiously.
"about as much as everyone else, I've never actually attended a council meeting as of yet, the question would be better suited for Roquat, but I doubt you'll get a proper response from him." Ozma said.
"why's that?" dorothy asked curiously.
"Because the council, isn't really discussed much, they really only get involved if it gets way too out of hand or someone feels the need to request something that requires the entire council to agree." Came the voice of father time.
"oh, father time, how kind of you to grace us with your presence." Angela said.
"what, no pun?" father time asked, for once his voice not booming
"one does run out of material eventually, but if you have a few minutes I might be able to think of something more fitting than that." Angela said.
This caused a collective groan from both Theodora and Eveline.
"okay, that was a low blow right there, that was just painful to listen to." Eveline said.
"could you think of a better one?" Cassandra asked hobbling back over.
"well, no, but that's beside the point, no pun, just asking time for a bit of his time I'm sure that's never been done before." Eveline said sarcastically.
"okay, next question, what about mother nature, will she be gracing us next?" Theodora asked curiously.
Time said nothing, he simply smiled, turned and walked towards Alyssa and Terrance.
"father time, nice guy, for an immortal, but man does he give me the creeps." Eveline said shivering.
"so, what's this pun thing he was referring to?" Ozma asked curiously.
"mind if I hazard a guess?" dorothy asked finally finding the words to say.
"go ahead." Angela said.
"every meeting you've had with father time, you make a pun like, nice of you to grace us with your seconds or something of that nature." Dorothy said cringing at her own remark.
"and you would be right, yes that was the last one I did, and hearing it from someone else, it does sound pretty stupid." Angela said.
"your words, not ours." Theodora said.
"anyways, so, why did you feel the need to apologize?" Eveline asked bringing the conversation full circle.
"mainly to get the guilt for it off my chest, to clear the air, make sure there was no bad blood between us." Dorothy said.
"And like I said, you did what you had to, I won't lie, given the choice I'm glad she died at your hand and not at the councils." Theodora said.
"but they're not known for being hostile like that." Ozma interjected.
"no, but it said that any death ordered by them, is quick and painful, the blast that Evanora will have gotten, at least by description from Cassandra, thanks to shade being there with her, would have been instant, and painless." Theodora said.
"by the by, what time is it by the way?" Eveline asked trying to change the subject quick.
Theodora shrugged and took out a pocket watch of her own.
"almost two o'clock, wow really time flies." Theodora said.
"okay that one was also predictable and pretty bad." Time said coming back over.
"hey, what do you want? You've probably heard every joke and saying at least once." Theodora said.
"still you could do better." Time said.
"you know that's not true, you're just here because you are bored with standing around, got an invitation, and decided for once, in eternity to show up." Cassandra said not even stopping for a breath.
"okay, Cassandra, that's not like you, are you feeling alright?" dorothy asked curiously.
"of course, child, but ever since that day, time and our family have rather been strained in terms of a working relationship." Cassandra said.
"not even going to address him properly, brave of you." The jester said coming over followed by lily and violet.
"oh great, what do you three want?" Theodora asked curiously.
"nothing much, actually it's the kid we want to talk to for a moment." The jester said gesturing to dorothy.
"well, I'm sure we'll see you and alex at rose's ball." Theodora said.
"you're actually attending?" Ozma asked in surprise.
"took a lot of coaxing but like this, we got Cassandra to agree to go, if only just to be there." Eveline said smiling.
Dorothy nodded and turned to the jester, following him, lily and violet over to their table, rose immediately covering lily's eyes before she and dorothy could make eye contact.
"so, I've heard you two are actually going to come to our party?" Rose asked excitedly.
"I mean, could we really say no after you went through the trouble of making those specific invitations?" alex asked as he came over.
"wouldn't have shocked either of us." The jester said sitting back down.
"mother, can you please take your hands off my eyes?" lily asked curiously.
"only if you promise to be good and not play your usual trick on dorothy." Thomas said appearing behind them causing them all to jump.
"so, you finally mastered that?" the jester asked clapping slowly.
"you know, I'm really beginning to regret returning to this room." Dorothy said trying to stifle a giggle as she caught her breath.
"didn't mean to frighten you, I just had to check some things at home." Thomas replied.
"isn't that supposed to be his job? With the vault and all?" alex asked.
"yes, but I'm the only other person apart from rose that he trusts, and neither of them can leave lily without her causing mischief." Thomas said.
"sounds familiar." Alex said looking over at the jester.
"hey, don't look at me." The jester said getting defensive.
"alex, don't cause problems, please." Dorothy said sighing.
"alright, fine, I promise I won't go through Dorothy's memories, at least not tonight." Lily said sighing.
"good enough." Rose said removing her hand.
"Rose, I don't wish to be mean or anything, but do you honestly think that's going to stop her?" alex asked curiously.
"no but take into consideration the fact that I at least made an attempt." Rose said smiling.
"fair." Alex said pulling up a chair.
"so, I heard you're going to be wearing a harlequin masque." Rose said.
"and I heard the jester made a bet with someone about it." dorothy said giggling.
"yes, well that's not important, I mean, he lost, but its still not important, what's important is that you're attending, and I promise you it will be quite a spectacle, assuming lily doesn't cause any problems." Rose said.
"no promises." Lily said in a defiant yet teasing manner.
"ill do my best to keep my sister on her best behavior, but same issue, no promises." Violet interjected.
At that moment however, the reverberation of a fork tapping against a glass was heard. They all turned to see both Alyssa and Terrance standing.
"Now, it is usually custom, I think for the bride and groom to partake in the first dance." Alyssa said with a sigh.
"neither of us, admittedly have any confidence in our ability to dance, so, we'll make an attempt, and then I don't know dorothy and alex can take over I guess." Terrance said as he and Alyssa took to the floor.
As soon as they were in position a sort of waltz started playing. The two of them danced pretty well for a first time but they did not look at all confident about it. it was short, and too the point, and still resulted in an applause from everyone.
"come on you two, its time to show them what you can do together." Madeline said smiling.
Dorothy looked at alex, they both nodded but didn't approve of the situation, all they seemed to be doing was stealing the show on what should be Alyssa and Terrance's shining moments. They moved to the middle of the room, got into position and shortly after another waltz started playing. The two of them began dancing, dorothy following every step that alex was doing. Every eye in the room was on them and they both knew it, when the two of them danced it was almost as if they put everyone who watched them into a trance like state. This was in fact the case, and the only people who didn't seem transfixed was Madeline, who wasn't watching, and jack who was nodding off. After nearly forty minutes the music stopped as did they. Dorothy found herself feeling drained while alex seemed wide awake. However, they were snapped from these thoughts by the sound of applause. Dorothy smiled while alex bowed, however the first thing dorothy did was pick up the hand mirror still on the grand table.
"it's getting brighter." Madeline said sighing.
"I know it is Maddie, I just wanted to see how bright it gotten." Dorothy said.
"noticeably brighter but not completely blonde." Madeline said.
"anyways." Alyssa started before anything could escalate, "I think its time we reveal Brianna's over the top wedding cake, wouldn't you agree?" She asked.
Dorothy watched as Brianna went over to both Glinda and Locasta, whispering something to both of them. They nodded and both took out their wands, she then went over to Cassandra and Angela, once more whispering something to both of them and they took a stand. Then to the jester, following the same process until she got to Madeline.
"wouldn't it have just been simpler to have dorothy click her heels?" alex asked curiously.
"it would, but it doesn't feel fitting to take the easy way out in this situation now does it?" Brianna said causing dorothy to giggle.
At that moment all of them started to bind a spell as if it had been planned, suddenly there was a flash, and standing, on table of its own, right next to dorothy and alex, was the largest wedding cake any of them had ever seen.
"took me quite a long while to make this." Brianna said.
"and literally everyone who could keep a secret and a straight face helped you." Alyssa said.
"and I still managed to make a huge mess of the kitchen." Brianna replied.
"well that's more of an understatement." Came Finley's voice from the rafters of the room.
"Oh for…Finley what are you doing up there?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"observing, from a safe distance." Finley said.
"why aren't you down here?" alex asked curiously.
"I like it up here, besides, I don't here toto complaining, and he's been sitting silently in that corner watching the entire time." Finley said.
"Finley, come down here please." Dorothy said sternly.
"yes ma'am." Finley said immediately jumping to attention.
He took to his wings and flew down, landing on Dorothy's shoulder quite gracefully. This produced an applause from several people.
"Finley, seriously, I may be calling the kettle black, but you can't hide yourself away like this, think of all the fun you'll miss." Dorothy said smiling.
"but think of how much more I can get done." Finley said in response.
"Finley, seriously, you're worse than I am." Came aislynn's voice as she came over.
"look, all I really know is servitude, I help out, and it seems we have this conversation at least once every couple of months." Finley said.
"because you never seem inclined to listen, Finley, this is no longer a request, it's an order, I want you to at least try and enjoy yourself so long as the blue moon is in the sky." Dorothy said sternly.
"yes ma'am." Finley said jumping from her shoulder and standing at attention to salute
He immediately took wing and flew over to toto and the other cats, where he started talking to them. Shortly after both Terrance and Alyssa approached the large cake.
"I think, no, I wonder, Glinda could you?" Alyssa asked turning to her.
Glinda smiled, and with a flick of her wand, immediately a golden sword appeared in her hand. Standing behind her and taking her wrist, she and Terrance almost expertly cut a small slice of cake for themselves. Alex found this feat rather impressive, however dorothy had seen it done only once before. At Marshal mallow and the china princess's wedding. As the two of them returned to their table and tried it, they gave Brianna their glance of approval.
"Now, Locasta, if you wouldn't mind?" Terrance asked.
Locasta smiled and waved her wand. In an instant everyone had a slice of cake on a plate in front of them or at least at their table. And there was still plenty left to go around. Dorothy and alex returned to their seats and ate in silence for a few minutes. Well as silent as it could get with the scepter trying hard to repress itself. After a few more hours of idle discussion from all the parties involved, eventually things began winding down and slowly guests began leaving, when both Terrance's parents, and Alyssa's father departed, the happy couple walked over to dorothy.
"well, are you two readies then?" Alex asked.
"alex?" dorothy asked turning to him.
"yes?" alex replied smiling.
"don't speak for me, please." Dorothy said kissing him quickly.
"as we'll ever be." Alyssa said smiling.
"alex, you think you'll be able to handle the scepter, get it back to our room?" Dorothy asked.
"our?" Alyssa asked curiously.
"how often does alex leave my room?" dorothy asked.
"fair point." Alyssa replied.
"well, if you two are ready." Dorothy said smiling.
Both Alyssa and Terrance smiled, dorothy walked up to them and took them both by the hand.
"actually, do you wanna come along?" Dorothy asked curiously turning to alex.
Alex thought about this for a moment but shook his head.
"I think its best if at least one of us stays with the scepter, don't worry, I'll head to 'our' room, and wait for you." Alex said chuckling as he walked over to the scepter.
Dorothy smiled before, turning her attention back to Alyssa and Terrance.
"take us to the western castle" she said, and with that, she clicked her heels.
Well as I said, I did warn you it would be long, if you made it here, then 42 to you,
This was originally going to be in three parts, I'll let you take a guess as to which parts survived the conversion.
