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Everything felt clearer here, even with her eyes remaining closed it felt right. Nothing felt distant or wrong. However, she was snapped out of though by the sound of banging. Opening her eyes, she was nearly blinded by lights. When her vision had cleared enough, she found she was lying on the floor of a large workshop. It was like a mix between scarecrow's work room in the city, and Glinda's chambers. However, she was snapped out of thought by the sound of banging again. Looking around her eyes eventually found their way to a large door with a glass window. It was like a holding cell in appearance, similar in many ways to the ones she had seen at the sheriff's office. She could see both alex and the beast on the other side of the door. Now separated from each other. Alex was leaned against the wall behind them while the beast hit furiously against the door. He seemed amused by this.

"Interesting." Came Glinda's voice as it echoed through the entire room, "it seems they can't both exist in the same body in the dreamscape, at least not in the state they're in." She went on as she, ellie and Elphaba appeared in the room.

"Not really a shock though, I felt the exact same pain I did the last time I changed but pulling us apart." Alex shouted from the other side of the door, "well that was, just awful, I would thank you not to do that mid transformation ever again." He quickly said.

Both the beast and alex were in the same sour mood, alex was miffed because he was now stuck in a room with his own personal demon. And the beast was even more furious due to the fact that he had just gained control again only to be trapped.

"we aren't letting either of you out until some kind of arrangement is met, and we can guarantee you won't try to kill anyone." Elphaba said sternly.

The beast immediately stopped banging, he looked at the group for a moment.

"you really think I would try to kill any of you?" the beast asked beginning to grin.

"with a grin like that?" Elphaba asked, "I'd be surprised if you didn't at least try, kill is a rather broad term in Oz." she added.

Ellie however, approached the cell door. Looking the beast square in the eyes.

"now that, that's a look I haven't seen in so long, we get along for her sake, we made amends for her sake." Ellie said starting to grow angry, "and you turn up, making want to do the exact same thing I did the first time we met socially." She went on.

"punch me across the face with a rather impressive right hook?" alex asked curiously.

"was that what it was?" ellie asked looking over the beast's shoulder.

"you got me rather hard on the side of the nose, so yea, I think that's it." alex said finally standing up straight, "anyways, you know they're right to keep us in here, but the idea of being stuck here, with you, outside of my own head." He continued walking up to him.

The beast looked at alex, then to the group.

"let 'Her' speak." The beast said referring to dorothy.

Dorothy stepped forward, placing a hand on the door. However, as she came to look up at them, she noticed something. At first it didn't seem obvious, but something was wrong. It took her a moment before she met their eyes. they were wrong each of them had one blue, one yellow.

"you, neither of you, are whole." She said placing her hand to the glass.

"we can't exist without the other, I wasn't done yet when Glinda threw us in here." The beast said.

"if you hadn't thrown the hatter back, I wouldn't have felt the need to." Glinda said with a sigh.

"no construct could hold the beast long, the curse, remember, when he changed it released a burst of magical energy." Elphaba said, "I watched as the witch calculated what would be needed for the curse." She added.

"But to draw in magic, to fuel the change, dark magic isn't able to do that on its own." Ellie said turning to them

"Ellie's right Elphie, what exactly went into that curse?" Glinda asked.

"half and half, light magic, to keep the aura replenished, dark magic to draw off it." Elphaba said sighing, "the witch was clever, it's the reason the tribunal has such a hard time dealing with it, all but one was captured and that one went dormant, silent, waiting for the perfect time, the perfect victim, they seek out those that the winds say are strong, it went for dorothy but once she was protected it changed its course did it not?" she asked

"straight at us." The beast said.

"and you fought it well for a moment." Came a new voice

This voice was unexpected but not unwelcome. As lady Cassandra materialized in front of them.

"you know, there is such as thing as knocking before entering?" The beast asked.

Cassandra said nothing further, she did not have her walking stick with her. she raised a hand and on the other side of the door a piece of cloth appeared and wound itself tightly around the beast's mouth. She smiled and turned to Elphaba.

"they did work it out, eventually, the problem is, dark magic damages one, very few have come to master the use of dark and light magics." Cassandra said, "only one member of the tribunal has any of that knowledge." She added

"which, logic would dictate, would be Benton, being the only other who has changed back." Alex said.

"which half are you, the brain or the brawn?" Cassandra asked.

"I think they're a bit of both, if it pleases." Elphaba said taking a step back from her former teacher.

"Fayth was quick to contact me once she saw what you all had gotten yourself into." Cassandra said hobbling over to the door, "let them out." She ordered as she pushed dorothy out of the way

Glinda nodded and snapped her fingers. The beast, who had been leaned against the door, fell forward as it opened. The cloth dissolved into smoke and he took a breath in. as alex walked over to dorothy he chuckled. Watching the beast get to his feet was amusing to him, but he wasn't too sure why.

"Don't ever do that to us again!" the beast shouted angrily.

"you are definitely the original." Cassandra said placing a finger on the beast's forehead

Immediately his eyes went wide, and he stared out. Shortly after Alex's did too, he fell back against dorothy, staggering her into a wall. They both began glowing, but the beast began fading.

The two of them found themselves back in their head. Now in a sort of sitting room arranged similarly to the tea room in gale hall. Cassandra was now there as well, in a place where she did not belong. The beast looked angrily at her but immediately went to a blank expression to hide it.

"stuck mid transformation, Lurline knows how you two would have come out of the dreamscape." Cassandra said smiling.

"so, this is you, completing the transformation?" alex asked.

"silence, boy!" Cassandra said sternly, "I am doing this because neither Glinda nor Elphaba have the capability or the knowledge, you two must learn to work as one, and I don't care how long it takes." She added coldly.

"But we have to do it on our own time then." The beast said, "Which we won't have until they go back." He added.

"but who's choice was it to stay in Oz?" Cassandra asked, "who came up with it consciously?" she added.

The beast and alex looked at each other, both of them had one thing in common, and in that room in their head, that was shown as a painting on the wall. A painting of dorothy, one that hung at the back of the walk-in closet in the palace. They both cared about her, they both wanted to protect her. but they were both quite different. They knew that if they changed in Kansas, it would put everyone at risk and both sides were fully aware of that. The only thing that mattered to either of them was the people they cared about. Alex cared more consciously and that was the difference. He knew the beast was of the mindset of strike first then ask questions. An outlook he had changed after his first encounter with the jester. The question wasn't one either were willing to face the answer to but they both knew that part of them wanted to stay where everyone was at least safe from their wrath.

"We both did." They said in unison, "for their safety." They went on.

"you have only made one conscious decision together then." Cassandra said, "but you can be whole, working as one, you both have strength, judging by my surroundings you are both certainly more intelligent than I give you credit for, and you have potential." She went on.

"potential in what?" Alex asked, "we're carpenters, nothing else." He said.

"and that is we would both be wrong." The beast said dropping into an armchair, "we aren't just carpenters, we're warriors, fighting for her, to protect her, to keep her safe." His voice becoming unnervingly calm.

"That is still not what I mean, I am looking at what neither of you are seeing, and despite the outside, I think Dorothy's belief that the beast can be changed isn't wrong." Cassandra said smiling warmly.

"a mix of dark and light magic, the beast takes the darker aspects of myself, what I was, what I buried, and prefers to work with them." Alex said looking at the beast.

"and that's why you two have to work it out, its like dorothy and the hatter, cast from the same mold, they are both the same, but they are both different too." Cassandra said

"but we exist in the same body, we can't lead different lives." The beast said, "just changing causes enough pain to drop anyone." He went on.

"on your own time, talk, come to some agreement, you make wake up as yourself in the dreamscape, boy, but the beast will be what returns to oz, if only for a short time." Cassandra said,

"you mean you're going to leave us both here?" the beast asked becoming angry again.

"leave? Heavens no, that would be ludicrous you would be unable to leave Glinda's dreamscape, as you are physically there, as of yet still two separate bodies, whom ever the spell believes is stronger will awaken, the other will return to sleep, for now." Cassandra said, "I would suggest you two set aside your differences and figure out which one it's going to be, work it out on your own time whether or not you two can come to an arrangement of some sort like Benton has with his own demon, because I will not extend this courtesy to you two again." She added sternly.

"Its gotta be him then." The beast said flatly, "The one who asks questions, then strikes." He added.

"Well at least you acknowledge our old flaw." Alex said sighing.

"It's always going to be you, but you buried everything you could have been, for her." The beast said

"we originally did the stuff we did to attract her, but we drove her away in the process, she originally hated us, remember?" Alex asked, "we can do things for ourselves, just on our own time, and I'm trying hard to get you to see that." He said becoming desperate.

"What's wrong with brute strength, it gets the job done, and with the right amount of intelligence you only have to do it once." The beast replied.

"I won't deny it is helpful, if we really had the ambition too I'm sure we could lift dorothy above our head." Alex replied, "but as lion is really could at showing, you can't just hit your problems until they go away." He said with a sigh

"then it's a battle of wills coming, who's is stronger?" the beast asked smiling wickedly.

Alex closed his eyes, he hated when the beast smiled like that. He had something in mind, something alex wasn't aware of.

"strength and intelligence versus logic and reason, what could go wrong?" He asked sarcastically.

"We'll see when we get back." The beast replied.

"you threw mads into a wall." Alex said pointing out what he knew.

"it wasn't intentional, she had her wand at our back, it was self-defense at that point." The beast said

"and I said." Alex started becoming stern, "if you hurt anyone I care about, you would pay for it." He added.

"It was an accident, you would have done the same." The beast said becoming defensive.

Alex stopped and turned to look the beast in the eye.

"Look yourself in the face and tell me you didn't do it intentionally, that your intention wasn't to hurt her." Alex said coldly, "you are every part of me that I hate, the one who wants attention just so he can bask in the limelight." He said.

The beast's face didn't change, he made eye contact with his other half and spoke.

"I did not mean to harm her." He said flatly, "I was afraid, I acted rashly, is that what you want to hear?" the beast asked.

Now to alex and Cassandra this was more like it, chipping away at the beast to find the pieces of alex that made him up. Alex wanted the relationship to be beneficial to both parties. However, a thought came into his mind. And he chuckled.

"you know, the two of us, like this." He started, "Its like that book we used enjoy during those detentions, Jekyll and Hyde." He went on.

"took you long enough." The beast chuckled.

"look, I know you aren't bad all things considered, you're just misguided, you're what I was, and we will work something out." Alex said sighing holding out a reluctant hand.

"and you're what you want ME to become, we may work out a deal, but don't expect it to work out." He replied, taking it.

"we need to work with each other to survive, specifically because we have to share this body, Mr. Hyde." Alex said jokingly.

"well then, Jekyll." The beast replied, "you and I really have a lot of things to work out, you'll wake up on both ends, we won't go with her to the dreamscape yet." The beast added

"this was fluke, in my opinion." Cassandra said assuredly, "If you had changed completely before Glinda sent you here then it would just be you, this conversation would not be necessary between us three, just you two." She said ready to snap her fingers.

Alex looked at the beast, who nodded. Suddenly he found himself staggering, dorothy struggling to support his weight. He looked to where the beast had been to find him fading away. Turning into a golden light he was all too familiar with now. The light entered him, he felt a sort of shift in energy. He got to his own feet.

"you know, you're a lot heavier than you look." Dorothy said smoothing her dress down.

"yea, I don't think that's for the lack of trying, the dreamscape doesn't seem to abide by really any rules." Alex said, "you were trying support half of me and the beast." He went on, his mind racing.

"Cassandra." Elphaba said worriedly, "that was dark magic you used on them, to enter a mind like that, the way you did." She said

"used properly dark magic can be used alongside light, light to sedate, dark to talk, I will not extend this curtesy to either of you after this once." Cassandra said sternly, "now I shall be waiting on you three once you wake." She said, vanishing with a swish of her cloak.

For a moment, the five of them stood there, completely silent. Alex was the one to break it.

"when I leave here, the beast will linger awake for a moment, I think you may find it amusing what he tries to do." Alex said as he turned to dorothy. "I know this has been asked to you twice now, but how much you trust me is in question" he said

"Alex, I trust you, but I'm not entirely sure with the beast, but there's some of you in there, I know that." She replied, "if you think I should trust him though, I will." She said.

Alex nodded and turned to the trio.

"you three?" he asked.

The three of them shared a glance before nodding. Alex smiled, it was weak, however. He heard the beast whisper something in his ear. He turned back to dorothy, leaned forward, and kissed her softly.

Dorothy suddenly felt herself rising. She staggered, she hadn't even had a chance to hit the ground. Thankfully for her she had fallen back and staggered into the bed. She could see Madeline getting to her feet, rubbing a bump rising on the back of her head.

"that felt like a rush." Madeline said as a portal opened between her and dorothy.

The beast fell to the floor, panting and heaving. He looked around, his longer hair whipping around. His eyes angrily fell on the scepter. He got up and reached to grab it. much to everyone's surprise, he was shocked violently. He screamed and staggered back.

"so, he wants to play hardball then." He said turning to dorothy.

"you thought he wouldn't?" dorothy asked, "I'll admit I'm shocked he managed to make the scepter do this, but if I made a list of everything I fail to understand, it would fill several books." She said

"you should read up then, at some point." The beast said, his hands beginning to glow, "we will let you know when we're ready to talk, for now, I resign." He said placing a hand on dorothy cheek

She felt him, suddenly though she heard alex calling out to her. the energy was leaking from his hands almost fluidly. She felt sorry for the beast, she decided then and there that she would do what ever she could to help both of them. To make sure they get along. He removed the hand from her cheek and smiled. He began chuckling again his hair beginning to shorten and his features starting to twist. That chuckle soon morphed into pained screams. In an instance and a bright flash, alex staggered forward. Collapsing to his knees. Gasping and breathing deeply, he sighed and got to his feet before turning his attention to dorothy.

"I assume that didn't go quite as planned." He said looking at his hand, it was red from where the scepter had zapped it, "last night, before I joined you upstairs, I gave her orders, if I lost control, became the beast, or even woke up as him, she wasn't to trust him, not until I can." He went on before taking her hand and grabbing the scepter out of the air.

"back to the city then?" zinnia asked making sure Madeline was alright.

"For a while, at least, I'm hoping we can sort all this out." Dorothy said sighing, "Maddie, can you bring the slippers, I can see your gloves hanging out of your pocket." She added turning to her.

Madeline nodded, but before dorothy could react any further, she felt herself lurch forward. Alex's grip on her hand tightened. She knew they were heading back to the city, but they were unsure what they were going to find when they got there. She was aware that some arrangement had been made, others shifted and changed. Suddenly before the dizziness could set in, she felt her feet contact carpeting that was mildly unfamiliar to her.

"so, new décor." Alex said getting his bearings and catching his breath.

Dorothy looked around. It was without a doubt, her room. The window and dresser next to what was now a large four poster double bed, were still the same. The dresser had the pink orb on top of it, and the window still had its same beautiful view that she liked to sketch. But the carpeting was no longer green. It was, in both her and Alex's opinion, a lovely shade of purple. The walls of the room were still green, and it contrasted well. It was more homelike, similar to gale hall. Instead of Alex's uncomfortable looking wooden chair, there was now a rather nice looking armchair. The room had also been expanded a bit, it reminded dorothy of Madeline's dreamscape. A new book case was in the middle of the wall at the far end. Both of them could see that the books were rather old and dusty, even from a distance.

"those are just my notes on sorcery, I'm not sure if they'll actually be able to help either of you, but I thought they might be helpful and provide alex something to read." Madeline said appearing in the room making them jump.

The two of them took a moment to catch their breath but didn't say a word. Where her desk was, she noticed there were more supplies than what she had last left there. Walking over to it, she didn't like that it wasn't tidy anymore.

"yea sorry about that, I had that set up while you were in the vault." Madeline said with a nervous chuckle

Alex walked over to a workbench that was similar but still quite different to the one he had at his father's shop. It wasn't either his own, or his father's handiwork. There were a few locked drawers, but he was sure he would get an answer to that eventually. There were some armchairs and a couch as well of similar make to those at gale hall. The two of them turned to each other.

"I like it." they both said, causing Madeline to sigh with relief.

"well that's good, 'cause this is why I needed to see you into our shared dreamscape." Madeline said smiling.