Disclaimer

The next day was bittersweet, as the evening found Alex, sitting in his chair in his and Dorothy's bedroom. In his hands he held a mirror and was staring at the beast reflected in it. They were in council.

"we shouldn't have let her go." The beast with a growl.

"would you want to go against Mrs. gale?" Alex asked sounding irritated.

The beast thought about this, but shook his head.

"no, hell know no fury." The beast replied, "would you?"

The day had been difficult for both of them. The beast spent most of his time since his awakening in quiet dormancy

"not on our life." Alex said firmly.

Alex let out a long sigh after this. He had taken Dorothy's departure relatively well all things considered. And looking into the crystal ball in the chambers, he found that Dorothy had taken their separation just as well. Tears were shed but it wasn't a long farewell. Alex blamed the beast for these circumstances, while Dorothy allowed it to be his choice. It wasn't ideal but it was what they had to contend with. However, looking up, he saw Madeline standing in front of him, he jumped and threw the mirror into the air which Madeline caught.

"Hey I knocked." Madeline said.

"we both did." Ozma said coming in, "can we ask a favor of you?" she asked giggling.

"sure, what do you need?" Alex asked curiously

Meanwhile in Kansas

"Dorothy?" Aislynn asked tapping her on the shoulder

"yes ace?" Dorothy asked with a sigh.

"are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

Dorothy smiled and nodded, and returned to what she was doing, which was organizing her satchel.

"yes ace, we agreed on it together, and as a sort of threesome counting the beast, its best." Dorothy said as her dog jumped up onto her lap.

"you aren't going to sulk, are you?" Aislynn asked curiously.

"ace, don't be impertinent." Dorothy said with a giggle, "no I'm not going to sulk, I just wanted to get this sorted before tomorrow morning."

"I had my stuff sorted before we even left Oz." Aislynn said smiling cheekily

"Ace, don't be cheeky, its improper." Em said coming in.

"well, she's not sulking, is she?" Aislynn asked curiously,

"all the same, don't tease." Em responded.

"I mean, she has a point auntie Em, as you have all pointed out on numerous occasion I do know how to sulk." Dorothy said sighing.

"be that as it may, it isn't nice." Em replied with a chuckle.

Dorothy sighed and shook her head, taking Toto in her arms as she got up. Setting him down next to Pockets who was resting on the bed.

"well, I guess I should get back to my room, I'm going to go look for Eve." Aislynn said walking out of the room,

As she walked out of the room, she let out a sigh. Despite her own best efforts, she was, for once, properly bored. Dorothy had Toto and pockets to keep her company, but she was also able to communicate with them. She did not have this gift, and all things considered, did not wish it on herself. But that didn't make her feel any less bored. When she got to her room, she found Eve curled up at the foot of her bed. Sitting down on the bed, and scratching eve behind the ears, she sighed.

"you know eve, sometimes I wish thing here in Kansas could be just as interesting in Oz." Aislynn said carelessly

However, unknown to Aislynn, someone, or something was listening. And had Ace known about this, she might have picked her words a little more carefully, or not have spoken at all.

Meanwhile at the teak residence.

The Teak residence felt quiet without Alex around. Annabella had taken to organizing her stuffed animals, by size, shape, and place in the animal kingdom. When she found something that, as far as she was concerned, was not part of her collection. It was a stuffed pink kitten; she couldn't fathom where it had come from and she had never seen it before.

"Mom?" Annabella asked bringing it into the kitchen.

"yes Annabella?" Mrs. Teak responded.

"where did this come from?" she asked putting it on the kitchen table.

Mrs. teak looked at the stuffed pink kitten her daughter put on the kitchen table. She assumed it was Alex's and it had somehow wound up down here.

"it must be Alex's, but I don't remember where it came from." Mrs. teak said picking it up.

"that's what I thought, but I've never seen it before today." Annabella said sighing.

"and it's not exactly like we can ask him." Mr. teak said from the kitchen door.

"well, have you seen it before?" Mrs. teak asked her husband.

"it doesn't look familiar, but that doesn't mean much, he never let any of us touch his things." Mr. teak replied shrugging.

"we could ask Dorothy." Annabella said sighing.

"I suppose that's a good point, it wouldn't harm anyone to do so." Mrs. teak said picking it up.

At the Griffith residence.

Trot was sitting quietly in an armchair, listening to cap'n bill and her father telling her stories of some of their time at sea. It didn't hold a candle to their time in Oz but Trot still found the stories entertaining. It helped take her mind off the fact that school started the next morning. She was tempted to call on Betsy, but decided against it as she figured she'd be busy. Ace had helped her get her stuff organized before they left the city, so this left her with very little to worry about. While she was entertained, she still felt bored.

At the Bobbin residence.

Betsy was sitting at the dining room table, getting her supplies properly organized. Her father was sitting on the couch reading a book, and her mother was in the kitchen. It was quiet, and absurdly dull.

"pity we couldn't stay in Oz longer, it just feels so, dull, here now for lack of a better term." She said sighing.

"I know, at least Oz has plenty to look at, and while you never know what'll happen it isn't dull." Mrs. Bobbin said coming out of the kitchen.

Betsy sighed and began organizing her stuff into her bag.

Back in Oz.

"so, let me get this straight Mads." Alex said sitting back down in his chair, "while Ozma is visiting Pumpkin head, and then to visit old Mombi, you want me to come with you to Jinjur's ranch?" he asked curiously.

"Mombi's new cottage is less than a mile down the road from Jinjur's ranch so she has plenty of provisions." Ozma said smiling

"but I don't like facing Jinjur alone." Madeline said, shivering, "I pride myself in having a lot of patience considering I have Dorothy's thoughts and emotions going through my head, but Jinjur is so short tempered." She said

"and I would be way more useful than jack in terms of trying to keep you from doing something rash." Alex said.

"well unlike jack these days, you don't fall asleep at the drop of a hat." Madeline said sighing.

"well, at least it will give us something to do, as opposed to sitting around here all day." Alex said sighing.

"so, we're agreed?" Ozma asked curiously.

"of course, I'll be up at the crack of dawn, so once you guys are ready, ill be waiting with the scepter." Alex said turning to look at it

Much to their surprise, the scepter didn't make a sound. It made them feel uneasy as it seemed to recently have a response to everything. Madeline and Ozma shared a glance as Alex held his hand out for the scepter.

"you seem oddly neutral here." Alex said as the scepter flew to his grasp.

The scepter let out a single solitary ping, as if to say so what? The scepter was fully aware something was coming.

"well, I guess we'd all better get some a good night's sleep." Madeline said, "it may not be a particularly long journey but it's still one best done well rested."

The three of them nodded in agreement at this and soon Alex found himself alone again, letting the scepter float next to him. he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He could feel something coming and had felt that since the previous night. he began to feel uneasy, a sense of foreboding filling him. had he opened his eyes, he would have seen something that would have had him reach for his sword, but now he was being watched unawares by a small creature. It had the shape of a small girl, but she had greyish green skin, short black hair, pointed ears, and a red cap. She was an imp. She was part of a set of three who had awakened.

For those who do not know, imps are rather mischievous and love to have fun, whatever the cost. This one was known as Imp-Ertinent. She had two other sisters, one was currently tying up a loose end, and her name was Imp-Udent. And another who had followed the others to Kansas. These three Imps had very limited power, but what they could do with it made them laugh. Borrowed and stolen magic were their specialty, and they were well versed in transformation. Imp-ertinent let out a small giggle as she felt the ground gently shake. She could feel this specimen was different, literally in two minds, two bodies occupying the same space. She would take care of the others first. She giggled again and darted down the hall in the direction of the chambers, towards Madeline's room.

So, been a while since ive put something at the bottom here, yes. Well, for those who are not aware of where the Imps fall in terms of Oz, they are characters from Little Wizard stories. But these ones are way more amusing and way more dangerous. What do you think they will do? Considering how I write it shouldn't be too difficult to guess, Leave a review if you want.