Disclaimer, and now back to the regular program.
Back in Kansas, as first days of school went, for trot, this was certainly the most distressing. As she immediately found herself in Mr. Alistair's office with Ellie and Zeb. Madeline had explained everything as best she could that had happened in the city in a short amount of time. A short while after one of the Imps, a rather sympathetic sounding one had explained to them a very basic version of what was going on. They knew they were in a game, but they were unaware of the rules or the end goal.
"I mean, it's not the worst thing that's most of us have experienced." Ellie said trying to lighten the mood.
"what could be worse than this?" Trot asked sounding rather distressed by the entire thing.
"it's a rather long story, but it boils down to a lot of marble statues." Ellie said, preferring not to go any further with the story.
"I'm confused as to why they didn't bother to touch me or my family." Zeb interjected.
"well, given the minimal knowledge I have on the imps. I assume they simply thought you guys were too boring." Ellie said with a shrug.
"I…I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted." Zeb replied.
"well, usually id offer you two a choice, but for once, Oz is no safer than here, I don't think were so much as targeted as much as we rather happened to be at the wrong places at the worst possible times, I grew up with tales about imps, these three however are special, they are mother nature first children, the original imps." Ellie said sighing, "I'm more miffed by what they did to Annabella, out of all of us she is the youngest, and they turned her into a wolf pup."
"yes my sister mentioned that, is there anything you're able to do?" Mr. Alistair asked curiously.
"pray to whatever you happen to believe in that Alex and the beast don't decide to go against Elphaba's orders and come here, I have no sympathy for the imps if either of them gets their hands on them." Was Ellie's response.
At that moment, the voice of the secretary came through the door.
"Phone call for you sir." She said
Mr. Alistair nodded, picked up the phone and dialed the extension.
"Principal's office, oh Emily, any news? No? darn, oh, alright, ill let her know, call back if someone comes up with a solution." He then hung up the phone then turned to Ellie.
"I assume that Dorothy's uncle has retrieved my parents and brought them over to his place like I asked." Ellie asked curiously.
"He and Dorothy, yes."
At the gale farmhouse, a meeting was taking place, everyone had decided to convene there, Henry and Dorothy had done a stopover at Jon Foreman's and retrieved him. With the exception of Dorothy, and Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths, none of the transformed were able to talk, and Dorothy was liable to change at the drop of a hat. The only thing that was certain and the reason why Dorothy was still able to talk was for the fact that they essentially awoke the transformation she was originally under and put it into a rather spasmodic state. As Madeline had put it. Right now, she was in her preferred shape, which she knew meant Maddie was in the form of the cat. She turned her attention to the wolf pup who was sat curled up in a corner with Toto and pockets trying to console her.
"Annabella?" Dorothy asked worriedly,
"she won't react to anyone." Mrs. teak said with a sniff.
"can't say I blame her, I mean, remember when Maddie accidentally partially transformed me into a rabbit?" Dorothy asked trying to lighten the mood
"Dorothy, apart from the Griffiths, you're the only one who can still talk as animal, I think Annabella is within her rights to be pouty." Mrs. Upland said sighing before fluttering onto the back of a chair.
Dorothy nodded and walked over to Annabella, before turning to the bulldog.
"Betsy, did you understand anything that was said?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"as far as I can tell, and I do agree Annabella has every right to be pouty about the situation." Betsy said growling.
"Well, all things considered, everyone here is within their rights to be pouty in this situation, I mean, I'm used to losing my proper shape on a regular basis, this is a first for all of you." Dorothy said looking up at the china cabinet where ace, and the Griffiths were perched.
"ace, what's your opinion?" Dorothy asked curiously, just wanting to be sure.
"that Mrs. upland is right, none of us are particularly thrilled with the situation, and we are within our own rights to sulk about it, I mean, I can't even read a book in this shape." She said ruffling her feathers.
"ace, really now, I think this could be a rather enlightening experience for all of us." Said Jon as he basically waddled over to the china cabinet.
"honestly Dorothy, I think you got the better end of this for once." Toto said
"you think so Toto?" Dorothy asked looking down at her pet, "I literally have no idea when I'm going to turn back into a cat, I wouldn't call that the better end."
"but you can still communicate, which isn't a luxury anyone else gets." Came the voice of Elphaba as she appeared in the room.
Dorothy turned and was about to respond, when immediately she began to hiccup. On the third, she once more found herself as a cat. She let out an annoyed purr and went over to the wolf pup.
"things, as you all know haven't fared any better in Oz." Elphaba said sighing, pulling a chair up for herself,
"Is Alex alright though?" Dorothy asked curiously.
Elphaba bit her bottom lip, she was unsure how she was going to explain this to them. It had been several weeks since the beast had entered the picture. His appearances were jarring at the best of times, and now that he had his own body, at least for the time being. She knew that this was definitely one of the worst. However, before she could say something, she was cut off by Alex's voice.
"oh yes, I and my other half are perfectly fine." Alex said, his face appearing in the large mirror next to the china cabinet.
"we just aren't thrilled with the situation." Came the voice of the beast as he came into view.
"Mads quickly taught us to do the proper spell, turned out pretty good I think." Alex said looking at him.
"but that's…" Mr. teak said pointing at the mirror.
"the beast, yes, they separated us, we're still the same though, in each others heads, I imagine this is how Mads feels on a regular basis." Alex said looking around, "we can't get that far away from each other either, so this certainly isn't a permanent arrangement."
Immediately Annabella got up and walked into the view of the mirror. But she said nothing, she simply stared.
"Annabella won't say a word to anyone, given the circumstance though." Dorothy said sighing, "I can't say I blame her."
"we certainly don't." the beast said looking down at her, fury growing in his eyes, "but I promise you if we find those imps, we'll make them pay."
"Don't go seeking revenge, either of you, this is a game, remember, their game." Elphaba said trying to caution them, "we don't know the rules, they've simply thrown us in neck deep and are watching to see if we sink or swim, its entertainment for them, and we can't have you two jeopardizing anything or anyone."
"that's not going to stop him." Dorothy said firmly, "again, I'm used to losing my proper shape on a regular basis, we've all learned to cope with this."
"but they specifically targeted Annabella, and turned her into a wolf pup." Mrs. Teak said,
"he may be protective of me" Dorothy said standing next to Annabella, "but he's always been very protective to his little sister."
At that moment Dorothy, immediately found herself sitting on the floor, in her natural shape.
"it's been a rather jarring day for all of us, and it isn't even half over yet." Alex said sighing
"Elphaba does have a point though Alex, we don't know how to play this game, and right now we're at a standing start." Dorothy said getting to her feet, "we cant take this lying down but we cant run into it either." She added placing her hands onto the glass.
The two of them looked at her, both sets of eyes looked sorrowful, which wasn't something that Dorothy had expected. They shared a glance but they had no words. They both placed a hand on the mirror, both getting eclipsed by Dorothy's.
"she's right." This response surprisingly coming from the beast.
"our own fury can cloud our judgement terribly, but what can we do then?" Alex asked curiously.
"wait. I mean, let's face it, they only do this for their own amusement, making us miserable like this." Elphaba said, "and they certainly aren't going to cut their game so short." She added with a sigh.
At that moment a whimper came out of Annabella's mouth, Dorothy looked down and was met with a sight that made her want to cry. Annabella had mastered the puppy dog face when she was in her natural form. And now she was pulling it off as a wolf pup, but the tears welling in the large sad eyes was what did it. Dorothy scooped Annabella into her arms and brought her to the mirror. She placed a paw against it, and immediately all of the resolve held between Alex and the beast seemed to soften. They were ready to lose it, between them for this. But those large sad eyes also grounded them again. If they made a move, and it happened to be the wrong one, Annabella would be stuck like that, forever. They couldn't be responsible for that; they wouldn't be responsible for it. The two of them shared another glance, and their steeled faces softened again. Elphaba smiled and immediately got up from her chair, pushing it over to Dorothy so that she could sit down with Annabella on her lap.
"Annabella, are you willing to talk to me?" Alex asked curiously, "it's okay if you aren't up to it, we understand."
"we know this can't be easy for you, and that applied to everyone." The Beast said looking into her eyes.
"but I…we need you to be strong, for us." Alex said smiling warmly, "it's a tough road ahead for all of us, we will find a way to change you back, but we need to know that you're going to be okay before we can make a start on anything else."
Dorothy looked at Annabella, who was now sat on her lap looking, as far as she could tell, like she might cry. She knew that she was very unhappy with this form. And it made her heart want to break. No one deserves to lose their natural shape, it was immoral. But the imps did it for a laugh, because it would be funny to them. And this was what struck a nerve with all of them. She let out a sad whimper, but nodded.
"I, I will do my best, brother dear." She said, stumbling on her words, placing her paw against the mirror again.
"that's all we can ask of you, Annabella, be strong, we can get through this, we always do, and we promise, we will put things right." They both said in unison
"but we must be getting back to helping the others, Dorothy, is the whistle the tribunal gave you still in that jewelry box in the closet?" Alex asked curiously.
"the tribunal won't be able to do much more than advise, the Imps answer to and are of a higher power than they are." Elphaba said softly, "mother nature herself, and even she can't interfere much."
"they'd still be useful, even if Fayth and zinnia are the only ones I can get, with both Ozma and Dorothy basically out of the picture, that leaves just us." The beast said firmly, "to put it bluntly this is an actual emergency."
"and even if they cant fix anything it would still be more of a comfort to have them around." Alex said sighing, "Elphaba, as it is now established that everything is fine there, perhaps you should come back, Glinda and Nessa are going to need your help." Alex added as the mirror started to ripple.
"we'll try to keep in touch." The beast said just as the image faded.
Outside the gale farmhouse, invisible to everyone, was the youngest of the Imps. Her sisters were no doubt laughing it up, wherever they happened to be. She, however, wasn't. she was the one who felt sympathy, and regretted her actions. She went along with her sisters because that was the role she was destined to play in the cycle, they would awaken every thousand years or so, play the game and something would happen that ended it and caused them to go to sleep again, she knew that she must also be her sisters' undoing, as that was the way it always had to be. She could shape her own path, but she had always opted not to. This time, she was sure her sisters took the game too far. She could not interfere until a certain condition was met however. And even then; her help was limited, she could not undo the transformations her sisters had put upon these people, she could only undo the dove that was Aislynn. Looking at the sad wolf pup however; made her resolve to end the cycle, this game would be their last. Her only obstacle, was inserting herself into it.
Meanwhile back in the emerald city.
Alex and the beast found themselves in Glinda's room sorting through things to see what they could find. Zinnia and Elphaba were also helping in this venture while Nessarose went to try and help Polly and Fayth went to keep Ozma company.
"even if you can find a charm, it won't last, those three imps are specifically very powerful, any charm you use to turn back won't last more than an hour at best." Zinnia said looking at the contents of a small glass bottle.
"an hour is better than nothing." The beast said picking up a small jeweled box.
"be careful with that, it belonged to my late aunt, it's a very special music box." Glinda said sharply
"why keep it stored away Glin?" Elphaba asked picking up the ring that Glinda had commissioned from Roquat, "and more importantly, why weren't you wearing this, if you had you would've have been safe." She added firmly.
Glinda didn't say anything, but watched as Elphaba placed it back on the table. After a few minutes of quiet searching, Elphaba found a beautiful but strange looking pearl necklace. All of the pearls were normal looking save for one, it was a rather large one, at the center of the necklace where one might think to put a medallion or a crest.
"Elphie, you're going to want to wear that, it may come in useful." Glinda said sighing.
At that moment, however, a very round, very funny looking fellow dressed completely in red raiment ran in and looked around.
"Ruggedo?" zinnia asked sounding rather surprised, "what are you doing here?"
"you guys haven't heard from my brother, have you?" the Nome asked worriedly
"not since he finished showing Alyssa and Terrance how to control the Gale, no." Glinda replied becoming a bit worried,
"if Roquat is missing though, we have no doubt that you are in some way responsible." Elphaba said as she finished putting on the necklace.
"I had nothing to do with my brother's disappearance, I promise you that." Ruggedo said firmly.
Glinda and Elphaba immediately turned their gazes to the pearl necklace, as if expecting it to change, or start talking. Neither Alex or the beast were sure. But it remained the same, much to their chagrin.
"well, what about the imps?" zinnia asked curiously,
"oh, one of them turned up last night, but Roquat is protected just as well as the rest of us Nomes." Ruggedo said, "but we had a caller last night, but all I know about that is what Kaliko told me, and that's that it was a young woman, but nothing else because he couldn't remember."
Both Glinda and Elphaba glanced at the pearl necklace again, nothing.
"but what would make your brother abdicate his throne?" Zinnia asked worriedly.
"I had rather hoped it would be me." Ruggedo said going into a bit of a pout, "I had such a nice coup planned for next week too."
Again, they looked, and the pearls remained solid milky white,
"well that's a bit grim isn't it?" Alex asked curiously
"Ruggedo, how much do you know about transformation magic?" Glinda asked curiously trying to change the subject to one that might be more useful.
"not much more than the rudiments, Roquat did not trust me at all." He replied.
"can't say I blame him, you've tried to stage a coup twice so far, and now, with him gone you are actually king." Zinnia said sighing, "Ruggedo the red." She added.
"I had such a nice plan too." Ruggedo said sounding quite disappointed
"it wouldn't happen to involve turning him into an ornament would it?" Glinda asked curiously.
"oh of course it did, that's how all my plans end when it came to the ideas of over throwing my brother, what bothers me is that no one in our caverns knows what happened to him, I can't even find him in the magic crystals." Ruggedo said nervously, "I had rather hoped becoming king would have been more of a grand affair…instead I got it thrust upon me by my brother abdicating his own throne without so much as a note and supposedly of his own volition."
Another glance was made at the pearls, nothing still.
"those crystal can find any Nome and anything Nome made, if you couldn't find your brother in them, then he left and decided he either didn't want to be found or that he didn't need be found, because even transformed a Nome should be findable with that magic." Zinnia said, "unless some of the stories are over exaggerated." She added with a shrug.
"no, the stories you heard are right, and that's what worries me, I think that caller told him something that made him decide he had to abdicate, the only reason he wouldn't leave a note or anything was so that it could be done without fuss, no doubt the rest of the council know his location but they won't tell me, because I may just turn up and finish the job." Ruggedo said, "but if these are the circumstances that led me to get the throne, then I am greatly disappointed, and I don't want the throne."
At this remark, however, a glance at the pearls showed that the large one, had turned an almost murky greyish black.
"you've always desired your brother's throne Ruggedo, the pearl of truth says so, you just wont enjoy it as much as you don't get to gloat." Zinnia said pointing to it.
Ruggedo sighed and nodded.
"I always told my brother to be careful, because if someone took him off the throne and it wasn't me, we would both be very disappointed." Ruggedo said with a long sigh, "well, I wish I could be of more service, but as it stands, I guess I should get back to ruling the Nome Kingdom, Kaliko can only do so much while I'm away." He added, clapping his hands three times then vanishing.
"so, Roquat has chosen to go into hiding, that is quite interesting." Zinnia said shuddering.
Glinda let out a long sigh and went back to overseeing the search, she would never have told any of them this, but she knew that this was coming, and she had known for a while. But that is a story, for a different day.
