Disclaimer…okay yea this is getting old…I think next chapter I wont include one
Very early the next morning, Alex and the beast found themselves at the western castle. He had been tempted to go to Kansas after his trip to the house but decided against it. He was currently searching through the extensive library to see if he could find any information on magical barriers. Polly was still toying with it, but as they didn't even know her origins, it didn't give him much to work with.
"anything constructive?" the beast asked still perusing one of the books Alex had thrown to him.
"nothing, you ?" Alex asked curiously as he shut the book he was looking through and turned to go up a ladder.
"nothing, at least not pertaining to a barrier of the same nature." The beast said sighing.
They had been skimming books for the better part of the last two hours. They hadn't accomplished more than making a mess with books lying about. They had resolved to keep looking until it was nearly lunch then return to the city whether they had gotten any results or not. At around three, the two of them, accompanied by Elphaba would return to Kansas for a visit.
"okay, this seems interesting." The beast said clearing his throat, "certain barriers created by or from fairy magics, can be manipulated by the specific race of fairy that has access to the barrier or those that used said magics to put up the barrier."
"does sit really say magics as a plural?" Alex asked grabbing a book and coming down the ladder.
"yes, the entire passage reads like a rather big mess." The beast said sighing "but it seems that Polly is either some kind of fairy in disguise or part fairy like Ozma, as she can manipulate the barrier while the rest of us cannot."
Alex walked over to the beast and looked at the pages of the book.
"something tells me this book was intentionally written to be confusing." Alex said blinking a few times.
"but it at least told us something useful, and gives us something to take a look at." The beast said, "to look up information on the various forms of fairies."
Alex nodded and placed the book he had picked up on the table and went back to the ladder, pushing it over a bit. As he climbed up the ladder he began to think. His thoughts turned to the scepter. He knew Dorothy had previously used it to bind a very powerful spell to open the vault from the inside. He wondered, if between the three of them they could use it, alongside whatever Polly was doing in order to get Ozma through the barrier.
"it's a bit of a longshot as Dorothy is still in Kansas." The beast said rereading a passage.
"a longshot is better than having no shot at all though." Alex replied pulling a book from the shelf, upsetting another in the process and sending it to the floor.
"smooth." The beast said with a chuckle.
"thanks." Alex said descending and picking the book up, placing it on the table that he was sat at.
"any time." The beast replied.
Alex sighed and immediately flipped to the back of the book to see if their was an index of some kind. He found one, and found that it contained information on two types of fairies.
"well, I've got forest fairies and sky fairies in this guide, according to the Index." Alex said hopefully.
"Well, we already know the basics on forest fairies, Fay is one." The beast said picking up another book and skimming through it.
"but we know basically nothing about sky fairies." Alex added.
"well, it says here that they are protected from most forms of harm, they can still be transformed by certain forms of magic thought." He replied.
"such as?" Alex asked curiously
"um," the beast said looking over the passage "Um, the council pooling its power together, A few other things that seem of little importance for the moment, and Yookoohoos."
"well, we have some experience with Yookoohoos, Emma and her mother." Alex said looking through the passages in the book.
"and it stands to reason that Polly is a sky fairy of some kind" the beast said, "but it also doesn't leave out the options that the Imps simply decided she was already in a bad enough place as it stood" he added.
Alex sighed and read through the passages again.
Back in the emerald city, In Ozma's bedroom. Polly was continuously prodding at the barrier, while Nessarose and Ozma watched, as did Dorothy who was contacting them through the mirror.
"It looks kind of fun." Dorothy said watching the scene.
"but it feels strange, sort of like gelatin." Ozma said, "just not as workable."
"well, that's not entirely the news." Polly said pinching the barrier a bit.
"well, that's alright for you Polly." Nessarose said, "because its only malleable for you."
"you think Alex has found anything yet?" Polly asked curiously
"assuming he and the beast are getting on well, then probably." Dorothy said shrugging, "I suppose we could use one of the crystal balls to look in on them.
Nessarose nodded and with a flick of her wand, the small crystal ball floated from the dresser and alighted itself on the floor in front of them. Placing her hand on it, immediately the images of Alex and the beast going through books appeared.
"and it says here that, technically speaking our idea could work." The beast said
"yes, we could, with Polly's help, bind a spell to get Ozma through the barrier, but it wouldn't immediately dispel it according to this." Came Alex's voice.
"so? She can use our room, its across the hall, its not like you an I actually get much in the way of sleep anyways." The beast replied.
"good point, it would serve as a temporary solution until we can find a proper way of dispelling it." Alex added in.
At the point the sound of the scepter pinging in agreement was heard.
"seems they have a plan." Dorothy said hiccupping and becoming a kitten again.
"and it involves me." Polly said becoming curious.
"Well, you're the only person who can actively manipulate barrier."
"well look, you grab those books, ill take these, and we'll return to the palace, worst case scenario, it doesn't work, and we're no worse off than we are now." Came Alex's voice from the crystal
"so, they have an idea, and they're prepared to attempt it." Ozma said smiling happily.
"But the scepter will only answer to Alex or myself, so I don't see how they could both bind a spell." Dorothy said a bit concerned.
"well, perhaps when he said, we…he meant you, Polly, and himself." Ozma suggested.
"would it even work across worlds?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"oh certainly, regardless of where you are, the scepter should still be able to hear you, case in point being the vault, we barely had access to magic, Madeline is the only person who could use a transport spell inside it, and we could barely preform any magic." Nessarose said smiling assuredly.
"okay, second point, so far the scepter has barely worked for me while I'm transformed, and now I'm in a kind of in between, how would that work?" Dorothy continued.
"not a clue, maybe we'll get lucky and you wont transform while you two are binding the spell." Nessarose suggested.
"but we have no way to determine that." Ozma said worriedly
"okay Tugg, back to the city, we need to get back to the palace fast as we can." Alex's voice came from the crystal.
At that moment Dorothy found herself back in her natural shape again.
"you know, you would figure I would be used to this by now." Dorothy said with a sigh, "the problem is that it happens randomly."
"it must be rather jarring." Ozma said sighing wishing she could be with her.
"more than you would think, I've barely gotten much in the way of sleep." Dorothy said sighing.
"but the dreamscape is helpful with that." Ozma said smiling encouraging.
"true but we only discovered that yesterday, its essentially a five-minute catnap with the benefit of a full night's sleep, at least that's how Maddie explained it. "Dorothy said sighing.
At that moment Annabella ran into the room and jumped in front of the mirror again. She yipped.
"good morning Annabella, sleep well?" Ozma asked curiously.
Annabella let out a rather happy sounding yip.
"she says yes." Nessarose said giggling, "and she wants to know what's going on."
"well, we think we have a plan." Polly said smiling as she continued to toy with the barrier.,
"and it involves your brother, Polly and myself." Dorothy said taking Annabella onto her lap.
Annabella looked at them all rather curiously, before tilting her head to the side.
"Apparently your brother came up with a plan." Dorothy said looking her in the eyes,
Annabella yipped and looked at everyone.
"We're willing to try anything at this point." Nessarose said, "if it doesn't work then we're no worse off than we are now."
"you know, we could use the scepter to speedily get back to the city?" came the voice of the beast through the crystal ball again
"of course, but that infers either A. we fly, or B. someone is watching ready with a transport spell." Alex replied.
"or an odd third option, WE try a transport spell." The beast suggested.
"but neither of us know one." Alex said.
"makes no difference, Dorothy could bind a spell just by wanting it and reaching out to the scepter, why can't we?" The beast asked.
"it took her time, and she wasn't even sure it would work." Alex replied.
"She had hope, and the burning desire to go after us." The beast said.
"we have hope, and the desire to save them all, but that's not going to get us to the emerald city any quicker, and before you say it, WE ARE NOT FLYING, NOT ON OUR LIFE!" Alex shouted.
"Nessa, if you could?" Dorothy asked giggling, "before they brawl?"
Nessarose smiled and took her wand from her sleeve, immediately the two fell silent as they looked at the scepter which was now glowing brightly
"Tugg, it seems we're being summoned." Alex said, "just get back to the docks,"
They watched as Alex grabbed the beast by the arm and then grabbed the scepter, in a twinkling they seemed to appear in the bedroom. Alex and the beast took a breath before steeling themselves, both straightening their cuffs and regaining composure.
"you know, you two really must try to get along." Dorothy said, Annabella yipping.
"we know." They said in unison.
"So, what did you find?" Polly asked curiously.
"quite a bit, and we hope we're right, but Dorothy we'll need your help as well as Polly's." Alex said smiling.
Meanwhile in Kansas elsewhere Diggs manor
Aislynn had now taken to flying from room to room looking for jon. She had something on her mind that she had been trying to ignore. She had gotten used to the dove shape she had been forced to take, she didn't like it, eventually she found herself in the kitchens. She found Jon there sitting on the counter reading over a newspaper while Jenny and Jessica cooked.
"Hello Ace, why don't you sit next to me, and we can read together?" Jon offered.
"actually, Jon, I was kind of looking for you, I wanted to talk out of ear shot of Dorothy, but you know how difficult that is." Aislynn replied as she landed next to him.
"we've had plenty of time where we were out of her earshot, like when we were watching Annabella that one time." Jon said.
Aislynn let out a coo.
"Jon, it's about the imps, and honestly, I can't help but feel its partially my fault." Aislynn replied.
Jon looked up from the newspaper and shifted his position so he was somewhat sitting somewhat squatting and looking at her.
"now why would you think a thing like that ace?" Jon asked curiously.
"because, the night the Imps attacked, I wished that things could be slightly more interesting." Aislynn said sighing, "and one of them, the one that transformed me mentioned it."
"ace, you heard what that imp said, they wake up every 1000 years or so, we just got slightly unlucky is all." Jon said encouragingly.
"I know, but I still cant help but feel that, its still my fault if only partially, but the one who transformed me, she seemed rather impetuous in multiple senses of the words." Aislynn said
With a long sigh of relief was heard which caused Jenny and Jessica to jump.
"you don't know, how good it feels to hear you say that, you're a rather tough nut but a smart cookie." Came the voice of the young imp with a giggle,
At that moment she appeared in front of the table across from Aislynn and Jon. Aislynn immediately tried to take flight but almost fell to the floor as she found herself suddenly back in her regular shape.
"What?" Aislynn asked looking at her hands and checking herself over.
She was still in her night clothes that she had been wearing when she was transformed, she looked in the mirror, there were no signs of her transformation.
"Look, I must say this, before we go much further." The imp said climbing up onto a stool, "don't get too excited, I am at your command but I can't affect your friends' transformations, yours is the only one I did so it's the only one I can lift."
"wait? What did I say?" Aislynn asked curiously, "what put you at my command?"
"my name, how you described me." Imp-Etuous said smiling at her,
"what, Impetuous?" Aislynn asked curiously.
The Imp took a deep breath in again and sighed.
"yes, well technically its Imp-Etuous with a hyphen, our names are kind of bad puns, but I'm the only one unfortunately bound to this rule." She replied sighing "and you are the first to get it rather quickly into the game so it does rather bung a spanner in the works in trying to solve this game."
"why?" Jon asked curiously.
Aislynn was shocked that she could still understand jon.
"Don't be too shocked by that either, you'll keep that so long as this game continues." The imp replied, "but my sisters aren't going to be happy the game has been so short, a few of your friends, including the one who attracted us to all of you lot, and aren't going to allow you guys to easily catch them, starting the 1000 year cycle over again, they'll keep their cards close to their chests."
"so, if I had just kept my mouth shut, they'd have eventually gotten bored and careless?" Aislynn asked curiously.
"no they never get careless, I'm always their undoing, and I don't mind being that, but I'm tired of this cycle and being stuck at my sisters' every beck and call until someone works out my name, then going back to sleep for 1000 years for the cycle to start again." She replied with a sad sigh.
"sounds to me as though you're tired of the cycle." Jessica said placing a muffin in front of the imp
"I am, and I think you all might be able to help me break it, specifically you, what did they call you? Ace?" the imp asked curiously as she examined the muffin.
"Well, technically its Aislynn, but everyone calls me Ace." Aislynn replied.
"ace is easier to say, so I'll stick to that, but the problem is the only chance I have at appealing to break the cycle is by attracting our mother, Mother Nature." The imp said, "and that's going to be a challenge because per rules of the game 'I' have to attract her attention on my own, last time I messed with the weather and caused the first REAL ice storm in Oz, not to be confused with the Great ice storm, but mother limited my ability to do that for fear of any more problems on that route."
"sounds like we've got to start thinking then, why don't you start at the beginning?" Aislynn asked.
"it would probably be best if I gave you a condensed version, just to pass the time while your friend is working on freeing Ozma" she said picking a piece off the muffin and eating it.
Back in emerald city.
Alex was not stood in front of the barrier while in the mirror, Dorothy's reflection was sat on the floor, Annabella sitting on her lap. They had discussed what had to be done and were fully prepared to execute the plan.
"okay, Dorothy and I will start trying to bind the spell now, Polly place a hand on the barrier please." Alex said smiling encouragingly at her.
Polly nodded and placed a hand on the barrier. It immediately began rippling again. Alex took a deep breath and placed both hands on the barrier. Closing his eyes as did Dorothy, they both began to reach out to the scepter. However only Dorothy's hands began glowing. After a few moments the orb on the scepter began to glow brightly, sending energy through Alex and into the barrier which not only continued to ripple but began to shimmer. Ozma slowly, carefully, brought one hand up to the barrier and touched it. It seemed different now, she tried pushing on it, and it seemed to nearly give. She continued pushing against it, her eyes closed and soon she began to feel an unusual tingling sensation. The beast and Nessarose watched as she slowly walked right through the barrier. When she was a few steps away from it, she opened her eyes and looked around. She gave a triumphant giggle which broke Dorothy's and Alex's concentration. Alex staggered backwards as energy stopped flowing through him and Dorothy took a deep breath in. Annabella yipped excitedly. Looking at it, the barrier was still there, they hadn't succeeded at getting rid of it, but the magic and Polly's interaction with the barrier did get Ozma on what was for all intents and purposes, the right side of it. Suddenly the sound of someone slowly clapping was heard.
"well." Came the voice of the young imp from behind Dorothy, "I must say, for two amateurs that was rather well done."
