Disclaimer, the usual.
After a few hours, Cassandra did emerge from the chambers. The large piece of paper now rolled up in her hand. Everyone together went to watch the spectacle. Once she was in Ozma's room she asked if anyone had a match. Alex and the beast immediately went across the hall the get a box from his tool chest.
"Have you always kept those in with your tools?" Dorothy had asked curiously.
"yes." The two had replied, "and yes we are aware that keeping matches in a carpentry shop CAN be a disaster."
"just making sure." Dorothy had replied.
Madeline then made a remark that Dorothy found surprising. And that was that Lady Cassandra could easily light the paper by striking it with the end of her walking stick, or allowing her to tap it with the tip of her wand. However, Cassandra insisted on the matches. Leaning her walking stick against the barrier she held the paper in one hand, and with Alex holding the box, struck the match and held to the paper. Immediately as it caught, the match went out and instead of the paper continuing to burn properly the paper began the smoke, smolder and glow. Eventually the smoke began wisping around the barrier. Soon it began to ripple the way it did whenever Polly prodded at it. It began to shimmer and soon started glowing brightly. The ashes of the paper seemed to float around the barrier as it smoldered. Then suddenly, with no warning the barrier then seemed to shatter into rainbow colored shards. They made no impact when they hit, they just faded, like the morning mist.
"Well, color me impressed." The Imp said applauding.
"Well Cassandra is the most powerful witch in all of Oz." Elphaba said leaning against the door frame.
"the Closest competitor for the title." Cassandra had said turning to them, "at least as far as anyone who wants it is concerned, is Glinda."
"Is Locasta not in the running?" Alex had asked curiously.
"its not her." Cassandra had said shaking her head and sighing
"And as far as people who don't want it are concerned?" Ellie had asked.
"take a glance around the room, name some contenders." Cassandra had said bending over to pick up her walking stick.
"I see…" Ellie said trailing off,
"Now, if no one objects, Emma, Aislynn, Imp, Polly I need all four of you to help me with this one." She said hobbling towards the door.
Cassandra had begun working on the calculations to fix Tin Man, Scarecrow, The China Princess and Marshall Mallow. Though of the China Lamb set that was the couple, the one that was the china princess had been adamant towards the fact that she did not wish to be transformed until her husband could be as well. The couple had remained in Madeline's room, mainly because they had limited motion, but mostly because they were so breakable now.
These events had mostly transpired two days prior. Alex, Dorothy, Eliza, Ozma, The beast, Ellie, Zeb and Madeline, were once more sat in Madeline`s room. They were all mostly silent, save for the scepter occasionally ringing and pinging to relieve the monotony. Dorothy was laid across a love seat with Alex, her feet on his lap. The Beast had been pacing around the room. Ellie was sat on the floor in the corner, bouncing her little ball against a wall. Occasionally Ozma would catch the rebound when Ellie inevitably missed. Zeb had been situated himself at a table and he, Madeline, Eliza were currently playing cards. All of them knew they should be feeling more anxiety considering the situation, but instead they only seemed to feel bored.
"Perhaps…either Cassandra, the imp, or maybe Emma are manipulating our thoughts?" Madeline suggested when the point was brought up.
"I mean, a pacification spell would be child's play to at least Cassandra, and maybe the imp." Ellie said with a yawn.
"Wouldn't that be a bit taboo though?" Alex asked curiously, "Messing with someone's mind to keep them complacent?"
"wouldn't know, I've never felt the need to use one, my little charm is literally a natural quirk I have." Madeline said shrugging.
"perhaps, it might be one of the other imps." Ozma suggested, "we seem to keep forgetting the fact that there's two more of them."
"good point." Madeline said sighing.
"So, question, what exactly are they doing?" Zeb asked curiously, "with the calculations as you put it?"
"Its rather difficult to explain, but to sum it up, its basically magic through math." Madeline said, "the theory is sound enough, and there are only three possible outcomes."
"and those are?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"One, what you intend to happen, will happen." Madeline said smiling as she stretched, "2, nothing will happen." She added.
"and three?" Alex and the Beast asked curiously.
"something absolutely random and unexpected happens." Madeline said giggling a bit, looking up as though recounting a memory, "There's actually a single equation based 'round that premise, I've been doing some experiments with it to see if the premise is actually sound."
"and wouldn't it be?" Ellie asked curiously, "Actually, wait a minute, I thought that equation was illegal?" she added turning to Ozma.
"Strictly taboo." Ozma said shaking her head, "Too my knowledge they can't actually arrest you for using the spell unless it's in another spell with malicious intent in mind, as in no one is going to arrest you for straight up using it."
"What would inserting it into another spell do?" Eliza asked curiously.
"Make the wanted outcome more likely." Madeline said getting up and walking over to a cabinet.
"Hatter, I absolutely forbid you to use that spell while so many of us are in one room." The china lamb that was the china princess ordered.
"Is that a danger, it affecting us?" The beast asked curiously.
"a bit of one, I won't deny, but physical affects aren't permanent, lasting only a few minutes, sometimes hours, but a few days at the most." Madeline said unlocking the cabinet and pulling out a small bundle of scrolls, "I've been experimenting with it recently to see if willing a certain affect is possible, results are inconclusive but it does seem that the effects are swayed by the type of person."
"as in…based on personality and such?" Alex asked sharing a glance with both his double and then with Dorothy.
"Exactly, I tend to be spontaneous an anomaly of sorts so the affect is mostly completely random." Madeline said smiling, "If Dorothy were to light the paper, it would probably provide something helpful."
"Physical changes are temporary; however, I must add that calling things into existence, food, tools, et cetera." Ozma said twirling her wand between her fingers, "are permanent."
Madeline unrolled a scroll and handed it to Dorothy. Looking at it caused her to blink. The writing on the page just seemed to swirl in an inconsistent pattern. It was incredibly difficult to look at for any extended period of time. Handing the scroll back to Maddie, then removing her feet from Alex's lap, she adjusted her position to be sitting normally. She blinked a few times and shook her head.
"Don't worry, that feeling will fade in a moment." Madeline said giggling, "Want to give it a try?" she asked curiously, still giggling.
"Honestly?" Dorothy asked shaking her head, "no, but you'll simply pester me into submission anyways, not to mention I'm sure Cassandra will have that in her lesson plan for next year." She added as her head cleared
Alex went into his pocket and pulled out the box of matches. Taking one out he handed it to her and held out the box.
"Just hold the scroll, strike the match then just touch it to the paper." Madeline said, "Doesn't take much to start the process." She added handing the scroll back to her.
Dorothy nodded, dragging the match along the strip on the box. Once it was lit, she brought it to the edge of the paper. Immediately the paper flared up and the process began. The smoke and ash swirling around, and suddenly, in a flash, a decently sized red apple appeared in her hand.
"Well…" Madeline said sounding a little bit underwhelmed, "I guess an apple is pretty helpful, if you happen to be hungry."
"is it safe though?" Zeb asked curiously.
"Oh, perfectly." Madeline said sighing, "it's just, I kinda expected something at least a tiny more interesting to happen."
"We're all suffering from an odd feeling of boredom Mads." Said the sloth that was jack.
"Jack, you're always bored, and these days always tired." Madeline said walking back over to the cabinet and shutting it.
"couldn't you, theoretically." The beast asked curiously, "use it to break the enchantments on everyone?"
"In theory, yes, but the problem is that the effect is mostly random, and the odds of it coming up with the exact spell you would need to lift the enchantments are astronomical." Madeline said sighing, "Besides, even if I wanted to, its too dangerous to test, even if it was done on the other side of a barrier there is still too much that can go wrong."
"too much to put even you off the idea?" Ozma asked sounding a little be surprised.
Madeline nodded, returning to the table and shuffling the deck of cards.
"The risks really outnumber the rewards in this case, I wouldn't risk it." Madeline said dealing the cards again.
This was met with almost complete silence. It was broken only by the scepter, which seemed to be humming idly, and the sound of Dorothy eating the apple she had just summoned into existence. Eventually she returned herself to the position that she had been in, head on the armrest of the loveseat and feet on Alex's lap. She offered him and the beast a bite from the apple, they both politely declined. Once she had finished the apple, the only thing breaking the silence was the scepter. The feeling of boredom just seemed to grow. None of them were sure what to make of it, but they knew it was definitely wasn't normal. Annabella eventually ran into the room followed by the Tin Owl and straw stuffed bear. Annabella immediately found herself sidling over to a corner, yawning and curling up. Watching her, Dorothy shook her head, but was distracted by a familiar sensation. She looked down at Alex and found him massaging her feet. He too was looking at Annabella curled up in a corner as was the beast. She wasn't sure if he was aware of what he was doing, or if he was doing it unconsciously. But she couldn't complain, she thoroughly enjoyed it. I
The sound of a chair scraping across the floor however made it perfectly apparent that Madeline had set to work again.
"if it is a pacification spell, its only on this room." She said, sounding like she was struggling to keep on that track, "if I can just find a book"
"what book?" Came the voice of the imp, "and what are you guys all sitting about for? We rather expected you to be worried…" she said as the feeling hit her.
"exactly." Madeline said searching over her bookshelf, "and no its not just you."
"Pacification spell" The imp said sighing, "wait…that doesn't seem right." She said.
"what do you mean?" Alex asked curiously.
"I mean, this isn't something my sisters would do…well, not Imp-Udent." The imp said shaking her head, "they would try to stoke fear, so either one of your other friends is trying to keep you all out of the way." she said,
"or one of your sisters is, because they find this amusing." Madeline said pulling a tome from the shelf and flipping through it.
"Well, we have the calculations done." The imp said quickly changing the subject, "Cassandra said this should work." She added as Aislynn, Cassandra, Polly, and Emma came into the room.
"I never said should, I said will." Cassandra said hitting her stick against the floor.
"you seem very sure of that." The beast said
Cassandra glared at the two them hobbled over to the table the China princess and Marshal mallow were situated on.
"I'll take care of these two, Aislynn, you take scarecrow" Cassandra said picking up the china lamb set and carrying them to the center of the room.
"I'll deal with the tin man." Polly said, who with Emma's help, made her way to the center of the room
Once they were all there. Cassandra produced four large pieces of paper. She had already set the china princess and marshal mallow down and the two pieces of paper in front of them. She then hobbled over to the loveseat Alex and Dorothy were occupying and obtained the box of matches from him. Striking one, she threw it down on one of the papers. Immediately it began to smolder and she repeated the process. Tossing the box to Aislynn she followed suit, as did Emma and Polly when the box was tossed to them. Soon the area was enveloped in thick white smoke. It was impossible to see through now. Soon it began to swirl, making a vortex out of the smoke. Cassandra smiled a smug little grin. The scepter immediately began pinging in a tone of what could only be described as amusement. It, like Cassandra, knew the spell was working. Within a moment there was a rush of wind and the smoke dissipated. Their four friends were now standing before them, back in their natural shapes. The china princess immediately began looking through her pockets for her amulet so she could change her size to match her husbands.
"where were you two when the imps caught you?" Madeline asked starting to silently bind a spell.
"silent binding, I'm impressed." The imp said,
"their bedroom." Tin man said.
"then the amulet is probably sitting on the floor somewhere." Madeline said raising her wand, "one of you three may want to be ready to grab the scepter." She added.
Dorothy immediately held out her hand for it, and it quickly flew to her grasp. Madeline smiled and shot a ball of light from her wand into the middle of the room. It flew up and then dispersed. But a wave of energy seemed to drive away the feeling of boredom and a lack of motivation.
"I haven't completely counteracted the spell." Madeline said taking a deep breath, "I've turned my room temporarily into a sort of neutral zone for magic, right now the only people who should be able to perform any magic are Cassandra and Emma."
"so, essentially a weaker version of what the jester used to do to get neutralize the threat of the scepter?" Alex asked curiously.
"same basic principle, yes." Madeline said.
"but that leaves us defenseless." Dorothy said looking at her double.
"I'm fully aware of that, Dot." Madeline said sliding her wand up her sleeve.
Dorothy sighed and got to her feet, however, as her feet touched the floor, she registered something that didn't feel right and it took her less than five seconds extra to realize it.
"oh." Came the voice of the imp in a worried tone.
They looked around, Dorothy found herself, the Imp, Aislynn, and much to her surprise, Elphaba in a room with her. The room was strange, a forest green color with wide walls.
"Where are we?" Elphaba asked curiously.
"Does the term, A Nowhere mean anything to you?" the imp asked looking around.
