Disclaimer, you know.
Dorothy felt herself changing, Shrinking. Everyone watched in intrigue, including Glinda who was shocked the scepter was able to do a transformation spell on its own. She, like alex was annoyed by this. Her disdain for transformation magic helping in that respect. But she couldn't help but be interested in the spectacle before her.
"Did you just start transforming her into a doll?" Alex asked the scepter curiously.
This question didn't need answering, soon dorothy found herself in the form of what she assumed was a wax doll like queen dolly. As soon she was eye level with her. Looking herself over, her body appeared to have been turned into the same material as the doll queen before her.
"'well, that's easily rectified, I know I can do and undo doll transformations" Queen Dolly said with a giggle.
"Don't try it." Glinda said, irritation in her tone, "we don't know what went into this transformation, you've seen what the scepter is capable"
"Hones-twee…" Dorothy said stopping herself as she realized that came out wrong "hones-tree…" it came out wrong again.
"Oh, don't tell me you messed with her speech as well." Alex said glaring at the scepter.
It let out a single ping, followed by the quick giggly sounding pings.
"Oh goodie" Fayth said sarcastically, "that's actually harder to rectify than the transformation"
"What, messing with someone's ability to speak?" Ozma asked curiously.
"there's never been an easy way to rectify it, though my aunt did come up with a remedy after a particular accident." Glinda said sighing.
"Grammar Crackers?" Alex asked sarcastically.
"Close." Glinda said, "language arts Lollipops."
"That donst sound a-peel-wing" Dorothy said becoming very annoyed herself.
"It isn't, they taste like very sour lemons" Glinda said sighing, "I should know, I was the one the accident happened to, ended up with a magical malady known as tongue tie, some words work but others come out twisted."
"Sounds kinda funny, pun intended." Alex said, "but how does that help us now?" he asked picking dorothy up.
"What would help is asking the question of why she isn't wearing the ring I had Roquat make you guys." Glinda said looking her over "or the slippers for that matter."
"I assume she left it on the side table, I'm not wearing mine either at the moment." Alex said reaching into his coat pocket with his free and pulling it out, immediately slipping it on from his palm. "But just to be safe."
"I would think we would be used to dorothy losing her natural shape on a regular basis by now, but this just takes the cake" Glinda said sighing, "can't be helped now I suppose, I believe it's probably unwise to fight against the scepter. "
The scepter pinged in agreement at this. Queen Dolly nodded as well.
"Scollops, ensure that our guests are not left wanting, I must go check to make sure everything in the domain is in order before I show my guests around" Queen dolly said turning to her servant.
The Doll bowed, and Queen dolly nodded again
"We shall patiently await your return." Queen Ozma said curtseying again.
Queen dolly nodded and quickly made her way out of the throne room. Alex let out a long sigh and sat himself on the floor, setting dorothy down in front of him.
"Glinda has a point, we should be used to this kind of thing, but it's one thing to do it of one's free will or to have someone do it either on accident or by malice." He said looking up at the scepter, "it's quite another when your object of power decides that things need to be more amusing."
"Ag-weed." Dorothy said before pressing her lips shut.
Alex sighed and looked up at the scepter.
"Can you actually undo both of these problems" he asked curiously.
The scepter pinged twice.
"Just the transformation?"
It pinged once.
"Oh goody" he sighed rolling his eyes, "Glinda have you considered turning this remedy of your aunts into a different form?" he added curiously.
"Lozenges, Pills, either way they're coated in something that makes the magic more palatable" she said shuddering.
"Elocution pills maybe?" Came the voice of the wizard from a small Mirror nearby.
"that's not bad actually, but it would take time to develop." Glinda said turning to him.
"For the record" came Aislynn's voice from behind him, "everyone save Madeline is finding this rather amusing."
"I imagine she's being hit with the aftereffects?" Alex asked curiously,
"Seems so, she's presently sat on Dorothy's throne, looking quite ill, she can still speak properly but looks and sounds like she's going to be sick" The Wizard said sighing.
"Glinda, do you want me to head to your castle and find some of those lollipops?" Elphaba asked curiously
"You can't miss them, they're in a time jar to prevent spoilage." Glinda said sighing
"Where did you get a time jar?" Elphaba asked curiously
"It was my aunts, its where she decided to keep them in case another spell backfired." Glinda said sighing.
Dorothy took this moment to attempt walking. It wasn't easy now that her legs weren't flesh and bone. They were rather stiff. She wobbled a bit. It reminded her of having to relearn walking after the jester had turned her into a cat.
"So, why lemon?" Ozma asked curiously.
"Because re-learning something always leaves a sour taste in one's mouth I expect." Alex said sighing, "magic in all of its form tastes awful, and you can't make it more palatable with sugar since the two don't mix"
"I think it's what my aunt had to hand at the time, but you got it on the nose for the most part." Glinda said giggling, "bad pun aside."
Dorothy found herself attempting to grin, but the material she was now made from too stiff to do so. she sighed, sat on the floor and crossed her arms the best she could. Alex had been proven right about wanting her to wear the slippers, and she cursed herself for forgetting the ring. But as Glinda had said, it couldn't be helped at this stage. As the mirror faded, a silence fell over the room for a moment.
"But why change her speech?" Scollops asked curiously.
"Probably for a laugh, the scepter does have a mind of its own." Alex said looking up at it, "since she's let out a set of pings that we all usually interprets as laughs or giggles."
"Alternatively, it could be both for a laugh and to give her a different point of view." Zinnia said, "remember, Queen Dolly accidentally wound up stuck in your guy's world and couldn't move, but dorothy never really liked the look of her because of how she had set herself up."
"Oh, that sounds distressing." Scollops said, "so it was really a long time." He added.
They all nodded, save for dorothy who just rocked back and forth.
"This is hones-twee va-way annoi-wing." Dorothy going slow to see if she could force the words out properly, it didn't work.
"Especially when it's not asked for." Alex added glaring at the scepter, "though I feel Zinnia's point on it being more a 'see it from their perspective' type of thing, as that feels more like something we would prefer to get across"
"And it does learn from you guys" Ozma said nodding, sitting herself on the floor next to alex, "that said, Scollops could you get a hairbrush, her hair is getting rather frizzy and while it looks funny, certainly isn't presentable." She said.
The servant nodded and trotted off, returning moments later with a hairbrush. Ozma took dorothy up and set her on her lap. And began brushing her hair. To dorothy, it felt weird, but oddly satisfying. From her throat a purring sound released which she thought was odd. She knew she could still purr properly outside of her cat or kitten transformations, just that it seemed to be hard to accomplish.
"hmm" alex said sucking air through his teeth, "seems the transformation didn't change everything" he said.
"Guess some things just cant be, the scepter probably knows you two better than you do." Ozma said sighing as she continued with the brushing
"Its sssst-stwange" dorothy said sighing "wats" she added.
"Credit for trying kitten." Alex said sighing.
"I assume" Glinda said addressing the scepter, "she'll have to stay like this until we go home?" Glinda asked curiously
The scepter let out a single ping.
"You know alternatively, the scepter could just be showing off again" Fayth said, "like the other day when it mixed those spells, something that theoretically shouldn't be able to be done, at least not by an object of power on its own."
"I mean, it is capable of at least some kind of thinking." Alex said shrugging, "and at least tries to communicate with us."
Fayth and zinnia nodded at this, as did Glinda. As they had all seen the scepter at work however, they would never have been able to deny it either way.
Dorothy just sat there in silence at this point. Waiting for Ozma to finish straightening her hair out. As annoyed as she was at this, like with alex, she found it difficult to stay mad at the scepter. As far as they were concerned, she meant well, but the actions alongside the meaning at least as of late left something to be desired. One of the things that irked her the most was that the transformation was once again effecting Madeline in some way, though she wasn't sure what the full effect of this was.
At that moment, a doll handmaiden toddled into the room. she appeared to be a wax doll as well, but with most of her features painted on.
"My name is Twinkle." The maid said curtseying the best she could, "as you are guests of the queen, I am to serve you best I can." She said.
The six of them shared a glance with each other for a moment.
"You wouldn't happen to have any ribbon we could use, would you?" Alex asked curiously, "it'd probably best if we tie Dorothy's hair up while she's in this form." He added
Twinkle nodded and toddled out, returning a few moments later with a thick ribbon made from red satin, which she handed to alex.
"Thank you" he said with a light smile and turned his attention back to Ozma and dorothy.
"That should just about do it." Ozma said, "never had any dolls when I lived with Mombi, but I do know what looking presentable looks like." She added with a giggle.
Alex nodded and used the ribbon to tie Dorothy's hair back, making it a little neater.
"Tanks." Dorothy said, grumbling shortly afterwards.
"I can only imagine how annoying this must be to try and deal with, kitten." Alex said sighing, "but I genuinely doubt the scepter will relent."
"She prefers seeing through it seems." Ozma said, "we did sort of establish that the other day as well." She sighed.
"I just wish she had a choice in the matter." Glinda said looking at it, "Its one thing to mess with someone's form, its another to mess with said form as well as other aspects."
"I mean, its not like this is going to be the first time she's had to relearn something." Alex said sighing, "remember, we had to help her regain the ability to walk."
"Oh, I know, doesn't mean I like the situation." Glinda said with another sigh,
"You know, its occurred to me, Kitten" alex said looking at the ribbon he had just used to tie her hair back, "you don't tie your hair up nearly as often as you used to."
"In fairness, alex, she hasn't really been able to keep it a consistent length for like the last year or so." Ozma said looking at him, "getting it cut for one reason or another, or being transformed, though I do think it looks nice when its down."
Dorothy had opted not to say anything on this. She did like having her hair tied back, as it kept it neat and out of the way. But Ozma did have a point. Over the last year or so she had kept it short for one reason or another. However, commenting on that would have required speaking, and attempting to work through whatever the scepter had done to her just left her frustrated.
"How many times is this now that she's lost her natural shape?" Fayth asked curiously
"Let's see, turned into a statue, turned into a kitten or cat though that has become more by choice at this point, turned into a marionette, turned into a bunny type creature through spell ricochet, turned into a proper rabbit, and now turned into a doll" Glinda said counting them off on her fingers as she listed them, "and it happens on a fairly regular basis, I couldn't give an exact number without checking the great book of records, or using that book that shows the truth."
"Surprised she hasn't gone through a transformation relapse" Zinnia said
"a what?" alex and Ozma both asked curiously
"a transformation relapse, they're rare, but the more often one uses transformation or is transformed the more likely it is to happen." Fayth said with a giggle, "considering the frequency at which she uses it, I would assume the cat transformation would be what it naturalizes to."
"And how long would that sort of a thing last?" alex asked curiously.
"Days, weeks, there's no conclusion onto really how long." Glinda said sighing, "its why I keep telling you guys not to make a habit out of transforming."
"Instead of just outright warning us that that's a consequence?" Alex asked curiously
"In fairness, it is in the pocket compendium she gives everyone, page, 78 I believe?" Zinnia said.
Alex reached into his coat and pulled out the compendium, he often kept one of theirs nearby on the off chance it came in useful. Thumbing through it he found a short explanation on transformation magic and possible side effects.
"Glinda, you are aware that most of us just accept these to be polite, correct?" alex asked, the voice of the beast leaking into his own as he put the small book back in his inner coat pocket.
"She probably hopes you all just at least skim through them." Zinnia said with a giggle.
"Ellie, Alison, Brianna and Elena are the only ones I know off the top of my head that actually read it." Glinda said, "though Ace has probably read it cover to cover a couple of times."
Everyone nodded in agreement at this and shared a chuckle.
"Will you be needing anything else your majesty?" Scollops eventually asked
"I cant think of anything at this moment." Ozma Said handing the brush back to him, "but thank you for asking."
Scollops bowed low and toddled off followed by Twinkle.
"I believe this valley of Merryland is populated exclusively by dolls of varying descriptions." Zinnia said watching as they left, "Various makes, models, materials."
"Some of those basically mean the same thing." Alex said getting to his feet and looking around, "This place is rather nice, like a giant dolls house really."
"Well, more of a palace" Ozma said taking Dorothy carefully into her arms.
"The Queen has given you full reign of the castle while she is checking on the other valleys came a firm sounding voice.
They all looked around curiously for a moment and eventually their eyes caught a wooden soldier. Standing straight at attention.
"You may explore the castle to your liking if you wish" he said again before saluting stiffly, then just as stiffly marching out.
"You two up for a look around?" Alex asked curiously, turning to dorothy and Ozma.
At that moment Twinkle returned.
"If you would like, I can show you around the palace." She offered.
"I think a few of us should stay here, in case queen Dolly comes back while the others get shown around, it wouldn't be convenient to have to hunt everyone down." Fayth said
After sharing a glance, they all nodded in agreement with this. Fayth and Zinnia opted to stay behind and wait, as that felt the best thing to do. Ozma carefully set dorothy down on the floor. She took a few wobbly and stiff steps before falling backward onto her bottom.
"it'll likely take some getting used to, people with joints are used to having them being able to bend." Twinkle said. "For the sake of not having any accidents occur, it would probably be best for someone to carry her."
Being closest to her, Ozma carefully picked dorothy up again. Alex held out his hand and the scepter immediately flew to it, pinging excitedly.
"Oh, be quiet, we're annoyed with you enough as it is." Alex said sternly.
The scepter went a bit dim at this point.
With that, Twinkle began leading the small group through the palace.
"It's very quaint." Alex said looking around
The doll nodded and led them to a strange room.
"This is the laughing chamber" Twinkle said giggling.
"Why do they call it that?" Alex asked curiously,
The room, for the most part looked fairly normal. The furniture in it looked suited to dolls or very small children, just as all the furniture in the palace did. But there was something about the aesthetic that didn't sit well with him. Something he was staring at but couldn't place. Twinkle giggled again and walked over to a couch and sat herself upon it. immediately a faint, but noticeable chorus of giggles and laughter were heard. And something that made alex feel rather uneasy was that it seemed to come from all the furniture at once.
Taking out his reading glasses he put them on and squinted at a table that was in front of him. Faint, hardly noticeable, but still there was the outline of a mouth and lips. Pursed in a giggle.
"Well, that…that's something." He said looking around.
He observed the same trait on everything, including the walls. The floor seemed to be the only thing that didn't have a face. At least as far as he could tell. Twinkle got up and the chorus stopped.
"I have to wonder what kind of magic was used to make something like this." Glinda asked looking around it. lightly pushing against the wall out of curiosity. For a moment the faint laughter rang out again.
"Some kind of fairy magic" Ozma said looking around, "it's strange, but I can feel it."
"I mean, its quaint as well." Alex said, "but unsettling, especially with the outlines of faces and mouths." He added taking his glasses off and pocketing them again.
"It's kinda cute, kinda disturbing in that respect." Ozma said.
"Ag-weed…" dorothy said trailing off, and then resolving this time, for sure, just to not speak unless it was truly necessary.
The scepter let out a few rapid pings again, sounding amused. Alex glared at it, and it went dim.
"Look, be good for the rest of the trip, and I'll put a new coat of wood varnish on you once we get home." Alex said firmly.
The scepter let out a single solitary ping, and them dimmed once again.
"When was the last time you put varnish on that to recoat it?" Glinda asked curiously.
"When it rebuilt itself, so, a couple of years now." He said sighing
"This way if you'd please." Twinkle said toddling past them and leading them out.
Their next stop was the kitchens where dolls dressed as cooks were making various sculptured dishes out of sawdust. Alex found this rather impressive, much to no one's surprise. watching, leaning against the wall, his head tilted in curiosity and fascination.
"I shouldn't be surprised you find this amusing." Ozma said looking at him after a moment.
"Well, the most people at least as far as I'm aware, usually use sawdust for where I come from, is stuffing things, making spills easier to clean up, or compressing into small bricks with which one can use as a fire starter." Alex said sounding rather amused, "though I suppose somewhere out there, there are probably people who do stuff like this.
"Oh, I'm sure." Glinda said watching the dolls do their work.
After a few minutes of watching this, twinkle led them out.
"Now, we do have regular foods around here, as not every citizen of Merryland is a doll." Twinkle said, "we have candy people, Clowns, storks, cats, amongst other things." She said leading them to another chamber.
This one seemed to be self-explanatorily marked, with a large music note on the door.
"Musical chamber?" Glinda asked curiously
Twinkle nodded and the door opened, revealing a room with a musical aesthetic to it. everything patterned with notes or instruments. Dorothy reached out best she could and brushed against the wall they were walking passed. For a short couple of seconds, the sounds of a distant string orchestra was heard. Twinkle giggled and toddled over to a couch. Sitting down on it, the distant sounds of a marching band could be heard.
"that's, rather neat, wonder if Cassandra could help us make something with a similar affect" Glinda said causing everyone to look at her "what? I experiment but I don't have the answers for everything."
Dorothy couldn't help but giggle at this.
"I'm sure she could, its like a magical music box..." alex trailed off and looked at the scepter again, "again, don't get any ideas." He said
"I mean, its like the chalkboard, I think that principle was that it would screech if the students decided they were going to be rowdy, be some magics do decay after a while and like the mixed spells that the scepter created, can become unstable." Glinda said with a nod.
"Case in point with the incessant screeching it did." Ozma said nodding.
Twinkle giggled and got up from the couch, toddling out of the room and leading them along. Very quickly they came back to the throne room where queen Dolly was already waiting.
"Did you enjoy the short tour of the palace?" she asked curiously.
"It was interesting, very quaint" Alex said nodding, "it's a very nice palace your majesty." He added.
"Thank you." Queen Dolly said with a nod, "everything is getting back into order now, I came back quickly as I could since the rest of the dolls occasionally become restless when I am not around."
"Not to sound impolite your majesty, but what do you mean by Restless?" Alex asked curiously
"As in they occasionally revolt and break into the sawdust stores" Queen dolly said with a sigh
"But they don't try to overthrow you?" Zinnia asked curiously, "a revolt generally entails going against the leader as well."
"Oh no, of course not." Scollops said, "they just want the sawdust, as its typically just rationed out every now and again."
"But you guys don't feel hunger, so why would they feel the need?" Fayth asked curiously.
"I've never really been sure." Queen dolly said with a bit of a shrug
"And it would be pointless for them to try and fight her as she can put them to sleep again with her wand." Alex said nodding, the scepter pinging in agreement.
"Surely the easiest way to solve that problem is to have unrestricted access to the sawdust?" Fayth asked, "I mean, yes its technically a limited resource if no one's spending one hundred percent of their time producing it, but it would solve the problem."
"This is true and something I have often considered" Queen Dolly said nodding
"Admittedly if you put them all to sleep often it does make it a tiny bit pointless to do so though, as you would be one of the only people in the valley that would require it regularly." Alex added.
"Which is also another point I considered" Queen dolly said turning to him, "all this being said though, I think I should start showing you around the valleys" she added.
"Shall we be walking or using magic?" Glinda asked curiously.
"Magic first, then walk the rest of the way." Queen dolly said with a giggle, "and our first stop will be the first valley, Valley of the clowns."
Quick A/N: Originally, I had the idea of the transformation that happened to dorothy happen whilst they were being transported to Merryland, the messing with the speech being what drew the sudden attention to it. but I decided that while it felt in line with the direction I've been taking that, it would be more amusing to have the scepter do it almost as soon as they arrived.
