Chapter 1 – Welcome to the Fantastic World of Oz
"Where am I?" Nora cautiously stepped out of her room and looked around. Vivid plants adorned with festive colors and bright cheerful flora lined the pathway with some tiny weeds growing through the cracks in the walk. The trees were a magnificent green and the grass was a beautiful green while the houses nearby were a voracious green and the people there were in…green. "Why is everything green." Nora sighed uneasily and noticed that the people in the village she was nearby were all staring at here. They looked horrified just at the sight of her. She laughed nervously at them and started to take a few steps backwards.
"Look! Her house killed the Wicked Witch of Mistral!" One of the green people pointed at the bottom of the perfect cube cutout of the JNPR dorm room.
Nora glanced down at the bottom of the room and noticed two legs poking out from under it, beside the legs laid a beautiful golden necklace that sparkled radiantly amidst the green. Nora bent over and picked up the necklace and pocketed it. "This will make good cash if I sell it at a pawn shop!" She thought to herself.
She looked back at the green people and they were still too scared to even move close to her. "Uh, hi?" She raised an arm and waved. The people retreated a little bit and a few yelped in fear. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!" Yet, the crowd did not move any closer. Nora began to pout a little and was about to start giving reasons when a gigantic purple bubble floated down in the center of the village. It popped and in the middle of it was a beautiful woman with gorgeous blonde hair and green eyes. She wore a white dress with a purple cape attachment and had a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Just the way she carried herself screamed maturity.
A woman from the village stepped forward and cheered, "it's the Good Witch of Vale! Now we'll be saved from that red-haired witch that landed so suddenly in the outskirts of our village!"
"Please, please. Show some respect." The woman stepped in front of the crowd and put her arms out to reference all the members of the village. "You are in the midst of the girl who single handedly took out one of the most powerful witches in all of Remnant. You should be thanking her instead of wanting to kill her." The villagers began to mumble in guilt and apologized to Nora. Nora, meanwhile, stood dumbfounded at the fact that this woman appeared in a bubble. She was about to say something when the woman approached her, "now, dear. What is your name and where do you come from?"
"I, uh. My name is Nora Valkyrie. I come from my dorm room." Nora pointed at her room. Zwei barked in a protective way. "This one is Zwei. He's the girls' from across the hall. During some sort of spinning issue, he found his way into my room and was here. He's normally a sweet boy, and I have no idea what is making him so angry right now." She rubbed his head. "All right, now that I've introduced myself, can you tell me where I am-"
Nora was cut off midsentence when the sky turned a deadly black and a red eye appeared in the path. Another woman, this one looked extremely wicked, arrived in the village. All the villagers shrieked and bolted for their homes. Nora was frightened by the sudden presence of such a vile woman.
"Glynda. Of course, you would already have arrived on the scene. I understand that our dear sister, Cinder, was killed. May I ask what has become of her gift?" The woman talked in a very definite tone as if any sort of outburst would lead to instant death. Her appearance was the near opposite of Glynda's. Her hair was a bone white tint, she had red eyes and a long black dress that flowed as if it were made of shadows itself. "If I recall correctly, it becomes mine since Cinder would have given it to me." She sneered in a gloating manner.
"You have no right to it anymore. This young lady by the name of Nora Valkyrie has claimed the gift and it has already bonded with her." Glynda pointed at Nora's neck where the necklace she grabbed earlier now rested. Nora was surprised at this as she remembered well that she had put it in her pocket. "Any and all attempts to take from her alive will result in your doom, Salem."
"Oh? And who is going to stop me? She has no magic power from what I can sense, so it's obviously not her." Salem was quickly losing her temper with the entire situation. Salem directed her eyes at Nora, "you, girl. Hand over the necklace now or you will face the consequences." She began to move ever so elegantly towards Nora. It almost seemed like she wasn't walking at all, but gliding across the ground.
"You will do no such thing!" Glynda jumped in front of Nora and pulled out her magic wand from her cleavage. "I shall see to it that Nora is safe from your evil, Salem. I put a spell on her to keep you away from her so that she can make it to her destination without you being able to touch her! And I WILL know if you ever harm her on her journey!" Glynda tapped Nora's head with the wand and a warm sensation trickled down her entire body that felt like it was encasing her in a protective layer.
"You foul succubus! How dare you cheat me out of what is rightfully mine!" Salem howled at Glynda. She huffed and panted while her red eyes shined so brightly it made Nora sick. "No matter, even if you do protect her for now, she won't always be under your wing. As soon as she steps anywhere near my domain on her own accord, your protection will mean nothing any longer. I hope you're prepared for this, Glynda." With a snap of her fingers and crack of lightning, Salem disappeared. As soon as she vanished from sight, the sky lightened again and became a wave of blue that soon brought relief to Nora.
"It's okay now, children. You may come out of your houses once more. The wicked witch has gone away and you are safe now." Glynda called soothingly into the village. Slowly, one by one, the villagers opened their doors and once more came up to Glynda. "This is Nora Valkyrie. She is just a girl who happened to appear here. Please don't mistreat her." The villagers cheered in jubilation at the news. "Now, my dear, tell me. Where is it that you are going to?"
Nora faced Glynda, "well, ma'am. I want to just go home. It's where I truly belong and it's where all my friends and family is. I just want to go home." Nora sniffled a little and she heard a child in the crowd begin to cry on her behalf.
"That is possible, Ms. Valkyrie." Glynda smiled a very cool grin. "All you need to do is follow this copyrighted walkway towards the city of Vale in the kingdom of Vale. It isn't too far from here. Right now, you're in the Emerald Forest. Keep along this path and you'll be there without any problems." Glynda stepped away from Nora as Nora began to get back on the yellow road. "And remember, if Salem ever gives you trouble, I will always be able to protect you." With a smile and a wave of her wand, she encases herself in her purple bubble and floats away into the sky.
"Ma'am you can stay here if you want to!" One of the women called out. "We have a lovely hotel and some wonderful bakeries if you need anything."
Nora looked back at the villagers and stopped for a minute. "Do you have pancakes?" She laid Zwei down on the ground and crossed her arms.
"Why, of course! What sort of bakery would I run if I couldn't make simple pancakes!" A man wearing a green chef's hat moved forward towards Nora. "I can whip up a batch right now if you want."
"Yes, I would love some!" Nora was nearly drooling at the thought of pancakes.
"How many would you like?" The baker smiled with glee.
"How many can you make in the next ten minutes?" Nora wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I can make about twenty, but I think that's too much for a young girl in such good sha-"
"I'll take them!"
Twelve minutes later, Nora held a bag filled with pancakes in one hand and skipping away from the village gleefully. Zwei was happily trotting beside her, barking every now and then to make sure she knew he was still there. "All right Vale, here I come!" Nora exclaimed as she moved further and further into the forest and away from her dorm room.