Jeb and Cain sort of led the 'expedition' and Raw came up to where DG was walking.

"DG? Why no trust Raw?" The viewer looked genuinely hurt. DG's heart broke.

"Raw, I trust you. It's just I have been through so much pain; it hurts to think that you didn't come. None of you did. It'll just take me a while to get me back. I don't mean to hurt me. I am just so used to repressing my emotions these past years. I love you, Raw and that will never change. I love you too much to let you feel my pain. I know what I made you feel when I was hurting. But here I'll give you a little smidgen." She grabbed him suddenly and hugged him, skin to skin.

Raw gasped and pushed her off.

"That only little?" He asked in awe.

"Yeah." She said sadly.

"So sad and hurt. So betrayed. Heartbroken. Agony." He looked at her. "Worse feeling?"

"Yes, Raw. That's why I don't want you touching me. It's dangerous for you and me. I don't want you to know what happened until Cain finds out. If he finds out then I know we're a safe distance from the castle. And not affected by my mother's spell."

"What spell, Princess?"

"The spell that the Queen set up to not find out about anything that involved me. The abuse or anything. Jeb and Isabella don't know anything. Toto knows a little but not enough to help you guys. Guess you'll have to wait." She smiled at the collective groans.

"Hope Princess get better." Raw said.

"You just being here is enough, Raw. You and Cain both. I need you two." She said. If only they knew how true that was.

A hour after walking, DG walked up to the front of the group.

"We need to stop in that forest over there, one of my pieces of magic is there. You can hang out in the forest. We'll make camp or you can take one of the horses tied there and ride into town." She said to the small group.

"Horses?" Cain said surprised.

"She prepared for this, Dad." Jeb said proudly of his charge. DG smiled. Then she sobered.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to go talk to the spirit of the witch. And I really don't want to."

"Don't then." Cain said in an obvious tone.

"I have to if I want to get my Magical Soul back." She reminded him none-too-gently.

"okay…" He agreed begrudgingly.

DG stepped into the middle of a flat clearing that she had chosen for this expedition.

"I hadn't planned as many passengers. I only planned on four. I didn't anticipate Cain and Raw to come back. Ever." DG closed her eyes and three tents appeared. "They come with cots and stuff." She shrugged.

"Excellent." Tutor congradulated. He was proud of her spirit never wavering, despite the Queen's tries.

"Thank you. Cain," She addressed the Tin Man. "You'll share with me. I have a feeling that you wouldn't feel I was safe with anyone else."

"Damn straight." He marched over to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry any of this mystery abuse that happened to you, happened to you, sweetheart." She blushed at the term of endearment. Unfortunately he saw it this time. "You like that name." She tilted her head.

"No one's ever called me it before, Cain." She said quietly. Cain opened his mouth but DG beat him to it. "Cain, can you get some wood? For tonight." She looked up at him with those huge blue eyes wide with innocence that he was so fond of and grumbled as he walked out of the campsite.

"Raw. You can share with Toto. He might be in dog form mostly, so I hope you don't mind."

"Raw no mind." Raw was happy that DG still loved him. "DG still friends with Raw?" He asked timidly.

"Of course Raw." She zipped up her sweatshirt and made sure no skin was visible and hugged the viewer. Raw sighed into the embrace. "You'll always be my friend. I am not mad at you. When I said I never expected you back was because my Mother said that I wasn't going to see you or Cain ever again if she had anything to say about it."

"DG scared we died?" Raw asked.

"Yes, I was very scared that I wasn't going to see youa gain. Cain left willingly. But you were summoned to your Guild. I understood. But Mother kept you there. I was scared I was never going to see you again. Now tell me…You meet anyone special?"

"Yes. Name is Alea. Wife. No cubs. Miss her much. We talk with mind. She wants to meet you."

"Maybe she could live at the castle. Or you could go back."

"She want to be at castle. No like other viewers. Too Nosy." He explained.

"Understood. It's no problem." Raw smiled broadly.

"Much thanks." DG smiled in reponse. Cain came back into camp with Raw telling DG about his wife.

"What you talking about, Princess?"

"Raw's wife, Alea."

"Oh, yeah. I heard plenty of her." He said disinterested.

"Cain likes hearing about Alea." Raw pointed out. Cain huffed. Damn viewer.

"I love hearing about her. She sounds very nice."

"She is. Hears stories about adventures. Want to read you much." Raw said with a laugh.

"Well she can try when we get out of this mess." She winked at him playfully. Cain watched as the fire in her eyes got a little brighter as she talked with Raw more. And he saw that they were helping her.

"Princess?"
"Yes, Mr. Cain?"

"You want to lay down?" He noticed her eyes were drooping.

"The witch wants to have a council like now."

"We better get you to bed now."

She nodded sleepily. He carried her, bridal-style into the tent they were occupying and set her down on the bed and pulled her sneakers off and let them fall wherever they landed. He peeled her leather jacket and threw it on his cot. He let her cuddle under the blankets. She grabbed his hand as he went to leave.

"I thought you were going to die. I told this to Raw and I thought you deserved the same respect." She murmured sleepily.

"What?"

"My Mother told me I was never going to see you or Raw again, so I should have stopped clinging to that hope."

"I am going to kill her."

"No, you're not."

"What is this about magic?"

"I do not know. I need to talk to the Witch before anything,"

"Can she do anything?" He asked running a hand through her hair affectionately. She smiled at the obvious affection.

"No. You talked with Adora, right?" She smiled at him through droopy eyes. She really needed sleep. They shouldn't be talking right now.

"Yeah."
"She's in spirit form. She can't hurt me or make me do anything. I'll be on my guard if it means that much to you."

"You always mean a lot to me." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"No matter how much trouble we get in, I am glad you're here, Tin Man."

"Me too, Princess." Then she fell asleep and saw in her expression that she got pulled into the spirit world.

He walked out of the tent and saw the expectant faces of the rest of their group.

"What?"

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Just going to conference with the Witch. She's going to be in Spirit form. That's where she's been going in her dreams. She usually ends up with nightmares about it. But she needs to do that."

"Okay." Jeb exhaled his breath at Isabella's comment. Jeb was anxious at what his father found out about his princess.

"But I gotta go into town real quick and pick up some clothes for me and some supplies. Watch over her, Raw?" He trusted the viewer to know when she was tossing and turning.

"Yes." Raw answered.

"Thank you." He walked over to the three horses that were tied up. He chose a white one. He smiled at it. DG had told him that on the Otherside, Princesses fell in love with Knights in Shining Armor riding on white horses. He looked back at the tent that she was resting in. He got on the horse and rode into town.

Well, you have slain me. Congratulations.

Thanks.

Do you want a reward? The Witch asked arrogantly.

Some answers might be nice. DG replied sarcastically.

"Very well." The Witch's spirit form appeared in a green evil looking woman. She looked tired. "You are powerful. But you know that."

"Yeah."

"Well, you aren't powerful right now. Your mother took it away."

"Yeah. It hurt like a bitch too."

"I can imagine. It probably hurt more than when you killed me."

"I had to, you know."

"I know. But I didn't start out like that. When I was just a sorceress, I was respected. But everything went down hill when the Emerald started to appear. I took and felt the power I could get from it. Even though I knew it was bad, I used it and killed a lot of people."

"I can't see it from your point of view. You're still a murderer to me. I'm sorry."

"I had expected it. It's okay. Now I wanted to tell you that you don't realize your potential. You have dark magic that overbears the light magic that your sister has. Trust me I know all about her magic and know what level she is at. Your sister is powerful but nowhere near what you were when I was defeated. Although I hate to admit it, you are more powerful than I could have been even with the Emerald at the Double Eclipse."

"Really?" She asked in disbelief.

"Really. You don't realize your potential, probably because of your mother and her controlling your life in every angle. It really wasn't fair to you. I don't know what she was thinking."

"I wonder that every time I got to sleep."
"Well, when I saw you force me out of Azkadellia, I was surprised. I never expected an outsider to overpower me. But you did. You did. You are more powerful than even my most powerful allies."
"I'll take that as a compliment."

"But! If we teamed up, we could have taken…"

"Enough, Witch." A voice boomed. It was the man who was the messenger for the OZ. "DorothyGale, do you see how powerful you were? Even the Witch was bested by you. You need to realize your potential. But don't be arrogant about it. That is not becoming to a princess. You need to realize that you should be confident in your abilities and not second-guess yourself. Tutor will teach you. He will help you go through your magic acsension safely and efficiently. And help your Tin Man go through the same. Are you ready for your next magic level?"

"Will it hurt as much?" She asked in fear.

"No. It won't hurt so much. But we will grant you 13 hours of sleep. Cain will be back from town by then and you can continue your journey."

"I accept the next part of my Magical Soul with full acceptance and relization of what is going on." He smiled and flicked his wrist in her general direction. A bright blue light slammed into her chest. Then everything faded into nothing.

He followed the directions that one of the townspeople gave him to this Alex's house. He exhaled in anticipation and knocked on the door. A well-built man answered the door. He was dressed in a pair of pant and a black shirt. He could see the gun.

"Evening."

"Evening."

"My name is Wyatt Cain." The man sobered and stood up straight. He was leaning in the doorway.

"I've been waiting for you."

Well, wasn't that peachy.