Return to Oz
Told by Mutitoon90
Chapter Four
After their escape from the Dead Enders and their ambush, Dorothy, Kiyone, Muta and Nightingale managed to find a resting place. They took some time to breath and talked about their situation.
"What's their problem?" Kiyone asked Dorothy, who shrugged her shoulders as she answered, "I don't know? How about askin' Nightingale?"
"Good idea." Muta agreed.
However, the robotic female heard the suggestion of the trio and responded to them.
"The Dead Enders must be the royal guards, but I do not know fully about them to be completely sure. Rio was the name of the head of the guards, which must be the reason why all of the others were so obeident and loyal to him."
"This is not what I wanted to hear!" Kiyone announced to her friends and allies.
"I agree," Dorothy mused at the deputy's words, "but she has been 'asleep' for a while."
"Asleep?" The lean cat exclaimed, "She's a toy!"
"I am a robot." Nightingale emotionlessly protested against the cat's words, "I am designed to possesing knowledge and the ability to speak and interact with other people and beings. I also can be a bodyguard for anyone that I am assigned to by my creator."
"Are you mad?" Snickered Muta, wanting to get a rise out of the stone-faced woman, but this backfired as Nightingale gave her response.
"I lack emotions, since I was created, not born."
A frown appeared on the feline's face as he got upset and went off in a huff.
"Poor Muta." The brunette said to the teal haired female, who said, "He kinda desevred that for trying to get Nightingale upset."
Dorothy could not help herself from feeling sorry for her furry ally, but she did agree with Kiyone when it came to the cat's attempt to annoy the robot woman.
Then, all three females heard an odd sound in the air: music.
"Who's playin' music in the ruins?" Dorothy asked as she looked around the for the sound's origins.
"I don't know." Kiyone joined in the search for the source of the music.
"It is coming for over there." Nightingale pointed at a direction in the ruins.
"Let's get goin' then," Dorothy announced, "Whatever's playin' that music probably not comin' to us."
The two females agreed with a nod in each their own way, and followed the farmgirl to the source of the oddly-placed music.
As they ran, the trio of females saw a still-standing tower in a clearing in the heart of the ruined city. Soon, they reached the door to the tower's interior.
"Should we go in there?" Kiyone asked the companions, whom each had their own answer.
"I don't know." Dorothy expressed her face in a thoughtful manner.
"It may be a wise decision to stay out of the tower." Nightingale analyzed the chooses that were presented to the trio, "However, we would not find out who or what was making the music."
"I choose "don't enter.'" Muta's voice rang out to the females.
"Muta?" Dorothy turned to where the cat was hiding at under some rocks, "What's the matter with the tower to you?"
The cat kept his distance from the tower as he answered the question.
"Simple: something's not wrong about that place. I can feel it in my wiskers!"
The human females looked at each other in confusion, concerned about the cat's refusal to enter the building.
Back in the mountain, the twin witches reported back to their lord, who was very interested in the words of the old women.
"So, Dorothy's band has returned to the Emerald City." The dark man smiled grimly.
"My Lord, what about the girl?" The sisters asked in unison to their master, who answered the inquiry.
"Simple: Nehelenia will take care of them."
The twin witches became paler upon hearing the name of Nehelenia.
"Her?" The red witch asked the dark lord, and her twin added to the question, "Do you think Dorothy would get near her?"
"I believe she would," the master responded to the questions, "due to her nature with witches."
The twins looked at each other with a questionable expression on their faces, knowing that their master knew what he was talking about; after all, Nehelenia was a powerful being in her own right. Also in the state of chaos that city, if not in the girl's mind, was enough to confuse the heroine to trust the witch, if their master was right.
Back at the ruins of the Emerald City, Dorothy was listening to Muta's words of warning, which was unexpected by both humans.
"Don't go in there, Chickys! There's something really bad in there, and I don't wanna be the fool that finds out what that is!"
"What are you talking about?" Kiyone spoke to cat as she and Nightingale went to the farmgirl's side.
"I don't know how to explain it," the cat confessed to the females, "but I know if you go in there, there's a chance you'll never get out!"
Dorothy always knew that animals had a sense that often went beyond the normal understanding of humans, but Dorothy wanted to know what was going on around the land of Oz.
"I'm going in." The young brunette announced.
"WHAT!?" Muta shouted at Dorothy, "Didn't you heard the part that you might not come back out!?"
"I did," the brunette smiled at the cat, "but there's a chance that I can also get out."
"I wouldn't take that chance!" Muta frowned at the girl's choose to enter the tower.
"Well, I would." Dorothy said as she turned to the tower with the music flowing out of it.
Kiyone was expressive with her concern about her friend. Thinking quickly, the deputy turned to the robot and asked her a question.
"Nightingale, can you follow Dorothy and make sure that she stays out of trouble?"
"Of course," the robot anwsered in her normal, emotionless voice, "I was instructed by King Tenchi to follow Dorothy due to her ability of attracting trouble."
"Why am I not surprised?" The deputy sighed out, knowing that Dorothy had that gift for trouble long before the adventure to Oz.
"Then, let's go, Nightingale." Dorothy called out to the robot, who followed the farmgirl.
"I'll be out here with Muta." Kiyone announced, which became a source of relief to the stray cat.
Dorothy made her way to the door that led to the inside of the tower, when Kiyone recalled something and ran to her friend.
"Wait a minute!" Dorothy heard the officer's call and turned to her.
"What is it, Kiyone?"
At that moment, Kiyone pulled out and gave the farmgirl the revolver that the deputy had found earlier that day.
"Where did you-?" Dorothy started to ask, but Kiyone was quick to answer, saying, "I found it at Jigen's feet. I thought it would be useful to us, so I grabbed it.
A smile filled with gratitude graced Dorothy's slightly tanned face as she said, "Thanks, Kiyone."
"Not a problem." The law enforcer smiled back before she added, "Be careful in there, okay?"
"What do you think I am? Stupid?" Dorothy joked at her friend, who responded by saying, "Not stupid, but a frequent risk-taker."
"No agurement there." The farmgirl shrugged her shoulders.
Then, the duo that was made up of Dorothy and Nightingale opened the door and entered the tower, while Kiyone and Muta waited outside for their friends' return.
Once inside, Dorothy and Nightingale heard the music echo throughout the darkened hallway, which reminded the brunette farmgirl of the Vampire-Witch of the West's castle.
"I don't like the looks of this place." Dorothy said, shaking from the though of the evil's witch's residence before her death.
"But if we do not move on, we may never find out who is still here in the Emerald City." Nightingale emotionlessly reminded Dorothy of the reason why they were in the tower in the first place.
"Right." The brunette agreed before she continued on with the robot woman following right behind her.
As they went deeper into the tower's interior, the music grew louder and louder, which was odd to Dorothy that anyone would be playing the same song for a long time. However, she reminded herself that she was in Oz, a land of witches and odd creatures, and someone playing the same tone for a while was probably something that was somewhat common in that land.
Then, she and her robotic ally saw a mirror at the end of the long hallway, seeing their reflections.
"Looks like that the end of the trail." The organic female shrugged her shoulders.
"But what about the music?" Nightingale asked Dorothy, who said in response, "You're right, but I don't see anyway to open it."
"Why not push the mirror?"
"Good idea."
Then, Dorothy went to the mirror and placed a shoulder onto the mirror, which moved with some difficultly at first. Then, the looking glass passageway allowed great ease in the turn, which nearly caused Dorothy to lose her balance.
"Oh!" A woman's voice rang thoughout the room that the girl entered, "Company; it's been awhile since I've had any guests."
Looking around the room, which was wall-to-wall with mirrors, Dorothy saw, in the middle of the room, a fancy-looking couch and its owner, who was sitting on it with a lyre in her pale hands.
"Oh!" Dorothy quickly stood up and dusted herself off, "I'm sorry if I'm intrudin' on you or anythin' like that!"
"You're not." The dark haired woman smiled crypticly at the farmgirl as she put her small, harp-like instrument down.
Then, she remembered her manners, and she introduce herself to the woman.
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas."
Then, she remembered Nightingale and introduced the robot, who had followed her through the mirror door, saying, "This is my friend, Nightingale."
The woman's dark-green and yellow dress seem to speak in unison with the woman, who also introduced herself.
"I am Nehelenia, the witch that resides here."
"The witch that resides here?" The girl repeated under her breath, remembering what Muta had said about what was in the tower.
"Is something wrong, Miss Gale?" The woman, who called herself Nehelenia, asked the farmgirl.
"Nothing."
The woman's mysterious grin grew wider as she said, "Good."
Then, the images of the woman started moving in the mirrors, shocking Dorothy greatly.
"Don't worry about them," Nehelenia said, still grinning darkly at Dorothy, "they won't harm you unless I tell them to."
"That good to hear." Dorothy said nervously to the pale woman, not sure that the witch was being honest.
"Now, may I ask a question, Miss Gale?"
"Sure." The brunette answered.
"Do you think that I'm beautiful?"
Unsure and surprised by the question, Dorothy gave her honest answer.
"I guess you are."
"What do you mean?" The witch asked angrly at the girl.
"Well," Dorothy confessed, "I never was a judge of beauty."
Apparently insulted by the answer and explaination, Nehelenia said, "I don't like when people say stupid things like that."
"There's no reason to get mad!" Dorothy spoke in defense of herself, "I was only giving my honest opinion!".
Then, the mirror images, looking just as upset about Dorothy's words, pulled themselves from their respective mirrors and flew at the farmgirl and the robot woman.
"Wait a mintue!" Dorothy shouted out.
Nightingale attempted to stop the reflections, but one of them touched the keyhole that was at the back of robot's neck, instantly shutting the metal maiden down.
"Hey!" Dorothy managed to shout out before her world went black.