Oz Victorious
Chapter Two: Growing Up
Sitting on a stool beside the tub, little Victoria watched her mother and father give her older sister a bath. She giggled, picked up soapy suds, and threw them into the air. Holly laughed with her daughter. Tori didn't laugh, though. Everytime she tried to go into the water, it burned so badly. Kicking her feet back and forth, the green girl turned her sight to the floor, trying not to cry. Catching herself staring into space, now eighteen years old, Tori slowly allowed her emotions to drift back to her. The past was over. The pain was over. Setting her pink hat on the edge of the couch, the green young woman stared out the window at the scarlet sunset shining over the emerald horizon. Trina, Jade, and Holly and David had already gone off to bed, leaving the young witch all alone. Even after all the years, Jadeyn's words sill burned in Tori's ears; Her acceptance still warmed the young woman's heart. Holding her hands out before her eyes, Tori stared at her black nails and green skin. I wouldn't change myself, she thought, taking a quick glance outside.
"They're wrong," Jade had told her new sister. "You don't need them to accept you...you don't need them at all." Unable to answer, Victoria looked at the floor. "...You don't have to be their victim."
"I'm not," Tori answered. The green little girl recalled the laughing fits, the scorn, the rumors, and the hatred she saw in other people. It hurt; it always hurt. After time, though, the pain and sorrow turned into bitter anger.
The images slowly began to change; falling into darker times; Tori knelt down at her mother's bedside, holding her cold hand. "I love you, Victoria," the woman whispered.
"I love you too, Mommy," the green young woman replied. "Don't let go."
"I'm sorry I..." Holly said, her grip weakening. Then, she dropped her arm, and the emerald ring fell to the ground, and disappeared. Tori closed her eyes, letting the tears stream down her face, scalding and burning her cheeks. Dark marks formed on the teenager's face, and the lights went out around her and her mother.
"Tori?" a familiar voice called out, breaking the young woman out of her thoughts.
"Hey, Trina," Tori replied, looking up at her sister.
"Whatter you doing up so late again?" Katrina asked, taking a seat next to her sister.
"Just thinking," the green-skinned girl answered. "What about you?"
"Bad dreams," the older of the Vega siblings replied. "I'm worried about Dad. Ever since Mom passed away...he's been so heartbroken."
"I know," Tori warmly replied. "He's not the man he used to be. He's broken inside...I think he's losing the will to keep going. Even the people have noticed." The sound of footsteps making their way down the stairs interrupted the two, turning their attention to the hallway. Jade walked in from the darkness in her blue night gown, wearing a worried look on her face. The ruby slippers her mother passed down to her glistened lightly under what dim light there was.
"Jade," Tori cried out, standing up and slowly walking towards her sister. "What's wrong?"
"I found something," the pale-skinned young woman answered. "Is Dad asleep?" Trina and Tori nodded. "Sit down." The three gathered around the table, taking seats on the surrounding couches and chairs. Jade then pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. "I found it buried in a hollow wall in my bedroom...it's some sort of prophecy."
"What language is that?" Trina asked, unable to determine what the various symbols and characters meant.
"It's some kind of munchkin language," Tori answered. "I think it's...some kind of prophecy. It says 'from a world away...distance untold...shall come to rescue...and save... Oz.' But most of it's in pieces."
"Save Oz?" Trina asked. "From what?"
"I don't know," Victoria answered. "This looks ancient." Jade glanced at the two, then at the torn paper. Father...
Tori lay in her bed that night, pondering the message in her mind, even as her dreams took her away. Images of the cruelty she suffered still crept through the blissful visions that came to her. Feeling someone shaking her, the green young woman awoke. "Jade?" she asked, wiping her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep," the dark-haired girl answered. "C-could I sleep with you tonight? Please?"
"Sure," Tori answered, moving over to allow room for her sister. Jade slid under the sheets, and quickly hugged her sister. Passing by Victoria's bedroom, Trina glanced in to see the two together, felt a sense of loneliness, then continued on her way back to her own bedroom.
Days passed by like hours on a clock. Jade, Tori, and Trina examined the message several times, unable to discover its intention or true meaning. Keeping their finding a secret, the three witches studied the mysterious writing intensely, entrusting it to Jade every night. Throughout the days, Tori and Jadeyn found themselves bonding more and more.
"Are you still up, Dad?" Jade asked, entering her father's room one night with a tea set in hand.
"I'm afraid so," David answered, looking away from his book. "Being the king isn't the best thing to fall asleep to at night."
"Maybe this'll help," the dark-haired young woman replied, handing her father a cup. "Now have your tea and off to bed." Chuckling, the man drank the hot beverage, then let his adopted daughter walk him to his bed and tuck him under the covers.
As their father slowly drifted into slumber, Tori and Trina looked over old photographs of their mother. "You have her eyes," the older of the Vega siblings declared, looking at her sister's warm, loving eyes.
"Thank you," Tori replied, letting a smile form on her green face. "So do you, Trina...don't forget that." Jade entered the room and sat down with the two. "Hey," she whispered, resting her head on her knee.
"Hey, Jade," Katrina greeted. "Maybe we should put the scrapbook away for now."
"No, it's fine," Jade replied. "She was my mother for a long time." Tori smiled. "...She was so beautiful." Gently stroking her green finger along the picture, Victoria smiled, feeling just alittle bit closer to her mother. Jade put her arm around the young woman, not taking her eyes off the album. Trina put her arm around Tori as well, and the three felt their bond as sisters gently glow within them. However, Trina could not escape a strange feeling inside her heart.
As the sun rose over the city of Los Angeles, the emerald-hued buildings shined with an inspiring scarlet glow. Despite the beautiful bliss of morning, the sound of a horrified scream consumed the castle, awakening Jade and Tori, who rushed into their father's room to find Trina on her knees, tears running down her face. Her jaw dropped, Victoria slowly walked over to her father's bedside, gazed at the lifeless expression cast upon his face, and felt her senses leave her. Crying and hollering like an infant, the green young woman felt the vicious tears burn her face, blidning her to the rest of the world. Clenching her father's sheets, Tori shouted into the nothingness surrounding her; begging for this all to be just a nightmare. David Vega, king of Oz, had died.
"Life took him away," Jade whispered into Tori's ear. "Life takes everything away." Dropping her head, the green young woman let her hair cover her face; her tears; her burns.
Biting her lip in an attempt to stop more tears from falling, Katrina looked at her two younger sisters; watching Jade comfort Tori as her pain and anger grew. Letting out one final scream, the green-skinned girl clenched her fists, forming two balls of red fire within them. "Tori," the oldest of the Vega siblings scolded, causing her sister to relent. Jade glared at Katrina for a split second, then turned her glance to the floor.
"I can't believe he's gone," Tori sobbed, wiping her burning eyes.
"Now what do we do?" Jade asked. "Who's going to protect Oz?"
"We will," Trina declared. "The three of us...the last of the royal bloodline." Jade took her father's cold, limp hand, and closed her eyes.
"Are you going to be okay, Jade?" Victoria asked, taking her mind off her own pain.
"I need to tell you something, Tori," Jade confessed, taking her sister's green hand and leading her out of the room. Seeing that she was alone, Katrina collapsed on her knees, crying into her hand. Entering Jade's bedroom, Tori and Jadeyn looked one another in the eyes. "I know your heart's broken," the dark-haired young woman declared. "But I know how to make the pain go away."
"The pain won't ever go away," Victoria replied. "Just like when Mom died."
"Tori...I know a way," Jade comforted her sister, taking her green hand in her own. "Will you trust me?"
"...Okay," the young woman sobbed, her cheeks burning with tears.