Bryson continued to walk. His feet were killing him. His mind was still racing and he still felt nearly sick to his stomach because of the recent events that took place. He still was having trouble comprehending it. At this point, he was still not too far from the Quadling County.

The sounds of the crickets and owls spooked him a bit. But he kept on walking, despite his racing mind, his worries, and the fact he was exhausted. But he knew he should stop soon and have to sleep on the cold, hard, ground, get some rest. Though, sleeping seemed very unlikely with all that was on his mind.

He walked for a few more minutes, but suddenly, he started to hear the sounds of bushes rustling of bushes. He snapped his head to the right, where the sound was coming from, and his heart began to pound as his mind raced, wondering what it could be in the bushes. He was getting fearful of it, he hoped it was just something harmless, but with the track record of how things were going so far, he doubted it.

He tensed up and closed one of his eyes tight, and then, he saw a green light. He furrowed his eyebrows and was wondering what the heck it was..

But then, a figure emerged from the forest and Bryson was starting to shake in fear.

It had a scepter in its hand, one that looked strikingly similar to Rabadan's. It was wearing a black cloak and had the hood up, so Bryson couldn't tell exactly who it was. But just then, the figure removed the hood, and the green light that seemed to be coming from the scepter shined at the figure's face, and Bryson was completely taken a back at what he saw. He wasn't expecting it all. It was a beautiful woman. Her hair was dark brown, and was in a bun. She had porcelain-like skin. Her eyes, framed by long lashes, were bright, a piercing bluish green color. A straight nose, full lips - she seemed to be the picture of perfection. She had piercing bluish green eyes, full red lips, long black hair, ivory skin, and was a bit taller than him. She was strikingly beautiful, Bryson thought. She even rivaled Dorothy's beauty. She looked at him.

"Hello, there. I don't believe I've ever seen you before. Who might you be?" She asked, her voice showing that of elegance.

"Oh.. uh.. my nam-my name's Bryson..." he informed her.

"Bryson... yes, I've heard about you. You come from the same place as Dorothy Gale, correct?"

"Uh.. y-yeah, right, right."

"I see. I can tell by your demeanor and your choice of words that you are not native to Oz. Tell me, Bryson. What is it that you are doing wandering Oz at a time like this?"

"Well.. uh.. I was with Dorothy, The Scarecrow King, Glinda, and some of my other friends, and then... that.. Rabadan guy.. he came and.. he used that.. scepter thing.. and then.. they all just vanished!" Bryson told her, and speaking of scepter, he was extremely curious about hers. Was it Rabdan's? Was it hers? And if so, that meant there were more than one, so just how many were there? He was still unsure what to think. He had to be cautious, but she seemed trust worthy, but at the moment, he was too entranced by her beauty. He wondered just who she was.

She looked at him and tilted her head a bit. She gave a slightly worried look, but not too worried. "Oh, yes, that's right, I must've forgotten. You were with them. The remaining guards that ran away from Rabadan told me everything." She stayed silent for a few seconds, looking down at the Yellow Brick Road, then up to face him. "I apologize, I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Laura. I am the queen of the Winkie Country. Pleasure to meet you.""

She slowly lifted her hand up for him, he reached his out and shook her hand and she shook back. Even the way she shook hands was elegant. The way she carried herself, her hair, her face, something was special about her and it caused Bryson to be very attracted to her. "Pleasure to meet you too." He managed to reply.

She smiled slightly. "I'd imagine you would like somewhere to stay, rather than wandering Oz the entire night, hm?"

He nodded. "Uh, y-yes."

She nodded. "I believe I can help you with that."

She reached out her hand. "Take my hand."

He looked at for a bit, he had still had so many questions to ask her. But he then reached out and took her hand anyway. She slowly started to slightly rub his hand, and then slowly intertwined their fingers together, an action that sent shivers down Bryson's spine. Just what was this exotic creature?

Suddenly, her scepter started to glow, and suddenly, they were transported into another room. Bryson opened his eyes. They were in a fancy room. The interior looked similar to that of the room he was staying in back at the Emerald City, and was also green, but was noticeably much larger.

Another thing that he noticed is that Laura's cloak was now in her hand. She set it down on a nearby chair. She was wearing a black dress with a green streak running down the middle. The sleeves of her dress ran down to her hand, looking like a glove, but with holes for fingers, which were painted red. She eyed him, looking him up and down. "Will this room do?"

He looked around and nodded. "Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely.."

She flashed a slight, quick, smile and slowly walked to the edge of her very large, green bed. She gently laid the scepter on her bed and turned back to face Bryson. She slowly undid her bun and her beautiful long hair, it flowed in waves to adorn her glowing, gorgeous skin. Bryson raised his eyebrows at the sight of her luscious hair. She stroked it a bit and sighed, looking at him. "Now, I suppose you do have a few questions..."

She took a seat on the edge of her bed and gestured to the spot next to her. "Would I be correct to assume that, Bryson?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Come. Take a seat."

Bryson slowly walked over and hesitated.

She looked up at him. "You don't have to be bashful, Bryson."

He licked his lips and slowly sat down next to her.

"Go ahead. What questions would you like to ask me?"

"Uh... well... mostly.. I just wanna know... about this scepter.. where did you get it? I've seen that Rabadan has one too. What are they? What can they do?"

She smiled. "The Ruby Slippers. Magical shoes. They were one day taken and discarded. Because their power was too dangerous. But there are different remains and shards that power the scepter's. You see, the scepter's power is unlocked through the mind. If whomever comes in contact with it craves power, it begins to work, and it seems to just... send information to you, and you know how to control it. There were two scepters made, with the two Ruby Slipper shards that were found. I have one, as does Rabadan. Scepters can generate fire, water, air, and transport people to other places."

Finally, he thought. He was so curious about that damn scepter for what felt like forever, and he finally had an answer to it.

"What all can you do, anyway?" Bryson asked.

"Well, aside from that, I can fly. And I can make spells. Though, I'm not very skilled at making spells yet, to be perfectly honest with you." She told him.

"Well.. wait.. does that mean... well.. you touched me.. you touched my hand.. does.. does that mean you know everything about me?" He questioned.

She shook her head. "Well, not exactly. I can choose how much knowledge I can when I touch something. And when I touched you, I only wanted to know how you felt at that moment. Just out of curiosity, I suppose."

"And how did I feel?" He asked, in a trance by the beautiful witch.

She smiled. "Timid. Shy. Nervous. Anxious. Excited. Curious. And maybe one or two other things.."

He nodded slowly. He noticed he was getting tired, and Laura seemed to notice.

"You seem to be getting tired... would you like to rest?"

He yawned a bit and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah.. I am pretty tired.."

She slowly got off the bed and walked a few feet away from it. She reached behind her back. She then found a zipper at her dress and slowly pulled it down, revealing her back to Bryson. Bryson's eyes widened. What is she doing? He wondered.

He couldn't deny he liked the sight of her bare back. She then slipped her arms out of the dress and Bryson's eyes just got wider.

She then slid down the dress past her ankles and took it completely off, and Bryson was in awe at the half nude woman. Why was she doing this, he wondered. The sight made him spring off the bed without thinking.

She was now in just a bra and panties. He licked his lips at the sight. She turned back to face him and he almost jumped. He eyed her and she slowly walked over to the bed, swaying her hips. She slowly laid down on the bed and he backed away, not sure what to do. She then slowly unhooked her bra, looking at him intently. She let it fall off her body and she laid it on her nearby nightstand. Bryson nearly gasped at the sight of seeing real life, bare breasts right in front of them. He stared at them, his mouth open. His teenaged mind was racing with inappropriate thoughts and he furiously tried to deny the bulge that was growing in his pants. He had no idea what she was doing, but he liked it.

Some of her luscious hair was in her eyes. Her eyes almost looked seductive. Or teasing. Or.. something, Bryson thought, as she used her finger to motion for him to come closer. He was almost trembling as he walked closer to the bed. He slowly sat in it. He realized he was still in his suit from the Emerald City. She ran her hand down his arm, feeling the fabric of his suit. She slowly removed his jacket and let it fall to the floor. She started to unbutton his green flannel shirt. He was shaking. What was she gonna do?

She undid the last button and slowly helped him remove his flannel shirt. She then slipped off his shoes, tossing them to the ground. He was so confused. This was so sudden, it came out of no where.. but he didn't really feel the need to complain..

She looked at his pants and unzipped them, she looked down and noticed his bulge. She made no comment towards it and slowly slid off his pants, causing his bulge to throb. He was now just in his white t-shirt and boxers that made his bulge much more noticeable, but still, no comment was given.

And then, she looked at him and pulled the covers over them. They were very comfortable covers, at that.

"Is this comfortable enough, for you?" Laura inquired.

Bryson nodded.

"Good." She replied with a smile. She then rested her head on the pillows. "Good night, Bryson."

"Uh.. good... good night..." he replied, still confused. Why had she undressed them both like that? Was it to make them more comfortable? He found her behavior odd... but then again, this was Oz, everything was different here. Maybe this was the norm for them...

All he knew is that he definitely was gonna need to ask a few things when morning arrived.