Disclaimer, usual
After Christmas had come and gone Dorothy asked Glinda if she could stay in the emerald city for a while. Glinda was fine with this as was everyone else, Dorothy's aunt and uncle were fine with it as well, so long as she kept safe and didn't do anything rash. Dorothy also asked Glinda if she could return her friend's home so they could all finally get a chance to relax. The only person that was against this action was alex, but he didn't have much time to say something before he, Annabella, Ellie, Mr. foreman and Aislynn were whisked off back to Kansas.
"I take it you don't just want to stay here to relax then?" Glinda asked curiously.
"No Glinda, anyways, when do I ever get to relax anymore?" Dorothy asked.
Glinda said nothing in response to this, Dorothy was right. Ever since the jester returned the closest thing to relaxation the child had gotten was being a cat. Glinda looked down at Dorothy placed a hand under her chin.
"I have some business to attend to, try to stay out of trouble." She said smiling.
Dorothy looked up at Glinda and their eyes met for a moment. Glinda's eyes once more had that hint of sorrow and regret to them that Dorothy had seen long ago. She shrugged this off and sighed heading back to her bedroom. As she walked back she looked down at her feet, she had decided keeping the slippers with her would be the best way to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
"You know, its times like this when I wonder whether or not the jester is really worth all the worry." Dorothy said to herself.
Meanwhile in the jester's hideout
The jester once more was mixing stuff in the cauldron. The mixture in it had turned into an oozing crimson paste. At the same time he was listening to what was going on in the city while reading the recipe.
"Am I worth all the worry? Probably not, it's what I'm creating that you'll have to worry about." He turning away from the cauldron.
He looked at the book and then at the crystal ball. He chuckled and flicked the wand making the glass bottle with the hair ribbon in it appear.
"Soon, it will be time for this final ingredient, and then the next part of my play will be complete." He said laughing evilly.
Back in the emerald city.
"Dorothy?" Came the voice of scarecrow from behind her.
Dorothy turned her head to look back at the scarecrow. He was standing in the doorway with Toto in his arms.
"Where was he?" She asked as Toto jumped out of scarecrows arms and ran over to her.
"He was in the library, sleeping in one of the arm chairs." Scarecrow said.
"Thanks for bringing him here, Toto how did you get into the library anyways?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"I pushed the door open but I couldn't get out, so I just walked over to the chairs and took a nap knowing someone would show up sooner or later." He said.
"Well, don't do that again." Dorothy said scolding him.
"Sorry." He replied whimpering.
"So, Glinda said you were a bit stressed." Scarecrow said walking over to her.
"At this point I think I'm slightly more than stressed." She replied turning back to her work.
"What are you working on?" Scarecrow asked curiously.
"Another drawing, I find that it's a great way to relieve stress." Dorothy said sketching some things out on the paper.
"That's nice, well, I have to get back to building the new rainbow mover." He said turning around and walking for the door.
"Be careful." Dorothy called.
"No promises." He replied chuckling.
Dorothy smiled and then brought her concentration back on her work. After a while she got bored and looked around her room. The scepter was floating in the corner of the room waiting for her to need its power. Toto was now sitting on the window sill watching the scenery of oz. she got up and held out her hand. As the scepter met with her grasp and she closed her fingers around it she felt she felt herself suddenly lurch forward. This sudden transport shocked her so much that she didn't even feel sick or dizzy. The fact that this came without warning made her feel that this must be the jester's work. However she felt her feet make contact with a carpeted floor. Falling forward she let go of the scepter and found herself in the arms of someone she didn't recognize the grasp of. The embrace was warm and welcoming, but it was unfamiliar.
"Welcome, Dorothy gale." Came a sweet and calm voice.
Dorothy looked up and found herself face to face with someone who made out to be a spitting image of Glinda. The only difference was that she wore a gown white as the snow that fell outside the evening before. Her blue eyes similar to those of Glinda's, but warmer, and they didn't hold that hint of regret that Glinda's did. Her hair also had streaks of white in it that were unnoticeable unless you really looked into the blonde-orange locks.
"Locasta!?" Came the voice of Alyssa.
"Yes Alyssa?" Locasta asked looking behind her.
"I was wondering if Terrance and I could, oh hello Dorothy. When did you arrive?" Alyssa asked as she walked into the room carrying a bowl of fruit.
"Just a few seconds ago." Dorothy said catching her breath and standing up.
"Ah, so little time to prepare" Alyssa said setting the bowl down on a nearby pedestal.
"Prepare for what?" Dorothy asked holding hand out for the scepter, it how ever did not float to her hand like it normally did.
Dorothy was perplexed by this and looked around for it. Only to find it already in Locasta's grip. She sighed and relief, she then walked over to Locasta to retrieve it but the women took a step back as she got closer.
"Dorothy, I'm sorry but Glinda has made it quite clear not to let you have this back till we've relieved you of your stress." Locasta said as Glinda appeared next to her.
"Glinda, you said that was my protection, if you think I'm stressed now, not having the scepter is going to stress me out even more!" Dorothy said starting to raise her voice.
"Dorothy, there is no need to worry." Glinda said.
"Glinda, please, just have her return the scepter." Dorothy said.
"Dorothy, take some deep breaths, take a seat." Locasta said waving her hand, making a chair materialize behind Dorothy.
Dorothy sighed and sat down. She looked at them, the scepter had gone dark except for the red haze that remained in the center. Glinda chuckled and waved her own hand making Dorothy's boots appear in front of her. Dorothy looked at Glinda with a face of shock.
"Glinda, no, I won't give up the slippers now." Dorothy said.
"Dorothy, don't worry about it, please just listen." Glinda said approaching her.
Dorothy looked at Glinda and sighed. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. Dorothy looked behind herself to see her aunt standing behind her with Alex at her side.
"Auntie Em, what are you doing here?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Dorothy, you can't hide the fact that you are stressed out, so we decided that we would help." Em and Alex said in unison.
"That sounded rather rehearsed." Dorothy said.
"It was." Alex replied.
"Well then, get on with it." Dorothy said as Glinda handed her the boots.
"Alyssa, Terrance, Alex and I are going to take you on a camping trip in a place known as Spring Lake, though technically after seeing it I'd call it more of a valley then a lake, but it's the only place in Oz where it's always warm and sunny." Em said.
It was then that a thought struck Dorothy. A camping trip? Where did this idea come from? She looked at Glinda then sighed in defeat. She knew she wouldn't be able to win the upcoming argument anyways. She slid off the slippers and took her boots from Glinda. Alex then came up behind her and wrapped her arms around Dorothy. At this point she felt like she could handle it but she wasn't used to not having the scepter with her at this point.
"Spring lake or valley if you prefer is within my domain, and under both mine and Glinda's protection, nothing can get in there unless we allow it, the blood bond of magic is something very hard to break." Locasta said looking at her cousin.
"So that's supposed to make me worry even less?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"I would hope so." Locasta replied.
"Glinda, I'm going to turn to you for this one, didn't we already establish that the jester could get through your defenses?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Yes, and that's why we are using double the magic as well as a family bond, two sorceresses from the same family can create protection more powerful than anyone could ever get through." Glinda said as Locasta walked up to them.
"Does Ellie know about this?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Ellie I think realizes it." Glinda said sighing.
"So, when are we going to get this camping trip done and over with?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"As soon as we establish some ground rules." Glinda said as Alyssa walked over and Terrance walked into the room.
"Packing has already been done, Ellie and Aislynn are at the emerald city, and they will watch Toto and handle things in the city." Em said.
"So what are the ground rules?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Okay, well one, you are not to run off." Glinda said.
"Glinda you don't need to tell me that, you guys are always telling me that." Dorothy said.
"Secondly, any activity that your aunt, Alex, Alyssa, or Terrance come up with you should do, sure we can't really force you to do something you don't want to." Glinda said.
"I can live with that." Dorothy replied.
"Three, you will have very limited access you anything magic, Alyssa will have one of the cooking pots with her, as well as the tents." Glinda said snapping her fingers causing the pocket compendium to fly out of Dorothy's pocket.
"What am I going to do with that thing? It's not like I know sorcery." Dorothy said.
"Yes, this is true, but we don't want to take risks." Glinda said.
"Fair enough, any other rules?" Dorothy asked.
"Just one, don't do anything rash, relatively stupid, or dangerous." Glinda said.
"And the consequences for breaking those rules?" Dorothy asked.
"We'll come up with those if it comes down to it." Glinda replied.
"Okay then." Dorothy said getting up.
"So, a camping trip, that's a first for me." Alex said.
"I haven't been on a camping trip that didn't involve trying to get to the emerald city or trying to find the jester in a long time." Dorothy said.
"Your uncle and I are actually thinking about taking you guys on a camping trip this summer." Em replied.
"Define you guys." Dorothy said.
"You, Ellie, Aislynn, the Teaks, Donna and Kelly, and Mr. Foreman who suggested the idea." Em said walking in front of her.
"I think that would be nice, what about the Maitlands though?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"They've already made traveling plans for the summer." Alex said.
"Well then." Dorothy said.
"We'll be sending you guys in a few minutes, the campsite is already set up, as I sent Alyssa to do that ahead of time." Locasta said.
"And on that note, remember the rules, try to relax, and try to have a bit of fun." Glinda said picking up the slippers and waving her wand in their direction.
Dorothy then felt herself lurch forward and they were off.