Disclaimer, you know
That night Dorothy got no sleep at all. She spent her time reading the book on crystals alongside Alex. At ten o'clock. Dorothy returned to her room with Toto and Alex returned to his own. Dorothy lied down her bed and looked up at the ceiling. The twisting vine pattern on the ceiling, on the ceiling, she had forgotten that there was anything on the ceiling. It wasn't long before she felt someone tracing the twisting pattern on one of her bare feet. Dorothy looked up and saw Glinda knelt at the end of the bed tracing the pattern. She giggled and exhaled some more mist. Glinda chuckled and playfully poked at Dorothy's sole causing her to draw back. Dorothy smiled and sat up.
"How are you feeling?" Glinda asked curiously.
"I'm fine, I'm tired though, I can't get any sleep or start to doze I see the images of nightmares, and it frightens me." Dorothy said looking down at Toto who was sleeping on the floor next to the bed.
"I understand, but right now, until the mist gets to the right color I cannot do anything about them." Glinda said standing up and walking over to Dorothy's side and sitting on the bed.
"Glinda, did any of this ever happen to you or Ellie?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Dorothy." Glinda said sighing.
"I know that you and Ellie have had some experience with this, but was it to you guys or did you do something that caused someone else to enter this recovery process?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Dorothy, years ago, I was teaching Alison some more magic, she had just become my apprentice at the time, I had gone to get us some tea, foolishly leaving my wand behind, when I returned I found Alison fiddling around with the wand, I tried to stop her and ended up getting zapped with my own magic, luckily it wasn't as much as you absorb but it led me to keep the lessons I learned when I was an apprentice myself, very few people have ever actually been destroyed by absorbing magical energy, I have warned Alison and all of my soldiers including Ellie about the dangers of magical energy, sadly it never occurred to me to warn you guys." Glinda said as she placed a hand under Dorothy's chin.
"So, you suffered the effects I am experiencing now, just at a smaller scale?" Dorothy asked.
"Correct." Glinda said kissing Dorothy on the forehead.
"Glinda, will you stay here and help me stay awake?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Dorothy I would but I can't, I only really came here to check on you, right now Alison and I are keeping any eye on things." Glinda said letting go of Dorothy's chin.
"Well, I won't keep you then." Dorothy said sighing and exhaling more mist.
"I'm sorry I can't help, I'll come back later if you'd like." Glinda offered.
"That would be nice." Dorothy replied before trying to suppress a belch.
"I'll come back in a few hours then." Glinda replied chuckling as she walked out.
Dorothy watched Glinda walk out and sighed. She placed her hands behind her head and laid back down. She stared up at the ceiling and looked at the twisting pattern on the ceiling some more. It wasn't long before she found herself dozing again. She sighed and got up, walked to the bathroom and walked over to the sink. Turning on the tap she splashed water on her face. Once she established that she was wide awake once more she walked out of the bathroom and walked over to her desk. Putting on her reading glasses she took out a piece of paper and a pencil and began sketching. She sketched a picture of all of her friends together. She finished off by sketching herself in front of them in the middle, scepter in hand and a smile on her face. She found that she depicted herself and her friends rather well, these were the people who would defend her as she would defend them. She let out a few large burps and exhaled a large amount of rainbow mist. She then felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to find Glinda standing behind her. She was smiling looking at the drawing.
"I think you did well with this drawing dear, but have you been working on this the entire time?" Glinda asked picking it up.
"I had to keep myself awake somehow, after you left I started dozing off so I went and splashed some cold water on my face, came back out here, and started a sketch." Dorothy said taking off her reading glasses and belching again.
"You handled it rather well, Alison fell asleep about an hour ago." Glinda said
Dorothy smiled and got up. She walked back over to the bed where Toto had moved to at some point while she was sketching. Dorothy shook him awake so that she could get on the bed. Toto barked a few times and chased his tail like he often did before he noticed Dorothy and stood at attention. Dorothy and Glinda both chuckled and Dorothy belched as she picked up Toto and sat down on the bed. Toto barked happily and licked Dorothy on the face causing her to giggle and set him down. Dorothy then laid back down on the bed. She wondered what else she could do, sticking around would get pretty boring after a while. As the clock struck three Glinda walked up to Dorothy and sat next to Dorothy on the bed.
"Why don't you go for a swim?" Glinda asked curiously.
"Because I still seem to be exhaling mist." Dorothy said.
"Yes, well, the magical energy is harmless to us, the only way any of us could be harmed by the energy you are releasing by using a method that would release it all at once, but like I said earlier, it would be immensely painful." Glinda said shuddering.
"There's more to your story than you're telling isn't there?" Dorothy asked burping again.
"Yes, I told you the second time with Alison and I, the first was with my aunt, I'd rather not talk about it though." Glinda said sighing.
"I can accept that, good morning Alex, going for a swim?" Dorothy asked as Alex tried to sneak by.
"Yes Dorothy." Alex said walking into the room.
Alex was wearing a crimson colored swimsuit. The towel however was plaid and didn't really match since it was green and orange. The orange contrasted with the crimson though Dorothy thought to herself.
"Dorothy was just about to change and join you, and because I have nothing better to do until my wand finishes repairing, I'll join you two as well." Glinda said getting up and walking towards the door.
Dorothy looked at Toto and shrugged. She then got up and walked to her closet. She emerged a few minutes later wearing a rainbow striped swimsuit. The towel she had chosen had the exact same pattern. She walked out of her room and immediately walked into Glinda. Glinda was now wearing a light pink swimsuit that was the same color as her normal dress and towel to match. Dorothy smiled and belched again. She then exhaled some more rainbow mist and coughed.
"You alright?" Glinda asked curiously.
"I'm fine, this mist is just vile." Dorothy said as they walked along.
When they arrived at the pool they found Alex swimming laps back and forth at a rather good pace with the china princess and marshal mallow watching at the sidelines. Dorothy set her towel down on a nearby glass topped table and walked over to the far side of the pool. She then dived in and started swimming after Alex. She caught up with Alex after a while and grabbed onto his back. Glinda had taken to taking talking with Marshal Mallow and the china princess while swimming some laps. As the clock ticked on eventually the clock did strike eventually strike four. Dorothy and Alex swam over to the side of the pool and Dorothy climbed up on the edge and belched extremely loudly this time. She then exhaled a large amount of the rainbow mist which faded into a tangerine mist. She coughed and wiped off her lips and spit a bit.
"Ugh, that was definitely, worse." Dorothy said still coughing.
"It smells worse as well." Alex said fanning away the air.
"I know, that time I smelt it." Dorothy said still coughing.
"At least its tangerine color, which means you are losing a lot of the magical energy you absorbed." Glinda said swimming over.
"I wish I didn't have to, this stuff tastes worse than cough syrup." Dorothy replied belching and exhaling more mist.
"I think that's enough swimming for this morning." Alex said pulling himself out of the pool.
Dorothy nodded in agreement and got up. She and Alex walked over to their towels. As Dorothy dried off her hair and put her hair back into pigtails Alex walked over and kissed her on the cheek. Dorothy giggled and belched again. As she exhaled more mist she wished she had a breath mint. But she knew that would just lead to more problems. So she bid good morning to the china princess and Marshall Mallow and walked back to her room. When she arrived she found Toto asleep on the bed. Dorothy smiled and walked into the closet and grabbed an emerald green version of her normal shirt and dress. She then changed into it and emerged from the closet. When she did she found Alex, wearing the clothes he had come to Oz in. Dorothy walked over to the bed and took her reading glasses off the bedside table. Toto barked a few times and jumped off the bed. Dorothy smiled and knocked on the dresser causing it to open. Inside she found items she had forgotten about, the pink orb, Glinda's anklet, and for whatever reason the picture of herself and her parents. Dorothy picked up the orb and shut the drawer. She then walked over to her bed and sat down. She sniffed and began to cry. Alex looked at her and got up and walked over to her. She smiled a weak smile as she set the picture aside and grasped the orb tightly. She felt the calm and tranquility sweep over her but she couldn't help crying still at this point. She then belched and let out another exhalation of mist before lying back down and sobbing a bit.
"Dorothy?" Alex asked curiously
"Yes?" Dorothy replied.
"Please, don't cry." Alex said sitting down next to her.
"Sometimes I just can't help it." Dorothy said picking the picture up again.
Alex sighed and looked down at Toto. Toto barked and jumped up on the bed. He walked up to Dorothy's face and licked her, this in turn caused Dorothy to giggle.
"Dorothy?" Came Glinda's voice from the door.
"Yes Glinda?" Dorothy replied looking over.
"I'm heading to the Nome king's palace to get some more crystal, the china princess and Marshall Mallow know where I am but if the girl come asking for me before I get back let them know, Roquat is providing me transport so I don't have time to track down everybody." Glinda said.
"Will do." Dorothy and Alex said in unison.
"Thank you." Glinda said as she vanished.
"Alex?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Yea?" Alex replied.
"I think when we go back to Kansas I'm going to go to my parent's grave, and I would like you to escort me." Dorothy said sitting up and letting out a loud belch.
"We'll bring a large bouquet." Alex said placing a hand on her shoulder.
Later at the Nome king's palace.
"Are you sure you don't want to make it here? It will be much faster if my nomes craft the orb." The Nome King said handing Glinda a large bag of crystals.
"I'm sorry Roquat, but I need to do it in the emerald city, I don't have the broomstick here, and it needs to be crafted just right or it won't work." Glinda said taking a crystal from the bag and inspecting it.
"I know, I know, but my nomes are bored, they need a new project other than crafting all the rare gems and stones and metals in the world." The Nome king replied.
"Well, I do have something that needs to be done, you remember Alex right?" Glinda asked curiously.
"Yes, of course." The Nome king replied.
"Well, I need you to craft a sword for him, one of your special ones." Glinda said referring to a large wall of swords behind her.
"Lightweight, does a lot of damage, only harms the intended target, and will never harm a person that the wielder cares about?" The Nome king asked curiously.
"Yes, like the one you made for Ellie when she joined my army." Glinda said.
"I can have it done in a week, plain hilt?" The Nome king asked curiously.
"Yes, nothing flashy." Glinda said.
"Well, see you in a week then." The Nome king said waving a hand over Glinda causing her to vanish.
Back in the emerald city.
When Glinda arrived back in the emerald city, it was unknown to anyone. She quickly and quietly ran to her room to start off on her work. As she passed by Dorothy's room she saw Dorothy sitting at her desk sketching something with Alex watching over her shoulder. She saw Toto on the bed and he was looking at her. Glinda placed her finger to her lips and signaled for him to remain silent. He stood at attention making Glinda chuckle slightly as she continued to walk by. When she returned to her room she went into the bag and took out the largest crystal in the bag and picked up the broomstick. She then went into her own desk and pulled out the tools scarecrow had loaned her years back. She then set the crystal on her desk, took out the cracked orb for reference and began to work. She knew if she worked diligently without taking a break she could get the orb finished hopefully by nightfall.
Meanwhile back in Dorothy's room Alex was watching Dorothy sketch out the landscape outside the window. She held it up and looked at it in the sunlight coming in from the window. She and Alex had skipped breakfast and Glinda had been gone for a few hours now and they both wondered when she would return. They also wondered if she would want to be disturbed when she did. But another question then struck Dorothy.
"I wonder if the slippers have finished expelling energy by now." Dorothy wondered curiously as she belched and exhaled more mist.
"I don't know, we can check if you'd like." Alex offered.
"Sure why not." Dorothy said getting up.
Alex smiled and took Dorothy by the hand. Dorothy smiled and whistled at Toto. He barked and jumped off the bed.
"Oh finally we're going somewhere." He said.
"Hey, you can wander around the city any time you'd like Toto." Dorothy said as they all walked out of the room.
"Well I don't like to go anywhere unescorted." Toto said.
Dorothy chuckled at this remark. When they passed by Glinda's room they were surprised to her working on a piece of crystal. She looked up at them and they chuckled as she was wearing some strange type of googles with several lens pieces that could turned down and used to magnify at certain levels. Glinda smiled and went back to her work as they continued on their way. When they arrived at Alex's room and walked in they found Dorothy's satchel lying on the bed. Alex walked over to it and undid the buckle. As he opened the satchel and pulled out the slippers Alison ran into the room accidentally knocking Dorothy over in the process.
"Sorry." Alison said helping her up.
"What are you in such a rush for, we're just checking on the slippers, if they're still expelling energy I'll put them back and redo the buckle, if they're done Dorothy can use them again right?" Alex asked curiously.
"Well, yes and no, let me see them." Alison said walking over.
Alex nodded and handed the slippers to Alison. At any rate he tried to. As her hands got close to the slippers they zapped her. She jumped back as Alex dropped them. Alison shook her hand in pain and looked down at them.
"I forgot about that." Alison said taking out her little book, "Just don't touch them for a few minutes, if they don't release any energy then it should be safe for you to start using them again." Alison said backing away from them.
"Well we have time." Dorothy said yawning, belching and exhaling some more tangerine mist.
"Hey, tangerine, that's a good sign." Alison said walking over to her.
"I know, Glinda went over this with us this morning." Dorothy said belching again.
Alison nodded and turned back to look at the slippers. They observed them, not even keeping track of the time. It wasn't until the clock struck eleven that any of them realized that they had been watching them for nearly three hours. The slippers had not done anything aside from sit there and look pretty. Toto slowly approached them and sniffed them for a second. Alex smiled and picked them up. Dorothy walked over and picked up the satchel as well as taking the slippers from Alex.
"Glinda said if they didn't expel any energy for over an hour they should be safe, but there may be some residual energy left over but that can't be helped, magic always leaves residual." Alison said as Dorothy sat down and put on the slippers.
As she finished putting on the slippers she belched and let out some more mist. The slippers glowed and she belched loudly, she then exhaled a large amount of the tangerine mist which faded to a light pink. Dorothy fanned the air in front of her and coughed. The taste of magical energy just seemed to get worse and worse as she expelled more and more energy she couldn't describe the taste as anything she recognized off the top of her head, but after a few seconds she remembered that one time auntie Em had her try liver, it tasted similar to liver mixed with cough syrup and it was vile. Alex coughed as well because the smell had gotten worse as well. He couldn't place it though, it was like a mix of cooked rhubarb, liver and garlic mixed together.
"That is vile." Dorothy said coughing some more.
"At any rate, you're progressing well, a few more levels of mist and you should be able to get some proper rest." Alison said walking over, "And be able to take a breath mint." She added.
"Right, well I'm going to go back to my room, Alex you coming?" Dorothy asked curiously.
"Always." Alex said as Toto barked in agreement.
"Well, I'm going to go help Glinda with the orb." Alison said walking out.
Dorothy smiled and looked at Alex. She then slung her satchel over her shoulder. She then picked up Toto and they left Alex's room.