Disclaimer, you know.
Meanwhile back in the room.
The silence and the stillness of the room had lasted for nearly an hour now. Both Glinda and the jester, still sitting across from each other, unmoving, unblinking, and they both seemed to be locked in some sort of mental battle. The room was so still that not even the cats were moving. Dorothy would occasionally throw worried glances at Alex, he would occasionally throw a glance back, neither of them felt like it would be smart to even approach them. However Dorothy noticed something strange now. The jester was now going red in the face and his eyes were beginning to strain, it was if he was beginning to have problems keeping this going on. And in fact he was. Alex noticed that Glinda now had a smug smile on her face, a characteristic not like her. This continued on for another hour as Alex finally broke the silence by opening his watch. Glinda and the jester didn't seem to take notice of this. The jester's face was now beet red as if he was using all of his strength to keep this up. Dorothy and Alex both figured this wouldn't be going on much longer, and they were right because after another minute the jester let out a loud yells and covered his eyes.
"Curse you Glinda!" He said now catching his breath.
"Now, I have beaten you this time, even without my magic at its fullest potential." Glinda said.
"Um before this continues, forgive me for asking but what was that?" Alex asked curiously.
"That, well, it's sort of hard to explain, but what do you think we were doing?" Glinda asked curiously.
"Well, either a staring contest, or some sort of magical mental battle." Alex replied.
"And that is close, it's sort of a mix of both, note that neither of us broke eye contact, well, I'll try to explain later." Glinda said as the jester wave his wand and made a large sack appear.
"Pack up your things, this was fun while it lasted, but the stakes were the same as they were when you and my sister's last did this, I shall release you and your friends and come up with a better plan." The jester said in defeat.
"Your sister and I invented this method of settling arguments, it can be rather painful if it goes far enough." Glinda said chuckling.
"Alex, you get my boots and stuff, as well as my other dress, I'll get the cats." Dorothy said walking over to them.
"Are we getting to finally leave this place?" Eve asked stretching out.
"Yes." Dorothy said as Glinda walked over with the picnic basket.
"You should put them in here." Glinda said handing Dorothy the picnic basket.
Dorothy smiled and opened the top of the basket. Eve then picked up each of her children one by one but the scruff in her mouth and placed them in the basket before climbing in herself. Dorothy smiled as Pockets stuck her head out alongside her mother's.
"You both should probably go farther into the basket so you aren't thrown out of it on arrival." Dorothy said picking up her flats and sliding them on.
Eve nodded and she and pockets tucked themselves in to the back of the basket with the others. Dorothy looked at Alex who was placing everything in the sack. He then walked over to the table and picked up Dorothy's satchel.
"You know, I don't think I'm going to miss this place." Alex said looking up at the ceiling.
"I don't think I will either." Dorothy said picking up the basket and the scepter and walking over to the jester.
"You're still wondering what I hoped to accomplish from trapping you here, aren't you?" The jester asked curiously.
"Sort of, yes." Dorothy replied.
"Well I won't tell you." The jester said chuckling.
Dorothy rolled her eyes as the jester flicked his wand and everything Alex hadn't picked up yet flew into the sack. Glinda and Alex then joined Dorothy next to the jester. Placed his free hand on Dorothy's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.
"Well then, it's time to send us back." Glinda said as her wand began to glow.
"Yes, yes, but don't you think this is the only trap I have." The jester said.
"I'd be surprised if it was." Glinda said rolling her eyes.
"Can you two not bicker like an old married couple yet? Save that for the next confrontation." Alex said.
The jester and Glinda both chuckled at this.
"Just give me a nod when you're ready, but be prepared this is not the last time you'll end up in one of my traps." The jester said.
"As long as you don't plan on killing me." Dorothy said.
"Oh I wouldn't kill you with a trap, I'll wait for the war to start before even thinking about that." The jester said.
"Don't even mention that idea, I hate the idea of a war starting." Dorothy said looking irritated and giving a quick nod.
The jester chuckled and flicked the wand, immediately they all felt themselves lurch forward. As Dorothy began to feel nauseous and sick she instantly felt her feet make contact with the hardwood floor inside the farmhouse. Dorothy fell forward dropping the basket and the scepter.
"Dorothy! Alex! Glinda! Thank Oz you're alright." came the excited voice of Alyssa.
"Alyssa what's, Dorothy!" Came Em's voice as she walked into the room.
Dorothy looked up and smiled, at least the jester hadn't back up on his word. Dorothy looked beside her and found Alex heaving and coughing on the floor. Glinda was back on the couch, having now changed her outfit back to her normal dress and picked up her shoes. Alyssa had already gone to the mirror and splashed some potion onto it. Immediately the mirror began to ripple and the scene of the chambers appeared. Scarecrow and Aislynn were sitting on the throne chatting when scarecrow noticed Alyssa's face in the mirror.
"Alyssa? What is it?" Scarecrow asked getting up.
"Scarecrow, they're back, let the other's know, let Ellie know." Alyssa said.
"By then you definitely mean?" scarecrow asked as Dorothy got up and cut him off.
"Us? Yes." Dorothy said.
"Thank goodness." Scarecrow said running out of the mirrors view as the image faded.
Dorothy smiled and held her hand out for the scepter. She then opened up the picnic basket and pockets immediately jumped out and ran around. Dorothy giggled as pockets met the triplets in the playpen and she immediately backed away. Glinda smiled and picked up pockets. She then muttered something and to everyone's surprise her eyes flashed a sapphire blue.
"Pockets, these are Dorothy's cousins. That's Alicia, she's the one the other two seem to follow, that one is Robert, he's the only boy, and that's amber." Glinda said.
Pockets looked at Glinda curiously and then looked at Dorothy.
"Glinda you're acting like you expect a response back." Dorothy said walking over as Eve and the other three kittens walked out of the basket.
"Dorothy, what I muttered was a spell that allows me to talk with animals just like you can, just my ability isn't permanent and can be lifted by casting the spell again." Glinda said smiling.
"Oh." Dorothy and pockets responded in unison
"Right, you told I your aunt or someone did what I did once, she managed to get rid of it though if I remember correctly." Dorothy said.
"Yes, after a lot of searching, and even then she said it was painful to use the spell to lift the ability, at least you learned to drown out other animals." Glinda said smiling.
"True." Dorothy said looking at the cats.
"So, these are our new pets?" Em asked curiously.
"Yes, the one Glinda is holding is pockets, she likes to run around, explore, and mostly climb into other people's pockets." Dorothy said sitting down on the couch.
"That one with the patches of color is patch." Alex said picking him up.
"And that one with the stripes is oddball, since I've never seen a cat with stripes in that patterned anywhere before." Dorothy said as oddball and Alexa walked over to her, Alexa then rubbed her head against Dorothy's ankles.
"And who's the one rubbing against your leg?" Em asked curiously.
"That's Alexa, I named her after Alex, and that big one as you know is eve, I mentioned her when I mentioned the cats the other day." Dorothy said taking pockets from Glinda and placing her in her own pocket.
Dorothy then smiled and looked at the other three. She then looked at Eve who jumped up on the couch and sat next to her.
"So, I think the best method would be to allow your cousins to take their pick of which one they want to technically claim as theirs." Eve said.
"I think that's a splendid idea." Glinda replied leaning over into the playpen and taking the triplets out one by one and setting them on the floor.
"Now you three, take your pick of which one you want." Glinda said as the other three kittens walked over to them.
Alexa meowed and walked over to Alicia. Alicia sat down on the floor and picked her up. She then gave her a quick hug. Robert went over to oddball and began petting him. And amber went over to patch.
"I'm sure they'll get along nicely." Eve said purring contently.
"I'm sure they will too." Dorothy said smiling.
"I'm sure if cats could smile you all would be, anyways, oh hello Mr. Foreman, Mr. Gale." Glinda said as they ran in.
"Dorothy! Alex!" Henry and Mr. Foreman said in unison.
Dorothy smiled, took pockets from her pocket and set her on the couch cushion next to her mother. She then got up and ran over to her uncle and Mr. Foreman. Tightly embracing them as she reached them. Glinda smiled and closed her eyes, sending her own message to Ellie.
"I'm so glad you're okay." Henry said hugging his niece tightly.
"Well, I'd like to stay and chat, but I should really return to the city." Glinda said.
"Glinda, could you bring Alex and I to the city in, let's say two hours, there's something I want to do that I know I'm not going to do again for a long time." Dorothy said breaking from the embrace.
"Sure dear, I'll keep on you two in the crystal ball, just give me a signal when you're ready." Glinda said waving her wand and vanishing.
"What is it you want to do dear?" Em asked curiously.
"And of course in all the excitement she forgets me." Alyssa said taking out another bottle of potion.
"Auntie Em, have Glinda bring you, the triplets, and the cats to emerald city, uncle henry can you take Alex and I to the florist?" Dorothy asked curiously.
Both Em and henry looked at each other and nodded. Dorothy smiled and she and Alex walked out of the house and towards uncle henry's truck.
Sorry that this is a short chapter, but I really needed to get the room out of the picture or in the end I was going to end up putting everyone in there. Remember to leave a review if you'd like, and if you have an account follow the story so you can always know when I upload a new chapter.