Disclaimer you know.
Morning was something Dorothy wished didn't come as fast as it did. As they got ready to depart at sunrise Dorothy managed to find her way to the exit of the palace. Alex still had the scepter and the slippers and the china princess wouldn't let her have them until they were safely back in the city. When Dorothy reached the doors to the castle and managed to force them open she nearly burst into tears at what she saw. Buildings were reduced to nothing but shards of china. People left in the streets without their homes. Dorothy walked over to a few of the larger shards and picked up a few. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. All of this was happening because of her.
"Dorothy!?" Came the voice of the china princess.
"Over here!" Dorothy called
"Dorothy, don't run off like that, you gave us all quite a fright, sunrise has only just begun are you alright?" The princess said running over to her.
"Princess, I'm, I'm fine." Dorothy said looking as if she was about ready to cry.
"Dorothy, you shouldn't blame yourself for this." The princess said wrapping her arms around the girl.
"I know, I know but it's hard not to if it weren't…" Dorothy said as the princess let go of her and placed a hand over her mouth.
"Shush, it don't want to hear that again, don't blame yourself for this, what if the jester wants you to get wound up?" The princess asked snapping at her.
Dorothy sniffed and let some tears roll down her face. The china princess realizing what she had just done sighed and wiped Dorothy's face.
"Dorothy, I'm sorry I just snapped at you like that, but seriously you have to think about it." The princess said hugging her again.
Dorothy returned the embrace and cried for a good five minutes before pushing away and wiping her face.
"You're right, he probably is trying to wind me up, and you know, he really doesn't have to, I get wound up pretty nicely on my own." Dorothy said pushing away and running.
The china princess stumbled backwards as Dorothy pushed away. She caught her balance and sighed she then tried to run after. Dorothy however had already ran out of the gates of the country. She ran for what felt like an hour. Eventually she stopped and sat down at the side of the road and hugged her knees to her chest placing her head in the gap. . She cried silently for a few minutes before she heard the sounds of people running along the yellow brick road. Eventually Alex ran over to her and knelt down next to her.
"Dorothy, why did you run off?" Alex asked setting down the scepter and the slippers behind him.
"Alex, please, don't scold me, please just don't scold me." Dorothy whispered.
Alex sighed and took Dorothy's face in his hands. He raised her face so that he could see his face. His face had a look of pure concern. Dorothy pulled out his grasp and got up.
"I'm sorry." She said turning away from them.
"Dorothy, we aren't going to scold you, we know you're upset, but I think it's time we get going, the river is just a few more minutes down the road." the princess said as she and marshal mallow walked over to her.
Dorothy turned to them and smiled weakly. It was a fake smile, but she wanted to hide the fact that she was still upset at this point.
"Alex, grab the scepter and the slippers, let's go, I want to get back to the city." Dorothy said.
Alex smiled and set picked them up before getting up himself. The four of them walked along until they reached the munchkin river where Tugg was waiting for them. As they boarded Tugg, he greeted them in his usual cheery way, and then he cast off.
"So, what held you guys up?" Tugg asked curiously.
"We lost track of the time, and then there was a flying monkey attack Tugg, the city is in ruins again." The princess replied.
"Ah I see." Tugg replied as they went along.
"Hey Dorothy?" Alex asked setting down the scepter and the slippers by the wheel.
"Yes alex?" Dorothy sked curiously.
"Would you like to do some dancing?" Alex asked offering her a hand.
Dorothy nodded and took his hand. They then began dancing. The princess and Marshall mallow sat down and watched them. Alex and Dorothy were dancing beautifully and no one seemed to want to stop them. All of them lost track of time until Tugg said something.
"Emerald city dead ahead!" Tugg said.
Everyone stopped and turned to see the emerald city in the distance. Alex looked at the chin princess who nodded. Alex walked over to the slippers and the scepter and picked them up. He then gave them to Dorothy. She smiled as she slid on the slippers and took the scepter in her hand. The scepter began to glow brightly and it shot out a dim ball of light. The ball float into the sky and dissipated into light mist that was forming around them now.
"Glinda and Locasta's protection is working, Locasta said that would happen." The princess said.
"Did she explain why?" Alex and Dorothy asked in unison.
"If she did, I didn't hear it, or I don't understand magic that well, which is true." The princess said.
As they docked at the city docks they found Ellie, Glinda, Aislynn, and Dorothy's aunt waiting for them. As they disembarked Dorothy found herself immediately embraced by Ellie.
"I saw the attack, thank goodness not many were harmed." Glinda said walking over to the princess.
"Yes, I know, but many are left without homes." The princess said.
"I am aware." Glinda replied.
"Ellie, please let go of me, I rather, enjoy breathing." Dorothy said groaning
"Oh, right, sorry." Ellie said letting go of her.
Dorothy took a long inhale and walked over to her aunt.
"Do you want to return home now or wait till tonight?" Em asked curiously.
"Auntie Em, you guys should go home, I'm going to go for a swim." Dorothy said walking passed her aunt.
Em watched her niece as she walked away.
"She's upset isn't she?" Em asked curiously.
"Yea, she is, should we go after her?" Alex asked.
"no Alex, if she's so upset that she's hiding it, well I don't think any of us have seen her like that." Ellie said.
"Ellie's right, I haven't seen her like this since her parents died." Em said.
"I heard that!" Dorothy shouted with obvious sadness in her voice before running into the city.
"Oh dear." Em said worriedly.
"Em, I'll talk to her, I'm sending all of you back to Kansas and Alex don't try to argue, Ellie don't you argue either." Glinda said.
Both of them sighed not wanting to argue with Glinda. Glinda then smiled and waved her wand over the three of them to vanish. The china princess and Marshall Mallow looked at Glinda worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'll talk to her." Glinda said sighing before heading back to the city.
Not long later at the pool Dorothy was swimming laps around getting all of her anger and sadness out. She wasn't happy that her aunt would even mention her parents. It was understandable that they may have forgotten about her hearing. She was still upset about it though. After an hour she felt much calmer. It was then that Glinda came into the pool room. Glinda smiled and walked over to the edge of the pool and removed her shoes placing her feet in the water. Dorothy swam over and grabbed onto the edge of the pool.
"So, you feeling better?" Glinda asked.
"Much now, thanks." Dorothy said smiling.
"I'm surprised the scepter isn't following you as you do laps." Glinda said looking over to it.
"It was, before I commanded it to stop following me, now it's over there, floating, like it always does." Dorothy said looking over at it.
"Dorothy, I know you were upset earlier but you mustn't blame yourself for all of this." Glinda said
"Glinda, if it weren't for me…" Dorothy said before Glinda cut her off.
"Dorothy, please don't, I've already heard this speech, and you can't blame yourself for all this it's not good for you." Glinda said sighing.
Dorothy sighed and pulled herself out of the water. She then walked over to her things a dried herself off.
"Glinda, be careful, you guys really need to keep your guard up otherwise the jester could invade the city." Dorothy said grabbing her things and walking out of the room.
"I know Dorothy, I'm just as worried about that as you are." Glinda whispered to herself.
Well, Dorothy, what are you going to now, with the jester getting more powerful and the damage he can do? Will the jester try to take over the city? Well probably, I mean it is the jester. where will the jester attack next and what course of action will he take? Find out in the next chapter