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Alex had spent most of the entire evening sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace. Almost no one entered the room after Alex's father had set him in there to mourn. The only people who did were jenny and Jessica who seemed to be the only ones hiding their sadness. Every time they walked into the room with a cup of tea or something for Alex their eyes showed that they wanted to cry. Toto spent his time curled up in a corner where the cats appeared to be consoling him. He continued to stare into the fire place taking a sip of tea every now and again. His tears finally stopped but he still couldn't face them. Ellie had taken to a pond in the middle of the city and was skipping stones. Or rather, was flicking stones into the pond and scaring some fish. Aislynn was in the mayor's library with scarecrow. Em and henry were trying to explain to their kids what had happened because Mr. Foreman said it was better than letting them find out later in life. Mr. and Mrs. Teak were trying to console their daughter while Glinda and Locasta were consoling Emma. Finley and Terrance were sitting on the stairs talking to Mr. Foreman. The munchkins had left the mansion and several had gone out to the four corners of Oz to gather an army without even consulting any of the others. +
After a while Alex eventually got up and went outside to do some thinking about what he saw. He walked toward the sound of splashing and found Ellie. Throwing stones in the pond. Her wand and shoes set on the ground at the side. Eventually she became frustrated, chucking the rocks rapidly into the pond before collapsing to her knees crying punching into the water. Alex ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Ellie, calm down." Alex said
Alex received no response other than a sharp punch to the jaw. Alex fell backwards and blacked out for a few seconds. He came to when Ellie splashed some water on him.
"Alex, I'm, so, sorry." Ellie said helping him up
Alex stood up and opened his mouth wide as it snapped back into place.
"Ellie, it's alright, I've been thinking." Alex said.
"What about?" Ellie asked wiping her eyes.
"Ellie, please don't think I'm silly, when she was in the case, I could have sworn, I saw her eyes, move, fix on me and saw her eyebrows arch, I-I'm sure of it." Alex said trailing off realizing how stupid it sounded now that that he was saying it aloud.
"Alex, it's a nice thought, but when you're under that spell, it's like falling asleep, but no waking up until the spell is broken, I'm not however, going to say that I don't, believe you, because I was too scared to look at her." Ellie said turning away from Alex.
"Ellie, there's nothing to be ashamed of, I watched the entire time and to be honest I wish I hadn't, Ellie, actually this is beginning to sound stupid." Alex said.
"No it isn't, it's just wishful thinking." Ellie said walking over to her wand and shoes.
Alex chuckled and followed her. The more he thought about Dorothy the more he was upset with himself for not doing anything. Tears began to roll down his face again as he looked up and saw the full moon rising in the sky.
"Dorothy would have l-loved to look at the moon tonight." Alex said looking up at it
Ellie turned and looked at Alex. She then turned again and looked at the moon. She smiled and turned toward him
"Alex?" Ellie asked curiously.
"Yes Ellie?" Alex asked keeping a distance.
"I agree." Ellie said offering him a hand.
Alex smiled and took Ellie's hand before they both walked inside. Alex still had tears rolling down his face when they entered the house. However they hardly got over the threshold before they ran into Mr. Foreman.
"In the light of recent events, Glinda would like to talk too just you Alex, she's upstairs, and she says that you can't miss the door." Mr. Foreman said.
Alex looked at Ellie who nodded and went into the living room. Alex sighed and went upstairs. Immediately the first thing that caught his eye was a glowing pink door. Alex sighed walked over to the room and as he entered he was surprised to see Glinda sitting at a desk with a pair of reading glasses on as she looked through a book. Glinda looked up at him and motioned for him to sit. Alex nodded and walked over to the desk, sitting down, and looking at the door just as it slammed shut and the lock clicked.
"So, you look better." Glinda said looking up and taking off her reading glasses and closing her eyes.
"Thanks, I don't really feel it, but it's easy to bottle up emotions when you want to be strong for others, for her." Alex said.
"Very deep." Glinda said with her eyes still closed.
"Making sure Ellie can't look in?" Alex asked curiously
Glinda smiled and nodded.
"Alex I know you were close to her…" Glinda started to say before Alex cut her off.
"Glinda, please I really, really don't want to talk about Dorothy." Alex said.
"I didn't think so, I don't want to either, she was turned to stone once, and I…" Glinda said trailing off and opening her eyes
"Glinda, please, I already said I don't want to talk about Dorothy." Alex said as a tear began to roll down his face.
"Alex, I'm sorry I brought it up again." Glinda said.
Alex was about to open his mouth to say something when there was a knock on the door.
"Sis!? Ace is going nuts, Jon, and Mr. and Mrs. Gale are trying to calm her down, but we can't even put her in a dreamless sleep without her trying to lash out and the spell keeps rebounding." Came Ellie's voice.
Glinda mouthed the words 'I know about it.' to Alex who nodded and got up. The lock on the clicked and Alex opened the door only to be dragged out by Ellie. Immediately Ellie turned to look at Alex. She had a worried expression on her face. This was something that Alex wasn't used to seeing. Ellie dragged Alex out to the back yard where Aislynn was surrounded by Em, henry, and Jon. Scarecrow was a safe distance away watching worriedly. Alex looked at Ellie and she nodded. A question then popped into his mind. 'What would Dorothy do to comfort her?' he approached the bunch and tapped Jon on the shoulder. He turned to look at Alex and nodded, backed away, and motioned for Em and henry to follow. As they did Alex knelt down next to Aislynn and placed his arms around her.
"Ace?" Alex asked.
"She promised, she promised." Aislynn said/
"She's been saying that, who promised her?" Em asked.
"Who do you think?" Alex asked in a hushed tone.
Em and henry backed away. Em had tears in her eyes again now.
"Mrs. Gale, Dorothy and I promised to protect her." Ellie said approaching the
"No more, no more promises." Aislynn said.
"Ace, please, it's alright." Alex said.
"She broke her promise." Aislynn said.
"Ace, she broke a lot of promises." Ellie said walking closer.
"Ellie, please." Alex said.
"She promised she wouldn't give up, she promised to protect me, she promised." Aislynn said.
Alex sighed and placed a hand under her chin. She looked up at him, her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were red and puffy. Alex sighed and closed his eyes. He thought of Dorothy. He knew what to say
"Ace, would Dorothy, want to see you like this?" Alex asked.
"Alex!" Em and henry gasped out in surprise.
"Alex is right, Dorothy told us to be brave for her." Ellie said.
Alex looked at Ellie, then turned back to Aislynn. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the tears from Aislynn's face. Aislynn sniffed and hugged Alex tightly. She then started to sob rather hard into Alex's shoulder. Alex sighed and picked her up into a cradle carry. He then walked over to scarecrow.
"Do you think you can carry her to her room? They can sort out the rest." Alex said.
Scarecrow nodded and took Aislynn in his own arms. As he did Locasta came out of the house followed by Cassandra. Cassandra waved her hand in Aislynn's direction. Aislynn glowed for a minute before falling asleep, tears still rolling down her eyes.
"Her body is trying to resist the magic, that's new" Locasta said.
"You've never tried to confront the problem of having to cast a spell on someone who's extremely upset without them being under the effects of poppy essence or just cooling down have you?" Glinda asked as she came out of the house.
"And you have?" Locasta asked
"I've dealt with Dorothy haven't I?" Glinda asked.
Immediately everyone fell silent and backed away from Glinda.
"Did you just reference Dorothy as a problem?" Em asked
"No, I just, Ellie said the spell kept rebounding, why do you think I never managed to get Dorothy under dreamless sleep, why I let her go to that clearing? It wasn't to keep her from lashing out on you guys." Glinda said.
"You never said it was." Ellie said.
"It was to allow her to cool down, too much emotional power, it's the one thing magic has no power over, emotions, sure it can mask them, you can separate someone's soul from the body, as with the puppets." Glinda said.
"So, not a problem, but different?" scarecrow asked.
"Sort of, Dorothy is, different, in a way…" Glinda said trailing off.
"Well, I'm going to take ace upstairs." scarecrow said walking inside.
"I'll make sure she's alright." Glinda said running after him.
Everyone shared a glance before most of them walked inside. Alex stayed outside and looked at the moon. He wanted to know how Dorothy was different. Why was she different?
Well Dorothy is only mentioned in this chapter, several times, next chapter we will have the jester and Dorothy I promise. Now a question for you reviewers. How is Dorothy different? Will she reveal herself to the jester or will she keep herself under cover long enough for the others to get there?