Disclaimer, you know.
After a lunch of sandwiches and tea Dorothy asked Mr. Garrison if there was any place she could get a quick and simple haircut. And he offered to do it himself. Rose however offered to do it at that point.
"If you want to keep all your hair at a length that isn't completely embarrassing have me cut it." Rose said
Dorothy smiled and nodded as she followed Rose. Alex followed making sure that the job got done properly. When they arrived at a small study where a chair was already set up in the middle of the room. As Dorothy undid her pigtails she set the scepter down and sat in the chair. As she was getting her hair trimmed Dorothy asked Rose one simple question.
"How much did you care about him?" Dorothy asked.
"I never stopped, I miss him, and I'm slightly upset that he never came back at least once." Rose said.
"He said he couldn't let you know, he didn't even know if you survived being ill all those years ago." Dorothy said.
"I'm sure he knows by now." Rose said.
"Girls and their chatting." Alex said rolling his eyes.
"Come over here." Dorothy immediately said in response.
Alex nodded and walked over. He was immediately pulled into a kiss by Dorothy. Suddenly the sound of gagging was heard from the door way. Dorothy looked around Alex to see lily gagging at the sight.
"Come on lily one day you'll have a sweetheart." Rose said.
"Momma, what are you talking about, your sweetheart abandoned you." Lily replied.
"He didn't abandon her, he left out of shame." Alex said.
"Same thing." Lily said.
"Momma, Daddy, the Professor is here!" Came violets voice.
"Momma, tell him we have guests and I cannot possibly do my lesson's today, or make violet
"Just because we have guests is no exemption from studies, you know that." Rose said.
"Come on momma, please?" Lily said.
"Lily, before all this mess I would still go to school, and really even during it all as well." Dorothy said.
"You're joking?" lily asked in a surprised tone.
"Not at all, actually now that I think about it, I have a lot to catch up on when I get back." Dorothy said.
Lily giggled before letting out a sigh and leaving the room.
"And finished." Rose said conjuring up a hand mirror.
Dorothy took the mirror and looked into it. Her hair was now definitely shorter but the curls that were left behind by her pigtails seemed to be staying this time. But now she could tie her hair up and not worry about it being in the reach of any small children anytime soon.
"Well, I like it." Alex said.
"You'd say that even if you didn't." Dorothy said.
"Probably." Alex said.
Dorothy smiled and got up she then hugged Alex, and then Rose.
"Why are you hugging me?" rose asked curiously as she returned the embrace.
"Call it a thank you." Dorothy said.
"You're welcome, feel free to roam about the castle, and don't worry about the mess." Rose said.
"Are you sure?" Dorothy and Alex asked in unison.
"Quite." Rose said smiling.
Dorothy looked at Alex and sighed. She then grabbed the scepter and his hand and they left the room. As they found their way back to their bedroom they were surprised to find Thomas in there. Seeming to have been waiting for them.
"I'm impressed." Thomas said.
"With what?" Dorothy and Alex asked.
"You so far are the only person who's ever made lily do her lessons willingly." Thomas replied
"Well I'm honored to be the first to accomplish that." Dorothy said in a sarcastic tone.
"Hey, no need to be sarcastic." Thomas said chuckling.
"Well it's not a really serious thing is it?" Dorothy asked.
"No, but it's still impressive as even I've never been able to convince her." Thomas said.
"Well then, shouldn't you be with them?" Dorothy replied.
"Probably, but you forget I am older than lily and violet, therefore lessons are of less importance to me." Thomas replied.
"So? Education is still important to you isn't it?" Alex asked.
"Well, yes, but I don't, oh, I see, I'm the bad influence in the situation aren't I?" Thomas asked curiously
"Well, yea, if you're not there, being the eldest of you three, lily might think that it's not fair that you, even though you're older, get chances to skip lessons." Alex said.
"I see your point, well, I'll see you two at dinner I suppose." Thomas said getting up and leaving the room.
As Thomas left Mr. Garrison came in.
"I see my daughter did well with your haircut." He said.
"Well, I like it." Alex said.
"Yes, but you're also not the one who has to worry about it getting pulled on by small children, I mean I sort of like it better this way for reasons I'm not going to go into, but still, it's going take some getting used to." Dorothy said.
"Well if you two need anything you can either look for me, my wife, Rose, Thomas, or my grandchildren, my wife and I will be in the parlor, Thomas as I saw was heading to the library as you convinced him to do, and Rose by now is most likely in her workshop." Mr. Garrison said.
Dorothy nodded and looked at Mr. Garrison for a moment. She then turned to Alex and who nodded as well. Mr. Garrison then smiled and left the room.
"So, you want to explore?" Alex asked curiously.
"Sure, why not." Dorothy responded.
As they left the room Dorothy took Alex's hand and they began wandering. After a while they began hearing buzzing and clanking noises coming from down an extremely well lit hallway. As they walked down the hall they noticed several paintings of Rose and her parents. As they got to the end of the hall they found a door that was slightly ajar and definitely the source of the noises.
"Come in." Came the sound of Rose's voice.
Dorothy looked at Alex who shrugged and pushed open the door. Immediately they saw rose sitting at a desk looking at something under a large magnifying glass and lightly hitting it with a small hammer. The buzzing noise seemed to be emitting from what appeared to be a large makeshift clock in the corner of the room. Next to it however was something that caught both Dorothy and Alex's eye. It was a small, ocean blue, teardrop shaped crystal on a silver necklace chain. Dorothy had seen one before, in the emerald city, but only in passing, she never really questioned it.
"I see you're admiring the necklace, each girl in the family has one, the gem that's attached to it is called a moon's tear, and it's what amplifies my abilities to search through your mind and memories by only making direct eye contact and requiring no effort on your part." Rose said turning to look at them.
"Wait, so if you hadn't been wearing that?" Dorothy asked.
"You would have had to somehow let me access your mind and memories, which isn't really something you learn, it just sort of happens, but the crystal also seems to amplify what the wizard at one point referred to as psychic abilities." Rose said.
"Where we come from the term psychic refers to people who can see into the future, bend spoons or something like that, or talk to spirits but those I think they also call them mediums." Alex said.
"Well no one can tell the future, as I'm sure father time has told you, the future is open ended." Rose said.
"You've met father time?" Dorothy asked rather surprised.
"Yes, and I know that he has tea with the Nome king and Mother Nature every other weekend." Rose said turning back to her work.
Immediately memories of her last experience in Time's domain began flooding back to her. She remembered watching the death of her father, for the second time. Tears began to form in her eyes as more painful memories began to flood in. it wasn't until she felt Alex squeeze her hand tightly that she realized she was remembering.
"You don't like your memories do you?" Rose asked not even looking up this time.
"No, not at all, a lot of them are too painful, I try to bury some of my memories in the back of my mind, but it's becoming harder and harder to keep them back, as if something is forcing me to remember." Dorothy said wiping her face of tears
"Dorothy, I can't say that I know how you feel, and I won't try to give any advice as I know you're already stressed out." Rose said.
Dorothy sighed and ran out of the room. Rose looked at Alex and give him a look that said "follow her" he nodded and ran after her only to find her having returned to their room. Alex had managed to draw his sword and use it to stop the door from slamming just as Dorothy pushed it. He then pushed open the door only to find Dorothy now on the floor, crying. He sighed and knelt down next to her before getting up again and leaving the room. He knew she would want to be alone for a few hours.
Well this is beginning to escalate. Anyways, how will Dorothy and Alex fair with rose, and her family? Will this professor character ever be introduced? is there something about the Moon's tear that rose isn't telling Dorothy? and why is it something that every girl in the garrison family is given one? Find out in the coming chapters.