(The Cruelty of Aurora)

*January 15th, 1906*

*Land of Mangaboos*

Aurora was walking on the air above her subjects with great beauty as she continued to make her way towards the glass palace.

"It's beautiful! It's sublime! At least my brother has managed to take care of it while I was growing underground" Aurora had spoken out with a huge smile on her face as she looked up to see the six colored suns shining upon the Land of the Mangaboos and she found this to be beautiful as well.

"These intruders will pay for ruining such a sublime sight like this…that I can promise.." Aurora had spoken out to herself once more as she looked down to see Jim carrying the carriage which had Dorothy and the others inside as this made her smile with delight as she continued to walk towards the palace with great delight.

"So, you were the former ruler of Oz which is the land above, right? That's quite interesting" Betsy had spoken out to Oscar with great interest as she was met with the man nodding his head in confirmation.

"Correct, I've also managed to build the Emerald City as well but I had to do a little bit of lying to convince the people of Oz that I was some sort of God and it seemed like it worked" Oscar had spoken back while laughing to himself as he looked over to see Dorothy staring out of the small carriage window and this made him confide in her.

"Dorothy, you okay? I know the Princess of the Mangaboos has gotten you worked up but just know that we'll find a way to get out of here, I can promise you that" Oscar had spoken out to Dorothy in a reassuring tone of voice as he saw the young girl turning around to face him.

"I'm not okay, Aurora is a very cruel woman no matter how good she looks. She'll always be vain and ugly! She might even be worse than the Wicked Witch of the West" Dorothy had answered back while Zeb and Betsy looked at her with concern as Eureka was gonna say something smart; however, Betsy noticed this and gently raised her finger to silence the cat as the conversation between Dorothy and Oscar resumed.

"Look, I've met some cruel people in my life both in Nebraska and Oz but if there's one thing I must advise you is to now allow your emotions to get the best of you, okay?" Oscar had advised Dorothy as this piece of advice clearly didn't help as the young girl sighed and continued to look out of the window.

"Oscar, you're the cruel one around here, you are just as bad as Aurora, Wicked Witch of the West, and so forth. You should know that…" Dorothy had spoken back in a rather annoyed tone of voice as this out of nowhere outburst surprised Zeb and Betsy greatly.

"Cousin Dorothy is truly upset but why is Oscar cruel? What exactly did he even do during his time in Oz.." Zeb had thought to himself as he continued to stare at the events unfolding while Betsy comforted her friend.

"Friend, It's okay. I know what Oscar did was wrong but we have bigger issues to worry about so let's focus our attention on getting out of here, okay? We're talking about the same Dorothy who killed both Wicked Witches and defeated a Nome King so please cheer up, not for us but for yourself as well" Betsy had advised her friend as she saw Dorothy looking at her with a small smile.

"You're right and I should cheer up if I want to get out of here but thank you for cheering me up, I really needed that" Dorothy had spoken back to Betsy as she smiled warmly at her friend while Eureka finally spoke up.

"Someone's finally cheerful again! I don't know how long I would have tolerated someone being in the dumps" Eureka had spoken out in her usual smart tone of voice as this made Dorothy and the others except Oscar chuckle as the man was stuck in his thoughts.

"Dorothy is right, I'm no good as I claim. I may be a good wizard but I'm just a terrible man.." Oscar had thought to himself as he and the others continued their journey to the Glass Palace while unknown to them, Aurora had heard the entire conversation as she smiled to herself.

"What utter fools, As if they think they're gonna make it out in one piece.." Aurora had thought to herself as she continued to walk towards the Glass Palace for a few more seconds until finally, the Princess had finally arrived at the entrance along with Dorothy, the others, and even the rest of the Mangaboos.

"Loyal subjects, we have arrived at the Glass Palace and there! We shall decide the fates of this Dorothy and her fellow trespassers!" Aurora had spoken out to the other Mangaboos as many cheers erupted from the crowd while those certain cheers made the Princess feel even more like a goddess as she entered the palace and sat on her throne as she saw Jim entering the palace along with the Mangaboos.

"I have a bad feeling about her. I hope that she's able to help us at the very least" Jim had spoken out while letting out neigh as Dorothy, Oscar, Zeb, and Betsy stepped out of the carriage and proceeded to walk towards Aurora's throne as Oscar was the one to walk up to her and began to speak out.

"You're majesty, could you please show us the way out of here? We won't cause you nor the fellow Mangaboos any trouble again, that I can promise" Oscar had asked Aurora while kneeling down in hopes of gaining her trust and respect; however, Aurora only gave him and the others a rather dirty look as she got up from her throne.

"I have been thinking about what to do with you meat people, and we have decided that you people do not belong in the Land of the Mangaboos and therefore must be destroyed" Aurora had responded back in a tone of disgust and vain as this shocked Dorothy and the others.

"D-Destroyed?! But how come?! What wrong did we even do to you and your people" Dorothy had blurted out in confusion while Oscar motioned his hand for her to be quiet; however, Aurora still managed to respond to her question.

"Because you people are trespassers! You meat people do not belong here and for that, we shall throw you people into the Garden of the Twining Vines and they'll soon crush, eat, and devour your bodies until there is nothing left.." Aurora had responded back in a cruel tone of voice while Oscar began to protest in hopes of changing the vegetable woman's mind.

"Your majesty, I must confide in you and that's the possibility of you needing a new sorcerer and I don't mind filling in the role of the once alive Gwig" Oscar had spoken out to Aurora as this made the princess think for a few seconds before she began to speak once more.

"Correct, we do need a sorcerer; however, a newly plant sorcerer shall take Gwig's place in just a few days but I want you to showcase your abilities and arts and from there, I shall decide if I want to keep you or destroy you along with the others" Aurora had answered back in a bored yet curious tone of voice as she awaited for Oscar's upcoming displays of sorcery; however Dorothy and Betsy knew he was a fraud as they were rightfully anxious on what his next move could be.

"Now for my first trick, I shall balance this sword on the top of my nose so feast your eyes on this amazing trick!" Oscar had spoken out as he carefully placed the sword on top of his nose and began to balance it carefully which amused Zeb greatly.

"Woow, Look at him go! We might just get out of here alive" Zeb had spoken out in awestruck while Dorothy and Betsy were also amused but still remained cautious as they continued to watch the old man balance the sword on his nose.

"As you can see! I'm quite the wizard indeed! I bet Gwig had trouble balancing things on his nose and with that, I'm eligible to be the sorcerer for the Mangaboos'' Oscar had spoken out to Aurora as many whispers and chatters erupted from the crowd of Mangaboos which some consisted of amusement and bored; however, Aurora was rather impressed.

"Interesting, you seem to have the skills so I'll give you credit; however, I'm still in the need of convincing so show me your next trick or else it's death for you and your friends" Aurora had advised to Oscar while glaring at him rather seriously as this prompted the old man to come up with his next trick.

"As you can see, I shall create something glorious for my next trick and it's a native from my world so feast your eyes on this!" Oscar had spoken out in a proud tone of voice as he pulled out a lighter which belonged to him as this generated many gasps and mutters from the Mangaboos while Aurora smiled at this.

"I'm no fool. I have knowledge of his pathetic world. He's gonna pour some Oil on the ground then he's gonna drop the lit lighter on the floor thus creating the fire. When I was growing beneath the ground, I've absorbed knowledge from across Oscar's world and my Land of the Mangaboos but there's nothing wrong with some entertainment.." Aurora had thought to herself as she suddenly found herself being interested in the upcoming trick.

"Alright, I do need some test subjects to make this trick worth something special, any volunteers?" Oscar had spoken out while looking around for any potential volunteers while Aurora began to speak.

"I'll have my three subjects be the volunteers and if they'll refuse than I shall put them to death.." Aurora had spoken out in a cruel tone of voice while glaring at the three subjects behind her and while they were hesitant in obeying her, they still managed to step forward as they awaited for what was next.

"Now, don't move, I will pour some of this liquid substance called oil around you, okay?.." Oscar had advised Aurora's subjects as he gently poured some oil from a small flask around them which made them feel quite nervous despite their emotionless faces as Oscar took out his lighter and made a small flame with it.

"And my next trick shall be huge flames so be sure to not get too close to it!" Oscar had advised Aurora and the rest of the Mangaboos as he carefully placed the lighter on the oil and suddenly, a gush of flames appeared and consumed Aurora's subjects.

Their screams could be heard as they were being burned into something that resembled mashed potatoes as Aurora watched this event with a joyful smile while Dorothy, Betsy and Zeb were astonished at what they've just seen.

"Sir, I must commend you, you are greater than any sorcerer that we've ever known and with that, I'll change my mind about putting you and your friends to death" Aurora had spoken to Oscar in a rather "impressed" tone of voice as this made Oscar and the others very pleased.

"Didn't y'all hear that?! We did it! I knew Oscar was gonna save us one way or another '' Zeb had spoken out to his cousin and Betsy in joy while both girls smiled back at him.

"You're right, despite his downsides, Oscar does have a somewhat good side to him.." Dorothy had spoken back in relief while Betsy nodded her head in agreement as the trio continued to watch the continuing events unfold.

"Thank you for giving me this chance, I will forever be grateful for your mercy" Oscar had spoken out to Aurora while kneeling down to kiss her on the hand which made Aurora chuckle out of amusement.

"You're welcome and since you've proven yourself useful than I can confidently say that you and your friends are ready to take on the sacred trials.." Aurora had spoken out to Oscar with a cruel smile on her face as this surprised Oscar and the others in the group.

"T-The Sacred Trials…" Dorothy had uttered out in surprise as things just took a change for the possible worst and what exactly is Aurora planning with our heroes..