(The Valley of Voe)

*January 15th, 1906*

*Valley of Voe*

Dorothy and the others had fallen into the black pit as they were falling deeper and deeper into their unknown destination.

"Oh maan! I hope Aurora doesn't chase after us and she seemed pretty angry after what we've done to her face.." Zeb had spoken out in fear while Betsy quickly gave him reassurance that everything was gonna be okay.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that witch won't be chasing after us anytime soon so it seems that we gotta find a way out of here" Betsy had spoken out to Zeb while also feeling herself falling below as well which gave Zeb a sense of relief as Dorothy began to speak in joy.

"I think I see a landing! We're gonna be out of here pretty soon!" Dorothy had spoken out while looking below to see a path and much to everyone's luck, Jim had managed to land on the path without any trouble.

"Whew, I'm glad to have landed on this path but it's too dark for me to see what's approaching me! I need some light if we wanna continue on '' Jim had spoken out in a confused tone of voice as Oscar quickly came to his assistance.

"Here, I'll use one of my matches to create a lantern so we could see better and if I didn't bring any extra sources of light then we would have been lost" Oscar had spoken out to the horse as he carefully lit the match thus creating a source of light which revealed a path.

"The road isn't too shabby, if we follow it than it could lead us into a place that's not as dreadful as this awful place" Dorothy had spoken out while looking into the light that was at the end of the path while Zeb and Betsy nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright, I suppose we should get going or else those terrible Mangaboos might find us" Jim had spoken out as he began to walk towards the path while his human companions had taken the time to discuss ways to get out of here.

"Dorothy, how often do you talk to Ozma? I'm sure you and her are probably friends at this point. I need to know everything" Oscar had asked the young girl in a curious tone of voice as he was met with Dorothy nodding her head in confirmation.

"Of course, Ozma uses her magic mirror to talk to me whenever she wants; however, it's only once a week due to how busy she is" Dorothy had answered back as this quickly made Oscar more intrigued as he leaned forward with great interest in hopes of figuring out more of this new revelation.

"How often and when does Ozma usually talk to you? I believe she might be the key in us getting out of here so please tell us everything you need to know" Oscar had spoken back to Dorothy with great enthusiasm as he waited for more answers.

"I usually talk to Ozma once every Tuesday at exactly noon and it's only on that day since she's quite busy with affairs and other such things, why?" Dorothy had spoken back in a curious tone of voice as she was met with Oscar smiling as he had taken out a small calendar from his pocket which made the young girl curious.

"You see, tomorrow is Tuesday! If we just survive until then we might have a chance at going back to the surface!" Oscar had spoken back to Dorothy once more while pointing at the date rather enthusiastically which made Dorothy and the others smile as Zeb was clearly relieved when hearing the news.

"R-Really?! I sure hope that's true cause I don't know if I can last any longer in this awful place! I would rather be at the barn than be here" Zeb had spoken out in joy while Betsy smiled as she knew that this journey could almost be over while Dorothy quickly spoke up.

"Well, it's not a guarantee that tomorrow will be the day that Ozma speaks to me since there are certain weeks that she'll postpone due to her very busy schedule but I believe the magic mirror could locate our location if Ozma was to speak it" Dorothy had spoken back to her friends in calm tone of voice as Zeb sighed to himself while Betsy gave a rather worried look on her face.

"Don't lose hope now! I'm sure we'll get out of here and we just have to hope that Ozma isn't busy tomorrow and that she'll find us" Oscar had spoken out to Zeb and Betsy and asked for reassurance as he looked out the carriage to see that Jim had finally arrived at the destination which excited him and the others.

"Did we make it yet? I sure hope so cause this dark place isn't doing it for me" Eureka had asked her human companions as he was met with Dorothy smiling and nodding her head in confirmation as the cat saw Dorothy and the others step out of the carriage to see their new destination.

The Valley of Voe was rather beautiful as it was filled with lush green grass, beautiful trees, houses, and a very rich waterfall that was located in the north.

"Wooow, so beautiful! It reminds me of Munchkinland back from Oz! We're truly almost home" Dorothy had spoken out in awestruck while she had looked around the valley while Zeb, Betsy, and Oscar followed her.

"What a delightful valley! If I would have landed here all those years ago then I would have easily settled and died here as a common man" Oscar had spoken out in wonder as he had taken the time to observe the place with great interest as suddenly, a few bird chirps could be heard which caught everyone's attention.

"I hear a bird yet I don't see it. Very strange indeed" Dorothy had spoken out in confusion as she had looked around to find the birds; however, it was to no avail while Zeb and Betsy were confused as well.

"I can practically hear them from up close yet it seems that they're invisible or something! This place is getting stranger by the minute!" Betsy had spoken out in annoyance as she placed her hands on her hips while continuing to walk across the valley and it wasn't until she looked over to see some cottages.

"Guys, I think I see some houses over there, If there's people there then surely they must tell us a way of getting out of here" Betsy had spoken out once more to her friends while pointing at the house in curiosity as she saw Dorothy and the others approaching her.

"Strange, I hear chatter but I don't see a single person in the cottage…how strange indeed" Dorothy had spoken out while peering through the window before eventually opening the door and to her shock, there was nobody there despite the chatter still ongoing which greatly surprised.

"Mama, I see strangers, they seem quite frightened" The voice belonging to a little girl had spoken out while the much older voice which belonged to the mother began to speak out.

"Yes, my dear, There are strangers indeed in our cottage" The motherly voice had spoken out to her daughter as this surprised Dorothy and the others greatly as they had entered the home.

"Pardon our intrusion, we seem to be lost since the terrible Mangaboos has chased us away from their land and we need a sense of direction in returning back to our land which is located above the surface of the Earth" Oscar had spoken out to the family in a polite tone of voice as he looked over at the empty seat with curiosity as he heard the motherly voice speaking back to him.

"Mangaboos? I've heard they're rather dreadful people and please take a seat, that seat is free for you to sit on and there's plenty of food for everyone as well so make yourselves at home" The motherly voice had spoken out in a polite tone of voice as Oscar, Dorothy, Zeb, and Betsy all sat down at the empty chairs and stared at the rather odd yellowish fruit.

"And what seems to be this strange thing? It looks quite tasty but I'm not sure if I wanna eat it or not…" Betsy had asked the mother while picking the fruit with the fork that was next to her while Dorothy observed everything that was going on.

"This fruit is called the dama. The dama is the fruit that made me, my daughter, and the rest of the citizens invisible and it's to prevent the bears from seeing us. Don't you wanna be invisible to avoid those terrible beasts?" The motherly voice had spoken out to Betsy in a rather amused tone of voice as the young girl had shaken her head in denial.

"No way! I prefer to be visible but do you and your daughter still hug each other? I know it must be painful for you guys if it wasn't possible to express love" Betsy had responded back to the motherly voice as she was met with the woman laughing to herself as she began to answer the question.

"Of course, we can still hug and kiss one another and we don't have to worry how we dress as well" The motherly voice had responded back in a rather confident tone of voice as this was followed by the daughter chiming into the conversation.

"And mama can't tell whether my face is dirty or not! Isn't that great" The daughter's voice had spoken out in a rather sneaky tone of voice as this caused Dorothy to chuckle at that statement while Betsy only smiled with amusement.

"Interesting, this place is quite strange but you two seem much nicer than the Mangaboos so I don't mind at all" Betsy had spoken back with a smile on her face as she looked over to see Eureka standing at the door with a rather annoyed look on her face.

"Someone feed me, I'm half starved!" Eureka had spoken out while growling could be heard from her stomach as she jumped onto the table much to Dorothy's annoyance.

"Eureka, where's your manners? You can't jump on stranger's tables like that, okay?" Dorothy had spoken out to her cat as the feline creature suddenly hissed which caused her to retreat back on the floor.

"D-Did you see that Dorothy?!" Eureka had spoken out in slight fear as Dorothy had shaken her head in denial.

"These are people living in this house although we can't see them. You must have better manners to show these good people" Dorothy had advised Eureka while giving her a plate of food; however, Eureka wanted the dama fruit.

"I don't want that, give me that nice-smelling fruit over there" Eureka had spoken out while eyeing the fruit; however, Dorothy quickly denied her cat's request as she began to explain to her about the fruit.

"You can't eat the dama. These fruits can turn you invisible and it will hurt me if I were to lose you.." Dorothy had warned Eureka while gently petting her and despite the cat's annoyance, Eureka began to chow down on her meal.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to be invisible but I also don't wanna see you cry or anything.." Eureka had spoken back to her owner while continuing to chow down on her meal.

"So, is there a way for us to reach the surface of the Earth? I'm sure there's plenty of ways.." Oscar had asked the mother in curiosity as he waited for an answer in anticipation.

"Yes, if you look over where that huge mountain is located, then that shall be the destination and from there, you will be in the awful land of the gargoyles; however, this is the only path towards your destination.." The motherly voice had responded back in a serious tone of voice as Oscar had gotten up from his seat and walked towards the window and there, he saw the mountain which the mother was referring to.

"I see, well, it seems we have to take the risk.." Oscar had spoken out to himself as he looked over to see Dorothy smiling in improvement.

"I'm used to this type of stuff but if we can reach pyramid mountain then perhaps we could finally go home!" Dorothy had spoken out in an excited tone of voice while Zeb and Betsy were worried; however, they began to realize that this was indeed the only path as small smiles appeared on their faces.

"Alright, let's get going then!" Betsy had spoken out in joy as she was fully on board with partaking in the next possible challenge for their journey back home.