(Ozma's Birthday Celebration)
*Author's Note: This chapter marks the end of the fifth story arc, and thank you to everyone who's read this wonderful story and I know this was a sudden ending and all but I hope everyone still enjoys* *
*June 21st, 1906*
*Emerald Palace*
Dorothy ran across the palace with great speed in hopes of arriving at the throne room so she could announce the names of the guests.
"Damn it! I hope I'm not late! I don't want Ozma or anyone doing work I should be doing." Dorothy thought to herself, continuing to run towards her destination until finally, she arrived at the door that led to the throne room.
"Finally! I hope I'm not late." Dorothy spoke to herself as she opened the door, and there, she saw her friends standing in the throne room.
"There you are! We were wondering where you've been. The guests are arriving right now, so be sure to take a seat promptly. It's great seeing you again as well." Oscar advised his friend as he saw the young girl nodding as she ran towards the throne.
"It's good to see you again, my good friend, and I'm glad I made it in time." Dorothy responded in between breaths as she quickly hugged Oscar before sitting on the throne, taking a breather to herself.
"We're glad you made it, and don't worry; you will welcome the guests while I announce their names. It's a lengthy list, so remember each name, okay?" Scarecrow advised his friend while looking at the list of names, and Dorothy nodded understandingly.
"Got it," Dorothy simply responded while cracking her knuckles in preparation to read the guests' names.
There was a moment of silence until suddenly, a group of people consisting of a little girl, two tall men, a fat bear, a king, and plenty of small servants entered the throne room.
"His gracious and most edible Majesty, King John Dough was the first ruler of the two kingdoms of Hiland and Loland. Also, we have the head of Booleywag, Chick. And their most faithful friend, Para Bruin, the rubber bear." Scarecrow spoke in a clear, presenting voice as the group entered the throne room while Dorothy greeted them with a smile.
"Welcome to the Emerald City, the capital of Oz. We hope that you and the rest of our wonderful guests can enjoy a wonderful birthday celebration." Dorothy greeted the first set of guests while smiling as she saw the group conversing with Tin Woodman.
"King John Dough! It's been a while, hasn't it? I shall escort you and the other guests into the dining area where the feast will be held." Tin Woodman greeted the king with a gentle smile as he, the king, and the other guests made their way toward the dining area.
"Goodness, what a bunch of weird people.." Para spoke to himself, amazed, while following his friends into the dining area while Dorothy watched with an interested look.
"Alright, let's see who the next batch of guests are," Dorothy said to Scarecrow with great interest in her voice as she saw her friend smiling back.
"And for our next guests, we have the most loyal, mighty, and very supportive friend of children, his supreme highness…Santa Claus!" Scarecrow announced with great enthusiasm.
"Ho Ho Ho! Great to see everyone here today and great to meet you all!" Santa greeted with excitement in his voice while entering the throne room along with many of his elves.
This event made Dorothy, Betsy, and Zeb's eyes light up with surprise since they weren't expecting such an iconic figure to join the party.
"S-Santa! I-It's a pleasure to meet you; how have things been for you?" Dorothy greeted Santa while getting up from the throne to give Santa a handshake.
"Hello Dorothy, still having adventures, I see? I remember when you were just a little girl, and you always asked your Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to tell me to send you back to Oz," Santa responded to Dorothy while letting out his iconic laugh as Dorothy nodded in confirmation.
"I-I still do, and Oz has been a good place for me, so I've always wanted to come back for years." Dorothy responded while letting out a warm smile, which made Santa smile back.
"Very wonderful, my child.." Santa replied while looking over, noticing the star-shaped mark that was on her forehead, which piqued his interest.
"It seems the Good Witch of the North has blessed her. I sense great power building within her.." Santa thought to himself with great interest; however, his thoughts were quickly interrupted as he noticed Button-Bright.
"And he's Button-Bright! What a long way from home that you've come from!" Santa spoke to the young boy, picking him up while Dorothy watched the events unfolding.
"Santa, where does he live? I've asked the boy, and he claims he doesn't know, so it would help us so much if you told us." Dorothy asked Santa politely while waiting for an answer.
"Don't worry, I shall whisper it in your ear.." Santa responded before putting Button-Bright down and whispering the location to Dorothy's ear.
"Oh really? That place. I wish I had known earlier, but I'll tell Oscar and Button-Bright when the time comes. Thank you for telling me; I didn't know THAT was such an obvious place." Dorothy responded to Santa, thanking him in the process.
"I must head to the dining room now. It was a pleasure talking to you, Dorothy. Be sure to stay on the nice list. Even teenagers such as yourself can still receive coal." Santa advised Dorothy with a mixture of sternness and gentleness in his voice while the young girl nodded understandingly.
"Nice talking to you as well, and I will!" Dorothy responded while she and Santa waved goodbye before leaving each other's company as Santa and the rest of his elves entered the dining room.
"I never thought I'd seen Santa in the flesh. I always thought he was fake or something," Zeb said while chuckling as Betsy smiled back.
"Well, I hope you don't coal for not believing in him; remember what he told Dorothy: even teenagers could get coal." Betsy responded in a rather playful yet teasing manner while Zeb nodded.
"I'm sure he's understanding." Zeb responded once more as he and Betsy watched more guests coming in.
"Next guest is the Braided Man of Pyramid Mountain." Scarecrow announced graciously. The Braided Man entered the throne room, holding a box of flutters for Ozma.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Braided Man." Dorothy greeted the gentleman, shaking hands with him in the process.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, and I've brought these boxes of flutters for Princess Ozma. I'm sure she'll enjoy them quite well." Braided Man responded, showing Dorothy the gift while the young girl smiled back.
"And I'm sure she will. Ozma is accepting any gift she'll receive." Dorothy responded once more to Braided Man as she saw the gentleman smiling back before walking to the dining room to sit with the other guests.
"So many guests to greet! I never knew Ozma had so many friends and allies. It reminds me of speaking in front of my class," Dorothy said to herself while sitting back on the throne, preparing to greet more guests coming their way.
Many more guests, such as King Evardo, his mother, his siblings, Queen Zixi of IX, King Bud of Noland, etc, would come their way, and eventually, after a few minutes, Ozma was ready to be greeted by the guests.
"D-Dorothy, are you sure I must close my eyes? I'm aware of the birthday party." Ozma asked Dorothy rather cautiously, walking alongside Dorothy toward the main dining door.
"Of course, It makes it better. It's a custom that the people of Earth do whenever there's a surprise." Dorothy responded while Ozma nodded as the girls continued walking toward the entrance until they reached the door. Dorothy would open the door slowly to reveal all the guests sitting at their dining tables with a huge banner of Ozma's name hanging on the ceiling and balloons and other celebratory items within the room.
"Ozma, you may open your eyes now.." Dorothy told Ozma softly and gently as she saw Ozma slowly opening her eyes.
Everyone sat down and began to speak.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY! OZMA!" Dorothy and the other guests cried out in joy as plenty of trumpets started to play along with some confetti being shot into the ceiling, which made Ozma quite happy as she smiled warmly.
"T-Thank you, everyone. I truly appreciate it.." Ozma spoke with joy as she thanked everyone in the room before turning over to see Dorothy's warm smile.
"Of course, you're my friend. I know you already knew of the party, but I couldn't help but surprise you. I also have something for you.."Dorothy responded to Ozma while walking over to where the presents were and picked out the gift she had been eager to give to Ozma.
"Happy Birthday. My friend. I hope you enjoy my gift to you." Dorothy spoke to Ozma again, gently handing her the gift while Scarecrow and the others watched with smiles.
Ozma began to unwrap the gift until she saw that it was a portrait of her and Dorothy smiling together.
"D-Dorothy, I love it. It's such a beautiful gift. Did you paint this? It looks beautiful, thanks.." Ozma spoke to Dorothy while feeling tears of joy on her face as she quickly hugged Dorothy.
"Of course. I wanted to create something that would be a representation of our friendship. Something that you will always remember forever.." Dorothy responded, hugging her back in the process.
Ozma's party would be one of Oz's biggest events in history. There was fellowship among the guests, including showcasing many magical tricks performed by Scarecrow, Glinda, Tin Woodman, and other such fun activities until finally, it was nighttime, and fireworks and celebrations were going off above Emerald City as Dorothy and Ozma were sitting on the grass, eating cake.
"Dorothy, are you ready to go home? Once the celebrations wrap up, I can send you home once you've fallen asleep; how does that sound?" Ozma asked Dorothy as she saw the young girl nod in confirmation.
"I don't want to worry my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry any further, so I guess I'll have to head home once I've fallen asleep, but I just want you to know that I've had a wonderful time hanging out with you and the rest of my friends. This night will be something I will always treasure." Dorothy spoke to Ozma, smiling in the process while Ozma smiled back.
"So, I'll send Button-Bright home first thing in the morning, and I'm surprised he lived THERE. It's pretty obvious, but it shows that that boy is lucky." Ozma responded while Dorothy smiled and nodded before looking back to see Polychrome, Button-Bright, and Shaggy-Man sitting with them, making both girls smile.
"I'm glad Polychrome will be reunited with her father soon and that Button-Bright will return home. This was a good day and birthday for my friend.." Dorothy thought to herself with a smile as this was interrupted by Polychrome, who began to speak.
"Dorothy, I just got word from Santa that my father will arrive in the morning to pick me up, so I'm going back home! I just wanted to thank you for bringing me along. I will always treasure our moments. Oh! Don't be afraid to visit me as well in the future." Polychrome informed Dorothy with excitement in her voice.
This made Dorothy and the others smile.
"Wonderful news! Be sure to tell your father I said hello, and this will be my last night here, so I must say goodbye and thank you for your company. It was a wonderful time meeting and getting to know you." Dorothy responded to Polychrome, bidding farewell to her before hugging her warmly.
"Thank you, and same for you! You've been such a good friend!" Polychrome responded, hugging Dorothy back before both girls released each other from the hug.
Dorothy would say her goodbyes to Button-Bright and Shaggy Man in advance, and of course, Button-Bright sniffled while Dorothy hugged him and Shaggy Man tipped his hat with respect.
"It was a pleasure to encounter you, my good friend. I wish you nothing but the best in your endeavors.," Shaggy Man said to Dorothy, smiling at her as she smiled back at him.
"To be honest, I haven't gotten any good sleep lately, so my head hitting the pillow will feel wonderful later on, but for now, let's continue having fun!" Dorothy spoke to herself with joy, laughing as she and her friends continued to watch the fireworks for the remainder of their time.
Three hours later, most of the guests had gone home while Dorothy, Betsy, and Zeb prepared themselves to go to bed as surely they would wake up in their homes the next morning.
"Goodnight, Betsy. Goodnight Zeb. I'll see you all next time; well, I'll see Betsy tomorrow," Dorothy said to her cousin and friend, chuckling to herself as she sat on her bed.
"Goodnight Dorothy! Seeing you again was great; the folks back home will be worried sick. But have a wonderful rest." Betsy responded for the final time before placing his head on his pillow while Zeb followed suit.
"Finally, I can get a wonderful rest…" Dorothy spoke while yawning as she placed her head on the pillow, thus earning a well-earned rest as she and Toto was sent back home via Ozma's magic.
*Nome Kingdom*
The Nome King was watching everything through his magic belt hanging up on the wall in his office.
"Foolish girl. My revenge is nearly at hand, and this time, I'm prepared.." Nome King uttered to himself before letting out a hearty laugh followed by a monstrous growl that wasn't from Nome King...
End of Story Arc 5
