The following day began with little fanfare. The Wizard continued to work on his blueprints. The castle was quiet and the witch was nowhere to be seen. As he continued to work, he noticed that the castle was more relaxed. The servants and maids were not scurrying around as quickly as they were the day prior and some even had smiles on their faces.
Feeling couped up in the castle, he decided to disregard what Theodora had said to him several days prior about leaving the castle. He had already gone against her wishes by meeting Bella's father, so he decided to once again leave the castle and take a leisurely walk.
The castle grounds were different to the Wizard as passed the various gardens and fountains. This time, he was able to take in the sights and smells of the numerous colored flowers, the manicured plants and the sounds of the water. The birds were chirping their harmonic tunes as a gentle wind blew past his face. What he most enjoyed about Oz was its near perfect weather and the harmonious balance of its fauna.
After walking for fifteen minutes, he decided to take a seat on a nearby bench. There were numerous Winkie Guards who were stationed at various points along the castle grounds, but none had disturbed him. As he sat on the bench, he saw a clearing where one disgruntled Winkie farm hand and a random guard were having a conversation.
"This castle under Lurline once cared for its people. But under this current witch, you have abandoned us. The Winkie people are starving and overworked, and yet your mistress does nothing!"
But the petulant guard was having none of this. "The witch is concerned with greater matters, old man. Move along or I will make you move!"
"Bah! What greater matters? Taking over and terrorizing the entire Winkie Country? Trying to take over all of Oz herself? This is all preposterous and delusions of grandeur! How is this more important than taking away food from starving children!?"
"You have no idea what events the guards or this witch is going to set in motion. Now, go back to your farm and leave me alone. It is a wonder that you were even able to get past the guards at the gate. They let in these Winkie vermin too easily!"
The Winkie farmer became even more agitated. "No! This is too important! In the name—in the name of Gloma, I demand a meeting with the witch! She must be made to see the insanity of her callous actions!"
The guard tightened his hand on his halberd. "You make no demands of me or this witch! She cares nothing about you or these pathetic towns! Go beg your useless and powerless Gloma to feed these people!"
The farmer started to yell in disgust and anger. "How dare you say such a thing about Gloma, the Good Witch of the West! I will stand for this castle's tyranny no longer! The Winkie populace has had enough of your mistress! If she doesn't heed our wishes, then we will make her! One way or another!"
The guard started to approach him with venom in his voice. "You dare to attack me, old man? Your death shall be quick and filled with agony!"
The Wizard quickly stood from the bench as the guard swung his halberd at the old man. The farmer ducked as the weapon barely missed scalping a portion of his head. Barely even thinking, the Wizard began to run towards their position.
"Stop!", he screamed. "Leave that man alone!" As the guard was about to take another swing at the cowering farmer, the Wizard barreled into the guard and pushed him. Surprised by this sudden assault, the guard stumbled back in surprise. He quickly regained his footing as he eyed the Wizard in anger.
"How dare you assault a guard of the mistress! Not only will your death be bloody and gruesome, but this pathetic farmer will watch until it is his turn! Now, it is off with your head!"
As the guard was about to swing his halberd at the Wizard's head, he was stopped by the captain. "At ease, soldier!" Mitchell placed his hand firmly on the guard's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"But—he was!"
The stoic captain was forceful with his words. "I said that is enough, soldier! You will obey your captain and desist!"
"Yes, sir!" The guard then shot a threatening glance at both the Wizard and the Winkie farmer before departing. The captain then put his hand around the Wizard's shoulder as he led him away from the clearing.
"What the hell was that all about", the Wizard asked.
The captain sighed. "He doesn't know who you are", he said. "You shouldn't interfere with duties of the guard."
"But he was going to execute that man! I had to intervene!"
Mitchell was silent as the Wizard took a step away from him. "Look, I want to know the truth. Were the Winkies always slaves? Or were they once a free people?"
The captain continued to be silent, but he continued to press the question. "Answer me!", he snapped.
"Yes", he finally replied.
"Before Lurline wedded Pastoria, the Winkie Country was a full and prosperous people. They were free. When Gayalette took over in Lurline's absence, everything changed. The Winkies became bound to her wishes and bidding. It became even worse after the Winged Monkeys played a prank on her husband."
"It doesn't have to be like this", the Wizard said. "Things can change."
"This is tradition now", the captain barked. His voice then became stern. "There is nothing I can do. But I warn you, Wizard. Don't interfere with my men again." And with that, the captain turned and walked away from him and towards the castle.
The Wizard slowly shrugged and started to walk back himself. The sun had reached its zenith in the sky as he sat on a chair in a nearby courtyard adjacent to the side of the witch's sprawling estate.
Day 2 of her absence, he thought to himself. What is going on?
As he started to doze off, his slumber was disrupted by a distant rumbling sound in the sky. The roar only grew louder as his eyes gazed upon a small flying object above the tree line in the distance. As the flying object grew closer, the Wizard's eyes became wide. It wasn't another flying witch in the sky. The object appeared to be metallic in nature and had two buzzing wings planted on top of its outer shell that made whirring, whirling and chopping sounds. The Wizard's jaw began to drop as his eyes remained fixated on this magical device. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He never saw anything like this before. He could not take his eyes off of it. He was utterly transfixed.
As this metallic object passed over the Winkie countryside, he saw a banner attached that was waving in the air from the wind and had the following words written in deep velvety letters:
Come find us Wizard!
The Wizard had many thoughts swirling around in his mind. Someone wants me to find them, he thought to himself. But who? And why? And what was that glamorous and beautiful thing that I just saw in the sky? Another person or being having greater inventions than me? It's not possible…
Considering that the Land of Oz was fairly uncivilized and devoid of real technological discoveries, the Wizard was utterly perplexed as to what he saw. Ultimately though, only one thought naturally became dominant over all of the others.
What. The. Fuck.