It was a bad day. It was one of the worst days the Wizard had ever experienced in his life. Since the fateful encounter with his former friend and mentor, the Wizard sat brooding silently in the dining room. He was stewing over his latest confrontation with the Emerald City. All of his followers and his friends had turned against him. Deep down, he was boiling mad with rage and resentment.
How could they, the Wizard thought to himself. After all I did for them. And they just turned on me like this. How could they?
The Wizard was kicking himself for not verifying the letter with Glinda. But why would he? He trusted her and the letter specifically told him not to speak with her about it.
Of course, the letter said that, he told himself. Because if he actually did his job and asked Glinda about it, then she would have denied having ever written it in the first place. The Wizard placed his hand over his face. He couldn't believe how stupid he was.
Still, the person he blamed for his current predicament most of all was Evanora. She was the one who waged and continued to wage a vicious character assassination campaign against him.
This started in the days after the Wizard became the city's guardian. There were many rumors attributed to him that floated around the Emerald City, which lowered his standing and esteem among the denizens who lived there. There were multiple stories about his supposed "infidelity" and him sleeping around with the various nobility of the city. At first, he thought that the originator of these rumors was Theodora, as her motive was obvious: she was a "disgruntled ex". However, and in the months that followed, the evidence shifted to the eastern witch after a "spy" from Munchkin Country was caught while verbally assailing the Wizard on the steps of the palace. Upon interrogation, he admitted to spreading this information at the behest of Evanora.
Let's face it, Evanora, the Wizard thought to himself. You've been a problem ever since I arrived in Oz. You are a problem that needs to be taken care of.
As he continued to ruminate over the confrontation he had with his former mentor, the Wizard grew angrier and angrier at the eastern witch. Someday, I will make sure she pays for this, he told himself. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was starting to think like Theodora. He desired revenge and to him, Evanora was his most hated enemy. But no one has ever gave him such acrimony as she did.
While he sat on the plush gold encrusted chair, he placed his elbows on the dining room table and continued to review a blueprint. It was then that a familiar figure wearing a black and white garb crept into the corner of his eye.
The Wizard subtly raised his head, but he did not turn to look. "What do you want", he quietly seethed.
"I just wanted to check on you to make sure you are okay", Annie said.
But he was not in the mood for another round of philosophical meanderings with his former friend who was now only a mere phantom in his mind. "Let me guess", he said sarcastically. He now shifted his head and looked at the imaginary phantom. "You are going to say how much I screwed up, that I should have left Theodora's castle when I had the chance and how I ruined my own life? Thanks a lot, Annie. Why not continue to kick me when I am down while you are at it…" He then turned and lowered his head to examine his blueprint once again.
"No, Oscar", she said softly as she gave him a small and friendly smile. "That is not what I came here to say. I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you…"
The Wizard turned his head and stared at her again. "You are…proud of me", he asked with much surprise in his voice. For a brief second, even his eye sparkled.
"Yes", she said. "You stood up for someone, even at the cost of your personal freedom and life. That takes courage."
He sighed as he began to shake his head. "But now…I have to figure out what I am going to do", he lamented.
"Well, what do you want to do", she asked.
"I don't know", the Wizard mumbled to himself. "I told Theodora that I would help her. Maybe…just maybe…I can change her. I can steer her in the right direction", he mused.
Annie raised her brow. "Oh, Oscar, you can't fix Theodora any more than she can fix herself."
"I can try, can't I", the Wizard asked.
"With you and what magic", Annie replied. "You can't change her any more than you can the tides or the winds or the moon. She is who she is, Oscar. You must accept her for who she is…"
"And who is she? A villain", he asked. "Is that what you are saying she is?"
Annie continued to speak in a soft voice. "In the eyes of some, she will always be a villain. And there's nothing that you are going to be able to do to change that. My concern though is with you. If Theodora is on a sinking ship, my fear is that you will go down with her. And you can't be a good man if you are a dead man." Annie looked at him with a serious expression on her face. "You may have to go back to clear your name…"
Just as he finished talking to himself out loud and Annie's specter vanished, Bella strolled into the dining room. Somehow, she always appeared when the Wizard was alone in his thoughts. He tapped his quill on the table. She knew what his request was as she approached him.
"I will get Finley for you", she whispered to him. "Have you thought about what I said earlier", she asked him. "Have you thought about…our plan?"
The Wizard broke his gaze with hers. He looked down and started to examine his blueprint.
"I'm declining to support the you-know-what'", he quietly said. "You're going to have to find another wizard for the job…"
But Bella looked at him with soft and pleading eyes. "You saw with your own eyes what she's capable of in the ballroom", she said. "You had some time to think about this. How can you not help us?"
He looked up. "Your so-called 'resistance' doesn't need my help in railroading a good witch."
"A good witch? How can you even say that? And how can she be one? Wizard, look at what happened." The maid's voice then spoke in hushed whispers. "She is wicked."
He shook his head. "I reiterate that she hasn't killed anyone…"
But Bella shook her head. "She terrorizes us, Wizard. Ignoring what she did could even be considered aiding…"
He then interrupted her. "None of you wanted to hear what she had to say, so I didn't tell you."
"What did she have to say", she pointedly asked.
"That she suffers a great deal. And that underneath it all, she's good. That's the short version of it."
"And you believe what she has to say", she scoffed in disbelief.
The Wizard pivoted his head to the side as he stared directly at her. "What do you think", he asked rhetorically.
"And if she kills someone", she asked incredulously.
The Wizard lowered his head and examined his blueprint. "She won't."
"And you know this…how", she asked.
"Because I know her", he quietly said as he subtly nodded his head. He began to take a pencil and started to make scribbles on his blueprint.
"You know, I thought I knew a Wizard who was sitting right here in front of me. A Wizard who was—"
This made him slam down the pencil in frustration as he looked up at her again. "I know her! Ok!", he raised his head as his voice burst out in anger before whispering to her once more. "So, if your father wants to flag this to Glinda and say how 'wicked' I am or how undeserving I am of my current title, then have him go for it. But like I said to that former idiot mentor of mine from the Emerald City, I believe in her Goodness and that defending her was worth the risk."
"For your job?", Bella asked in shock. "For your position as the Wizard? For your reputation? For your life?" She still could not believe that he was defending her.
He shot the maid an impassive stare. "Do you care about your father, Bella?"
"Of course," she said.
"Then you shouldn't have to ask", he responded. "Because when you care for someone, you do what you have to do and you go for it."
He looked down at his blueprint again as he placed his hand on his face and started to make scribbles with the other. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I don't want to hear anything from you or from others about killing anyone. Because then you are no better than the mythical Wicked Witch you claim to oppose. And I will have no part in it." He looked up at her again. "Have a good day."
The maid sighed. Even though she was upset, she tried not to show it as she turned and walked away from the Wizard. She then went to the one person who could advise her on the next course of action.
"The Wizard declined to help us. What should we do?"
"There is nothing that can be done. He has to want to help us on his own. And if he does not want to, there is nothing that we can do to make him. We do not own him."
"But father, things may not change. I feel that they are only getting worse. And they need to change."
"Then the only thing we can do is pray. We must pray to Gloma that things will change."
As she broke off yet another surreptitious meeting with her father in the gardens, Annie quickly and quietly walked back to the castle and to her duties. Her father was well connected in the Winkie resistance and his daughter played a key role in its operations. The resistance started under the reign of Gayalette, who tried to use her Winkie Guards to ascertain its membership and their secret hideaway without much success. When Theodora took over the castle, their mission continued in earnest, its ultimate goal being to dispose the witch and restore the freedoms of its people.
Their failure to garner the Wizard's support was a major setback, but its leaders vowed to keep fighting.
While Bella met with her father, the Wizard and Finley were in one of the many parlor rooms. The door was locked as the Wizard didn't want the witch to know that he was speaking with his former companion.
"Finley…", the Wizard said as he slumped his shoulders and sighed. "I need your help. I really need your help." He then proceeded to tell the monkey everything that had happened, from Agatha's death to his latest confrontation with the Emerald City.
"Professor Wogglebug said that?" Finley was shocked that someone as reserved as Wogglebug could say some of the things that he said to the Wizard.
The monkey then fluttered over to a nearby couch. "So, does that mean you want to travel back to the Emerald City?"
"I have to", the Wizard said as he sounded demoralized. "Finley, I have to clear my name. I have to fight this. If I don't, then everything that they accuse me of being will be believed. What else am I to do? I have to save my reputation."
"And your fear of going back is…", Finley asked. "My fear is who-do-you-think", the Wizard replied matter of factly. "My fear is if I tell her the truth about what I need to do….I mean…I don't know how she is going to react…" As the Wizard spoke anxiously, he paced nervously back and forth. He then turned and looked at his friend. "I mean, she doesn't take goodbyes very well…"
The Wizard knew he was in a very precarious situation. He was alienated from the Emerald City, but he found solace in what appeared to be an unexpected and entirely surprising ally in Theodora. However, he knew that this "relationship" with her was incredibly tenuous at best. If he lost her support, he would be a political orphan in Oz, bereft of his home at the Emerald City and with few allies to speak of. He would be an outcast and a disgraced leader. He could not let this happen.
He had to return to the Emerald City to clear his name and prevent a war from breaking out. So much was riding on his shoulders and so much was at stake. At the same time, he could not afford to lose the witch's support. He just hoped that Theodora would not give him a hard time about this. He felt like he was walking on a tightrope and the pressure to not make a mistake was immense.
Finley sighed. "Wizard…." The monkey flew towards him from the couch and looked him in the eye. "You need to do what is best for you." He then quietly flapped to a nearby chair. "How was she after the confrontation with Wogglebug?"
"Oh…you know…the usual…skipping and hopping and smiling radiantly at how I am going to be here forever and not go back to the Emerald City." As the Wizard spoke, the monkey held his paw nervously near his face. "Monkey, you need to help me with this…please advise me on this one…you have to give me positive feedback…"
"Oh, you're doomed", Finley said as he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how you are going to get out of this one. You're dealing with insanity."
"Monkey! You're supposed to be making me feel better!" The Wizard clenched his teeth as he nervously eyed his companion. "Just…help me when I deliver this news, okay? Just…act as moral support. Can you do that? Please!" His voice was jittery and tense. Finley could tell that he was really nervous, which was not like him.
The monkey shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders again in jest. "Of course! You know what I do when I am stressed? I grab a paper bag and I blow into it? Do you ever blow into one? That might help!"
As he shot Finley a dead stare, he continued being cheeky. "Wizard, maybe you should just stop having this magical ability of pissing people off? Have you ever thought of that?"
The Wizard shook his head and turned away from him. As he was about to open the door, the monkey interjected. "Remember what I told you the day we met? You just need to tell this young and innocent girl the truth. Just tell her the truth…"
The Wizard stopped walking as he stared straight ahead. His eyes narrowed as the conversation with Wooglebug came into focus once more. His expression grew dark as he remembered what his former mentor had said. "No one is innocent", he whispered as he left the parlor room.