"Thank you, Finley." The monkey slowly gave the Wizard his bag, however reluctant he was. He didn't want to see his former master leave, and he didn't know when he would see him again. In turn, he gave Finley a small, but weak smile. "We will see each other again. I promise."
The Wizard was feeling anxious, even though he tried to maintain a confident appearance. As he reached and took his bag, he started to make his way towards the nearest exit of the castle. The door was wide open.
The majestic Ozian countryside beckoned him. The green pastures. The soft warmth of the sun. The deep blue sky. The fluttering of birds. The cool and welcome breeze. The multi-colored leaves that glided in the air, the fauna that sang its melodic tunes and every peaceful and soothing sound the land could muster. It was all there. It was waiting for him.
But he froze in his tracks. He was indecisive.
What are you doing, Oscar? Annie's specter appeared behind him once more. Her voice was walm, but with a hint of urgency. Leave now, while you still can.
"I don't know if this is right…", he mumbled to himself. "I feel like I should do one more thing. I feel like I should try one more thing…"
Oscar, I told you that there is nothing you can do for her. As she spoke to the Wizard, Annie's voice continued to be soothing.
However, he was at a crossroad. One part of him screamed to leave. In a sense, Annie was his conscience, but also another side of him that he tried to control. When speaking to him now, she reflected the old Oscar, the one who was more selfish and self-centered.
There was also another part of him, this nagging feeling, to try one last thing before he left. This was the selfless Oscar, the part he believed he did not have within himself when he worked for the circus, but rediscovered when he was in Oz.
For the Wizard, this internal conflict meant he struggled to take that last step and leave the castle.
"But there is something I can do for her", the Wizard remembered. "I can give her a drink from the fountain of essence…"
Annie gave him a mild look of disappointment and her tone was sharp. No, Oscar. You don't know what powers it is capable of. You don't know whether it would even work now. Theodora even said it herself to you. She said that it had to be taken at specific times. The apple had she ate had unforeseen side effects and this time things could be worse. You don't know what you could be unleashing…"
"There's only one way to find out", the Wizard muttered resolutely under his breath as he turned around and started to walk back into the interior of the castle.
No, Oscar, you don't want to… But Annie's specter disappeared as the Wizard walked through her. I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this right, the Wizard said courageously to himself. I'm not going to run away.
The old Oscar would have left long ago. He probably would have sided with Agatha or left when he saw the visceral warning signs of Theodora's volatile temperament. And he absolutely would have left when he realized that Glinda had not even sent him there to begin with.
But something that was deep inside himself made him feel extremely guilty. It was this guilt that gnawed at him for years.
Had he not left the Emerald City after he arrived or had taken the Theodora with him, things would have turned out differently for her. Had he been more honest and caring from the start, she never would have been led down the path of wickedness. Had he communicated his feelings adequately to her, she never would have bitten that apple. Had he been a better person, Evanora never would have won.
He felt he was responsible for the plight of the Winkies. This is why he wanted to do this one last thing before he left.
As he reversed course and placed his bag on the dining room table, Bella saw him with wide eyes. "What are you still doing here", she asked with surprise in her voice.
"I need to ask you a question", he said. "The locked doors of the castle. How do you access them?"
The maid eyed him quizzically before responding. "There's a master key that the guards and some of the maids have. But why are you—"
The Wizard interrupted her. "Before I leave, I need to check one of the rooms. I…" He then quickly and effortlessly made something up. "I believe someone mistakenly placed something of mine in one such room. Can I have one of the keys and check one of the rooms before I leave?"
Bella nodded her head. "Yes…" She placed her hand in one of her pockets. "Here…" She pulled out a shining gold key as she handed it to him. "I have an extra copy. Just leave the spare on the table before you leave, and I'll collect it later." The maid then smiled at him before walking past the Wizard and attended to her other duties in the castle.
The Wizard walked quickly to the storage room, the same one that he had walked past the previous day. He knew the magical fountain would be in there. He believed Theodora had resisted drinking from the fountain because the apple's curse started to return.
Once he had her drink from the fountain, he believed that her pure benevolence and Goodness would return.
He approached the door and inserted the key. He opened it.
As the door swung open, an expression of shock and horror appeared on the Wizard's face. His hands started to subtly shake as he began to slowly back away from the door. His breathing started to become uneven. "What", he exclaimed.
There was no fountain. The room was empty.
"No…no, this cannot be", the Wizard said as he took another step back in utter disbelief. "This cannot be…"
The Wizard was a smart man. The fountain of essence did not exist. If it did not exist, then Theodora never drank from it. And if she never drank from it, she was never cured. And if she was never cured…
That's when the realization hit. No one had previously told him that Evanora had given her an apple, except for Theodora herself. The only thing Glinda had mentioned to him in passing was that "Evanora worked her magic on her", but she never gave any details about how that happened. And it perpetually troubled him that Glinda had never taken any action to help the witch herself. If Theodora was a victim of Evanora's scheming, wouldn't someone want to help her and undo a curse that this poor girl was trapped in? Why didn't Glinda do anything?
Suddenly, everything started to make sense. It was obvious that Glinda never helped Theodora because she knew that there was no cure for her. Deep down, Glinda must have also known the truth…
And the truth was that when Glinda said Evanora had "worked her magic" on Theodora, she meant it figuratively and not literally. Glinda did not mean actual magic. He now realized that she really meant Evanora's manipulation, her lies, her deceit and her words were a form of magic because Theodora would always believe them, even to her detriment.
There was no apple. Theodora's heart never withered away. None of this had ever happened. She had complete agency over her actions.
Her green skin was not Evanora's powers. It was Theodora's powers. And the Wizard's sudden epiphany meant that she was far more dangerous than he ever thought possible.
The Wizard had made a terrible miscalculation.
His heart beat furiously out of his chest as his mind raced in all different directions. But there was one thought which was now predominant over the rest: Run!
It was too late.
Suddenly, a furious witch slammed the door to the storage room shut. Her head was lowered, and the top of her red hat blocked the entirety of her face. But as she slowly raised her head, the facial features of her peach complexion came into view. Theodora gave the Wizard an expression of intense anger and hate. Her eyes bulged and her jaw was locked. Her icy expression was evident as her eyes narrowed and she stared at him with an extreme degree of rage.
Oh no, the Wizard thought to himself. This is not good.
His thoughts were jumbled and in sheer panic as he desperately thought of ways to try and extricate himself from this incredibly frightening situation that he suddenly found himself in.
"DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO OPEN THIS DOOR, WIZARD", the witch barked edgily at him. "DIDN'T I?" Theodora grimaced as she clenched her teeth and a crazed expression flashed across her youthful visage. She started to slowly take several steps towards the Wizard as she curled her hands into fists. As she did so, he began to slowly back away from her in terror. "DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO SPEAK TO BELLA OR FINLEY? DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO SPEAK TO ANY OF THE WINKIES? DIDN'T I TELL YOU THAT WIZARD?"
He continued to slowly back away from her as he kept his hands in front of his body to de-escalate this growing crisis.
But his hand gestures didn't work as the witch continued to be incredibly angry as her voice boomed. "DIDN'T I TELL YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU TRIED TO LEAVE ME AGAIN?"
Despite being petrified, the Wizard tried desperately to maintain a calm composure. "Theodora, I—"
"SHUT UP", she screamed at him, her silhouette clearly reflecting her shadow from a nearby wall. The Wizard was visibly shaking, but it was not until the witch took her red hat and flicked her wrist that his fear became palpable.
Her head was now lowered as she glared her narrow eyes at him fiercely. As she spoke explosively at him with much rage and bitterness, tears started to stream down her beige cheeks, leaving multiple burn marks etched in their wake.
She was having a complete and utter meltdown. She snapped.
"I HATE YOU, WIZARD! YOU ARE THE WORST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET! YOU BANISHED ME OUT OF MY ONLY HOME I HAVE EVER KNOWN. YOU LOVED EVANORA OVER ME! YOU LOVED GLINDA OVER ME! YOU LOVED BELLA OVER ME! YOU LOVED ALL OF OZ OVER ME! YOU LEFT ME! YOU ABANDONED ME! YOU CAME HERE TO PLAY WITH MY EMOTIONS AND MY HEART AND TO USE ME! TO LAUGH AT ME! TO TOMENT ME! TO REJECT ME! AGAIN! AND AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE FOR YOU! THIS IS HOW YOU THANK ME? AFTER EVERYTHING I'D DONE FOR YOU, YOU SHOULD HAVE MADE ME QUEEN! THAT IS WHAT I DESERVED! I AM IN SO MUCH PAIN BECAUSE OF YOU WIZARD! I AM IN SO MUCH EXCRUCIATING PAIN AND AGONY AND ANGUISH! YOU DID THIS TO ME! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, WIZARD? ARE YOU HAPPY THAT YOU LEFT ME IN THIS DISGUSTING PLACE FILLED WITH DISGUSTING WINKIE VERMIN WHILE YOU WERE LOVING GLINDA! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW THAT YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE? I HATE YOU, WIZARD! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! AND NOW..." The witch raised her head sharply as her red lips curled into a frown and she clawed her hands in his direction. "I JUST WANT TO KILL YOU!"
He continued to back away from her in complete and utter fright, but his back hit a wall. He quickly glanced to his side and saw a hallway with rows of bedrooms. He then turned back to the witch and gestured with his hands as she continued to slowly approach him.
"Theodora, it's okay", he calmly said as his whole body shivered in fear. Everything is going to be okay. Just take a deep breath, alright? Just breathe…"
This was when the witch stopped walking towards him. She hunched over and placed her trembling hands over her face as her black hat dropped to the floor. She made a low growl. She was shaking. As she remained silent and hunched over in mental anguish, the witch's heart was beating so loud that she thought it would explode in her chest. Her throat was so tense that it felt like an open flame trying to aggressively claw its way up, looking to attack anyone or anything in its path. Her breathing quickened, as her body became hot and restless. She tried to fight this inner rage as hard as she could, but it was slowly overtaking all reasoning and logic.
"Run", she finally groaned as both of her hands were still clenching her face.
The Wizard took off running, but he was so scared that he was not thinking clearly. After dashing past a multitude of bedrooms and the witch's own bedroom in a frenzy, he hurled himself into a random guest bedroom, locked the door and fell to the floor near the side of the bed. He was now crouched on all fours as he waited.
As his body trembled and he quietly gasped for breath, he continued to wait. But after several minutes passed, he didn't hear anything.
This sense of relief was suddenly shattered when scratch marks were heard on the opposite side of the door. "Oh, Wizard", a sweet and quiet voice addressed him. "Come, Wizard. All is better. Come on out. Little Finley is here. Why don't you come out and play…"
Still crouched on the floor, he didn't know whether to respond or not. He was so scared that all rational thought and logic had left his brain. Several moments of frightful silence passed until he said the only thing that he could think of. "The…the…the Wizard isn't here", he cracked as he spoke in a frightful and shaky voice.
Theodora's sweet tone then disappeared as she growled. "Wizard…", she said with much frustration in her voice. "OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR", she then screamed in utmost fury.
She began to cackle madly as she violently started to bang on the door. She was hitting the door so hard and intensely with each successive bang that the hinges started to become loose.
"Oh, fuck", the Wizard exclaimed in complete and utter terror. Still on the floor, he quickly looked to his left and to his right. To his left was the bed and to his right was the closet. He then made a snap decision and decided to crawl under the bed.
The door flew off its hinges as the now green skinned witch growled softly. Her black hat on her head and her broom in hand, she slowly made her way into the room, which now appeared vacant.
As the Wizard heard the clacking of the witch's high heeled boots impact the hard floor and approach his side of the bed, he anxiously held his breath. This sound, a repeated k'duh, k'duh, k'duh, only added to his dread. Finally, he saw the witch's black boots stop where his own body had crouched just moments before.
The green skinned witch turned and examined the closet door. "Oh Wizard…", she said sweetly as her black lips spread into a small and guileful smile. "Come out, come out wherever you are…" She then slowly placed her hand on the doorknob of the closet as her voice grew increasingly edgy. "I just want to play!" She quickly opened the closet door, but it was empty. Her lips curled into a sour expression as she growled. She then closed the door. His eyes wide, he then saw her boots start to walk towards the bedroom entrance again.
He inhaled through his mouth as he sighed silently and with much relief. Once the witch left the room and several moments had passed, the Wizard would dart out of the bedroom and make a run for it.
"BOO", the witch screamed unexpectedly as her green hand grabbed the Wizard from under the bed. Startled that she had discovered him, he screamed as the witch dragged him forcefully out of the bedroom. "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DON'T DO AS I SAY AND DEFY ME!" As she was pulling him with much bitterness and rancor in her shrill voice, she grabbed the lapel of his suit jacket. The Wizard didn't even hear what she was saying as he remained terrified. "Get the fuck off of me", he screamed and pleaded as he tried to push the witch off him repeatedly, but to no avail. His heart was again beating a mile a minute as he became breathless from sheer terror and fright.
The witch then hurled him across the hallway like a ragdoll. She slowly approached him as the Wizard once again landed on the velvet carpet with a thud. He began to slowly crawl backwards as he tried to escape from her in vain. With her heightened facial expressions, her bulging eyes, her green skin, her now black dress and black hat, she truly appeared to be demonic.
As her upper lip curled in disgust, her voice was booming. "Is this what you wanted, Wizard?" Is this what you wanted to happen?"
As she eyed him like a predator who was about to pounce on its prey, the Wizard's lips quivered. "Theodora…please…I…" But suddenly, his lips froze. In fact, his whole body locked. He couldn't move.
"SHUT UP", the witch screamed at him again. "I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE YOU DO THIS TO ME AGAIN! I AM GOING TO DO WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE WITH YOU FROM THE START", she screeched with all the anger and the rage that she could muster as she got closer and closer to him.
That's it, the Wizard thought to himself without a hint of hesitation in his mind. I'm fucked.
Unlike Glinda's timely intervention at the Quadling Country, no one was not going to save him this time. At first, the Wizard was scared at the realization that he was about to die, but the feeling quickly wore off and he started to accept his fate. There was nothing he could do. His life quickly flashed before his eyes. He thought about everyone he used to know, including Annie and his old assistant, Frank.
He tried to make peace with Theodora. He really, really tried. He gave everything he had. He did everything he could. And at the end, even that was not good enough. Instead, he began to make peace with himself. He had no regrets. At least he tried.
It will be over quickly, he thought. But he knew it would be hardest for the friends he'd leave behind. He could see China Girl's wailings. Finley's tears. The sadness of his supporters, if he even still had any left who venerated him.
He hoped that his death would bring some semblance of normalcy to the Emerald City. He would forgive Glinda if she ordered his death. And he'd forgive the council, too. He would even forgive Theodora, the irony being that she was about to kill her biggest supporter. Despite this, he still hoped that she would find peace within herself. He still hoped that the Goodness within her would prevail.
Still, even in death, he would never forgive Evanora. He believed that she was the one who had set him up and orchestrated these events. He believed that this was her revenge. Even in death, he would never let her win.
While his body was immobile, his eyelids were not. He closed his eyes and waited for the end to arrive.
But it never did.
Instead, the witch forcefully grabbed him by his arm and flung him into her bedroom and onto her bed. The room was dark and the only thing the Wizard saw was her yellow eyes.
"THIS IS WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE WITH YOU FROM DAY ONE!" Theodora then slammed and locked the bedroom door behind her as she left.