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Tora sat on the bed of the room that was given to him. It was toward the end of the hall closer on the way to the chambers. Glinda found herself wondering why she had chosen that room for him, that seemed more out of the way and special location. however she shrugged this off.

Tora on the other hand looked out the window at the setting sun. the door to his room stood open for the moment as he unpacked some of his things.

"you know, you are basically the first total stranger in a while to have been admitted to the confines of the palace." The Wizard said stepping into the room

Tora chuckled and reached into his bag, pulling out a small journal, he flipped through it. mumbling some words both of them felt the energies in the room shift.

"we can speak freely now" Tora said turning to look at his old friend.

"Pastoria, from my perspective its been decades since ive seen you last." The wizard said looking at him, "and yet here you are"

"Its Tora now, Oscar." He said chuckling "I think somewhere deep down my daughter recognizes it too…she was but an infant when I last saw her, when we decided Gillikin would be the best place to hide her"

"what is this we? I have no memory of any of the plans, only that you suddenly decided you needed to hide." He said sounding rather irritated "even in death I wasn't gifted the right insight needed."

Now this took Tora by surprise, he put his things down and sat on the bed.

"you mean, you actually passed on?" Tora asked, only concern on his face and in his voice.

"I left Oz not long after the first time Dorothy arrived, returned to what family I had left, my granddaughter Aislynn." He started to recount, "we went on some travels for a few years, but eventually settled in a big house in Kansas, got her a private tutor, a friend to act as her physician as well as mine…then my health started to fail, i don't attribute anything other than being alive again to the magic of Nonestica, and the intervention of some of mother nature's children"

"And how did she come to know about Oz, your granddaughter." Tora asked genuinely interested.

"When I realized I was dying and that one of death's agents would soon come for me, I chose to put my affairs in order, by pure luck the people I had chosen for Ace and my self in our solitude happened to know of Dorothy, she seemed my best bet."

"that seems like quite the logical leap" Tora said, genuinely intrigued

"well, it worked out…me coming back however…well that was just happenstance." He said

"it works out best for me, to have more than one familiar face." Tora said nodding "that said, Ozma cant know yet, who I really am, lurline's orders."

"you saw her?" he asked extremely surprised.

"she called me back from where I was, where I had been concealed, Pastoria's old life is now but a whisper to Tora" Tora said chuckling "but she said that I needed to be put back in play"

"For what reason exactly?" The wizard asked.

"Of that I am unsure." Tora said sighing "unless 'the time of prophecy' means a lot to you"

Oscar thought about this for a moment, he had heard several over the years he had spent in Oz, and even whispers of others.

"in my mind, all time is time of prophecy" the wizard said shaking his head "but if Lurline is interfering…" and here he was cut off by tora shushing him.

"Don't say her name too loud, last thing we need is attention of further faeries on us." Tora said looking out the window "she's still hiding from them, playing her own game…I hope she'll come to speak to me again soon."

"we both know that if she doesn't want to be found, she wont be…" Oscar said sighing looking at him "but why keep Ozma in the dark?"

"I don't know, some charm from my wife, I don't want to fight her magic, if she knows a prophecy then she is stage managing to make sure it comes out right, I want to tell her, but magic holds my tongue back with her words echoing in my mind." Tora said sadly "besides, I would be obliged to take the throne back wouldn't i?"

"That's your choice my friend, as it stands your secret will be safe with me." He said "I should go and check on my granddaughter, make sure she's actually preparing to sleep."

"well, if my memory serves" Tora said jokingly "That makes you a hypocrite, so many sleepless nights were you were working on that giant head display for the throne room among other things?" he chuckled

Oscar rolled his eyes and chuckled "welcome home my friend…i really do mean that, its good to see you"

"And you my friend, we can chat more later." Tora said nodding, smiling at his old friend.

As Oscar left the room, he found himself being grasped by something momentarily. In his head he heard a voice as he found himself walking towards his granddaughter's room. The voice was sweet but feminine. He vaguely recognized it, as if hearing it from a dream.

"you too are bound now, friend, the secret must stand for now, you'll both know when the time is right."

And Oscar knew, it must be lurline's influence

Meanwhile

Even by nightfall Dorothy sat in the hospital wing on the floor, leaned up against the wolf body of alex. He had been sleeping since he had taken the calming tonic. The scepter floating idly by, She could still hear the whisper but it was quieter now. She had her head leaned against his chest, listening to his heart beat. It had slowed eventually, but he slept on.

"Dorothy?" Elena eventually asked as she brought over her tray for her

"Yes, Elena?" She said just staring at the tray

Elena looked at her, then said nothing. She simply walked out and Elphaba walked in. she looked at the couple.

"Ozma will be around shortly" Elphaba said walking over to them

She placed a hand on Alex's body and began to chant. Her hands glowing, his body glowing in return. Dorothy watched as this happened in silence. Dorothy opened the tray and found a large bowl of soup and some crackers. She felt alex's breathing shift a little.

"he'll be fine when he wakes, both bodies are just warn out, the stress…the stress really got to him, but he knows you're here, that your safe." Elphaba said calmly.

"he spends so much time worrying about us, wanting us to be safe, secure and calm, that he neglects himself a lot of the time." Dorothy said shifting her position a little, she could place the tray on her lap.

"The Calming tonic basically had the same effect poppy essence would have had on him, he'll probably sleep until early tomorrow.

Dorothy sighed and quietly at the soup in the bowl, she hadn't really been paying much attention to it. split pea, wasn't one of her favorites but it was light, and something she could feel herself stomaching. The scepter chose at this moment to transform again, taking on the body the living magic had allowed her. and sat in front of her mistress.

"you know, im never going to get used to that" Elphaba said looking at the scepter's human form.

"no one said you had to" she said in response to this

"Sce…you know it just feels weird referring to you as Scepter, or even The Scepter." Dorothy said taking a cracker from the tray and nibbling a corner. "especially with that body."

"well, you could always name me" The scepter said looking her dead in the eyes "most people would"

"yes…I suppose we should" Dorothy said agreeing, "anything you prefer?" she asked curiously

"well, I was thinking something airy, considering I tend to hover, and every time you cast a spell the wind whips through the room." The scepter said smiling.

Dorothy looked at Elphaba, who shrugged. Then to Alex who was still asleep. She wasn't sure why she looked at him. Maybe to see if the wolf form had suddenly dropped off him, but that was silly wishful thinking. She took another sip of soup before settling on something.

"I rode the winds to Oz, ive rode you along the winds, how about Windy?" she asked curiously

Windy stared at her for a moment, the looked as if considering this. Her eyes flashed. Dorothy felt alex's breathing shift again as well as some involuntary movements to happen. She flinched a little but managed to not topple the tray.

"Windy is Acceptable" She said, her voice pinging cheerfully, "just call me by that name when you need me in this body"

"Windy, that's a pretty name" Ozma said coming in being tailed by Annabella.

"Annabella, you should be getting ready for bed" Dorothy said looking at her.

Annabella said nothing at first, only opting to settle herself next to dorothy. Close enough that dorothy could hear her nervous breathing.

"She gets really anxious when alex is out of commission" Ozma said sitting in front of her.

"Seems my presence is no longer needed here, I shall retire for the night." Elphaba said dismissing herself.

Dorothy finished what she cared to from the soup, Windy sighed

"I think you should know, that he did ask to be restrained while he slept." She said, her voice letting out a low chime

"Restrained?" Dorothy asked curiously "why?"

She put the lid back on the tray and Ozma used her magic to send it back to Elena's desk.

"he was worried he might thrash around a bit in his sleep if he actually were to go into it deep enough, as you have pointed out numerous times now, he is larger than normal." Windy said calmly "as I obey both of you, and serve your best interests I had to obey and bound the spell for him."

Annabella placed her ear to alex's body, hearing his breathing and heart beat did seem to calm her down before she cuddled up to dorothy.

"he's too still" she said softly.

"I know Annabella, I don't like it either"

"he took quite a bit of the calming tonic as well, the dosage had to be adjusted for his current size, that took a good while for Elena and Glinda to work out as well." Windy said looking to Annabella now, their eyes meeting, "the wolf form would fit you as well you know, it would be a simple…"

"Not without her parents' permission." Dorothy said firmly.

"I have to side with Dorothy" Ozma said taking out her fairy wand

"relax, I wasn't saying I would, but it would be easy to do so, the imps saw something in her when they made her like her brother." Windy said flatly "I cant do anything unless you would will it, intent is important with magic."

"At any rate, if he was that worried about causing damage in his sleep, he could have easily had you transport him back to gale hall" Dorothy said firmly

"Or the western castle." Windy said nodding

"yes, or the western castle" Dorothy said in response

"Or Colwen Grounds." Windy said listing off.

This caused Dorothy to pause and look to both Ozma and Annabella for a moment. They both shrugged as Annabella let out a long yawn.

"Windy, I hate to think im missing the obvious but where's Colwen grounds, then we can deal with the What." Dorothy said looking at her quizzically

"you would know Colwen grounds better as the eastern mansion, its an estate, it has a name, like Gale hall." Windy said as her body started to creak again.

"seems the magic is fading" Dorothy said sighing, looking down at Annabella who was now started to doze curled up between her brother and her.

Dorothy looked to Windy her intentions, she nodded and cast a small spell. Annabella's eyes fluttered closed as Windy returned to the form of the scepter. Dorothy shifted her position a bit so she could scoop Annabella up and set her properly on one of the beds. She was sure Mr. and Mrs. teak would eventually come looking for her.

She then sat herself next to ozma, who kissed her on the cheek before resting her head on dorothy's shoulder.

Dorothy sighed. She became mildly aware of the whispering again, as well as a ticking noise. She then became aware of Maddie's presence in the room. And she and Ozma slipped off the sleep.