(A Visit with Billina)
*July 14th, 1906*
*Cuttenclip Village*
Dorothy and the gang were ready to leave the Paper Kingdom as they would make their farewells to Miss Cuttenclip before departing back to the Emerald City.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, your friends, and your family. I hope we can see each other in the future." Miss Cuttenclip spoke to Dorothy politely while the young girl smiled back.
"Same here. The citizens of your kingdom were polite and quite happy, and I'm glad you enjoyed your company, we'll be seeing you!" Dorothy spoke to Miss Cuttenclip for the final time while Polychrome and the others waved goodbye before Omby Amby teleported them back to the city.
"Such a nice girl.." Miss Cuttenclip quietly spoke to herself before going back inside of her home.
*Emerald City*
Dorothy and the others would find themselves back in the Emerald City, bringing smiles to their faces.
"Don't get too comfortable. We're going to be departing for the Royal Academy of Oz; however, Billina wants to see you guys, and she has a surprise for Dorothy as well.." Omby Amby advised everyone, as this brought curiosity to the faces of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.
"Billina?! Now I haven't seen her in such a long time! I assumed she ran away or something, but if she's here then we might as well visit her." Uncle Henry responded with curiosity while Aunt Em nodded in agreement.
Dorothy would smile after hearing the news as she began to speak up.
"That would be wonderful, and it would be a good opportunity for the both of you to finally meet her children, isn't that great?!" Dorothy spoke to her caregivers joyfully and this surprised the adults greatly while Polychrome had a look of surprise.
"Well, I'll be! Our former hen hatched some chicks, eh? Well, what are we waiting for?! We have people expecting us!" Uncle Henry spoke out joyfully before beginning to walk ahead which made Dorothy chuckle at this before she followed him along.
The gang would walk across the beautiful city for a few minutes before eventually stumbling upon a separate small garden, located just north of the city which was the home of Billina.
"What a lovely home. I wish I could have a simple home like this instead of my usual rainbow place." Polychrome spoke in awestruck while Dorothy nodded in agreement.
"Beautiful, right? I remember visiting the place during Ozma's birthday. It was quite comfortable, but let's see if Billina is home or not." Dorothy responded before walking over toward the entrance of the home alongside the gang.
"According to Ozma, Billina should be home around this hour, but let's double-check" Omby Amby chimed into Polychrome's conversation before knocking on the door.
There were a few moments of silence before it was interrupted by Billina, who had come out from the side of the home.
"Dorothy! Long time no see! I've heard you came back, and brought Aunt Em and Uncle Henry with you." Billina greeted Dorothy with a smile while the young girl smiled back.
"Hello, Billina. It's wonderful to see you as well, and I have brought them this time, isn't that great?" Dorothy greeted Billina back while stepping to the side to allow Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to speak to the hen.
"Good Afternoon, Billina. It's wonderful to see you once more. How is Oz treating you thus far?" Uncle Henry greeted Billina politely while tipping his hat in respect while Aunt Em also spoke.
"Good Afternoon, Billina and it's wonderful to see you again as well. I'm glad Dorothy kept you safe during your first trip to Oz." Aunt Em greeted Billina as well, and this made Billina smile.
"It's great seeing the both of you as well. I'm glad Dorothy brought more visitors because I want everyone to see this, so follow me" Billina responded to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry before entering her home.
The gang would hunch down and carefully walk inside Billina's home, It was small but still lovely as it was filled with furniture, portraits, and fine china.
"Good day. How do you do?" The male hen greeted the guests politely alongside the other chicks, and there were plenty of chicks that greeted them as well.
"Awww, they're so cute! Your children have grown quite fast, and it seems you and your husband are grandparents now." Dorothy complimented Billina with a smile which made the red hen blush slightly.
"Aww shucks! Don't say that! I always get reminded just how much time passes. One day my little chicks were babies then the next, they're practically adults!" Billina responded while walking over to her eleven chicks.
"Remember when I told you that I named ten of my chicks Dorothy, right? Well, it turned out that two of them were roosters, so I changed their names to Daniel. You should have seen the look on their faces when they found out." Billina spoke to Dorothy once more and this made Dorothy chuckle at the story.
"Oh really? How interesting. Even me and Uncle Henry had a tough time telling if you were a boy or a girl, so I expected the same for your children." Dorothy responded with a chuckle while Uncle Henry nodded in agreement while he continued to observe the chicks.
"Oh, it was tough. That's why I called you Bill for the time being. It wasn't until you laid your first egg when we found out you were a girl." Uncle Henry spoke to Billina as well while chuckling at the thought of it.
"Oh yeah, I remember that day. Poor Dorothy thought I was going to die or something. The look on her face was priceless!" Billina responded while laughing to herself. Dorothy on the other hand would blush slightly while letting out a smile of embarrassment.
"Oh yeah, I was eight years old, so seeing that probably confused me initially, but I also kinda forgot since Uncle Henry told me in advance.." Dorothy responded with a chuckle.
"Don't worry, I was a young lad myself, but switching subjects, I must show you something, so please follow me.." Billina spoke to Dorothy once more before walking over to the window located just to the right of the backyard.
"And there, you can see that they have over eighty-six children and over three hundred grandchildren, isn't that great or what?" Billina spoke to everyone once more as this surprised everyone.
"E-Eighty six?! That's insane! How is that even possible?! Not even the other hens back in Kansas could produce this many children.." Dorothy spoke in shock while Polychrome on the other hand had a curious yet intrigued look on her face.
"Wow, they sure love their lovers quite much. Eighty-six children…" Polychrome uttered in surprise while Billina began to speak once more.
"Oh no, we hens don't produce children like humans, Ozians, or whoever. We simply lay eggs, and it has to be at the right moment." Billina responded while Polychrome nodded understandingly.
"E-Eighty Six children is crazy. Even Cupid himself would be shocked, but what names did you or your children give them? I bet it's all Dorothys or Daniels, correct?" Dorothy spoke to Billina once more in a curious yet surprised voice while the hen nodded in confirmation.
"They're all Dorothys and Daniels. Some of them are juniors and thirds. I honestly didn't expect to have such a big chicken family. I've even become Queen of every chicken in Oz, crazy, right?" Billina responded joyfully while Dorothy nodded in agreement.
"Wonderful, and as long as you and your family are happy then It's all good," Dorothy responded to her friend while letting out a smile.
This was watched by Omby Amby, who had been silent for most of the visit; however, he enjoyed the company nonetheless.
"Em, Henry. This should be a good time for both of you to explore the palace grounds. It's not too far from here. I'll watch over Dorothy, sounds good?" Omby Amby advised Aunt Em and Uncle Henry as both adults nodded in agreement.
"Of course, this would be a good time to get familiar with the city if we ever want to visit here again, right Em?" Uncle Henry responded in agreement before turning around to hear what his wife had to say.
"Of course, and besides. It seems Dorothy and that Polychrome girl are bonding quite well, so we shall leave them be while we explore." Aunt Em responded with a smile as this was music to Omby Amby's ears.
"Wonderful, I shall send you guys back to the palace grounds, and once Dorothy is done with her visit then we shall pick you guys up." Omby Amby responded once more before using his staff to send Aunt Em and Uncle Henry back to the palace grounds.
*Emerald Palace Grounds*
Aunt Em and Uncle Henry arrived at the palace grounds, and from there, they began exploring the beautiful garden.
"Dorothy sure has plenty of interesting friends around here. I wonder if we're going to meet that Scarecrow fellow that she's been talking about. I could perhaps have him work for us by scaring off those pesky crows back at the farm." Uncle Henry spoke to Aunt Em and this was followed by her laughter.
"Oh, I don't know if Dorothy would want that, my dear. I believe she would prefer him to do his own thing rather than be stuck on some pole." Aunt Em responded with a smile as both she and Uncle Henry continued walking.
Uncle Henry and Aunt em continued to walk until they stumbled upon something that frightened them; however, it was the Lion himself, but seeing such a beast scared the couple.
"H-Henry, a Lion! What shall we do!" Aunt Em cried out in fear while holding on to Uncle Henry.
"I-If only I had my gun! But I can conquer this beast if I look him in the eye, right?" Uncle Henry responded in a panicky voice while Lion was confused about everything.
"Excuse me, is there anything wrong? Did I frighten you, if so, I apologize dearly.." Lion spoke to the couple politely while he waited for a response from the couple.
Of course, it didn't take long for the couple to be filled with relief as they quickly put two and two together.
"H-Hold on! You must be the Lion whom Dorothy told us about, right? I'm Henry Gale. It is a pleasure to meet you. We've heard plenty of good things about you." Uncle Henry greeted Lion while Aunt Em began to speak up.
"And I'm Em. it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Aunt Em greeted Lion as well.
"I see! Henry and Em! I'm Lion and It's wonderful seeing you guys! What brings the both of you here, and where's Dorothy at?" Lion responded joyfully while he waited for an answer.
*Munchkin Country*
Munchkin Country remained as beautiful as ever since Dorothy last visited the place; however, something ominous was currently residing in Dorothy's old home which still resided in the country.
The ominous thing in question was the same creature that was released back at Nome Kingdom, and it was eating whatever old food it could grab its hands on while making eerie, and it appeared to be more developed...