The Witch of the South (Part 2)
Dawn could not believe that she was going where she was going. She was lost, deep in Oz, and she was trying to find her way home (wherever that was by now). Dawn brushed her sapphire hair out of her sapphire eyes. She was traveling with Harley, a brainless Scarecrow, Gary, a heartless Tin Man, and Drew, a Cowardly Lion. Her last companion was not one she fully trusted, Primerose the Wicked Witch of the West.
Primerose couldn’t be fully trusted because she wanted to kill Dawn for “stealing” the Ruby Slippers that her sister, Alanna the Wicked Witch of the East, had owned before Dawn killed her by accident. No matter what happened though, Dawn was going to be punished for all this, probably all ending in her death. She took no comfort in that at all.
Dawn thought about the Wizard of Oz. He ended up lying to them, and was setting them up for their doom. Apparently, so did May the Good Witch of the North. Dawn got the feeling though that May was tricked. There was something about the Wizard though that struck her as familiar. He reminded her of someone she knew in the real world… Shinnoh… As Dawn thought about it, she found it was more and more fuzzy than before to remember all of that. Like it was a long time ago, or from a story book. Dawn did not enjoy that thought either.
But despite all of these bad things, Dawn found herself enjoying a lot of things in Oz. There was no pollution and everything was bright and cheerful, if you went to the right places. According to what she gathered, things in Oz were changing for the worse since Dorothy was last there. But who was this Dorothy anyway? Did she really go over the rainbow and end in Oz with her house and dog Toto? Dawn needed to find out how she really escaped in the end.
Primerose led the way through a lollipop forest, where Dawn figured, that the Lollipop Guild back in Munchkinland, got their lollipops from. “This way. It’s not that far really. I’d be there by now but you guys need a guide.”
“Thank you again for your kindness.” The Tin Man said.
“Just remember Dawn what is yet to come.” Primerose said. She seemed weary.
Soon, they came free of the forest, and there was an ice castle. It wasn’t cold though. Behind the ice castle was a line of thorny bushes and a thick forest that looked like it went on forever. “What’s beyond the forest?” the Lion asked.
“Don’t know really.” Primerose said. “Probably some dangerous monster or something. Or so people say. But really, I think that’s where old souls go when they have to wander.”
The Lion looked scared to death instantly. “Why would an old soul want to wander?”
“Because they have unfinished business. Did you hear the wind last night? I swear, I heard carried on that wind, Alanna talking.”
Oh great. Dawn thought to herself. Hearing Alanna was the last thing she wanted to know about. Alanna was probably wanting Dawn dead.
“She said something about ‘slippers’.” Primerose said. “So I guess she’s peeved about the ruby slippers.”
Oh boy. Even more great! Dawn thought.
The Lion shivered even more and this time it was more obvious than before. “So she wants to kill Dawn?!”
“I’ll have to listen to the wind more to find out what she really wants.” Primerose said, looking like she had just been run over by a car. “And even then, she will only come when she wants to. Just because I’m a witch doesn’t mean that I’m an all powerful god.”
“Can you tell us more about Dorothy?” Dawn asked.
“Dorothy? Not really. She came here many years ago, and became a Princess of Oz. She vanished one day, and never came back. That was of course, way before I was born.”
“There were Princesses of Oz?” the Scarecrow asked.
“Or so the story goes. Dorothy was the first Princess of Oz, and they say that her descendants come only when Oz needs it, and that they are to be crowned Princesses of Oz.” Primerose closed her amber eyes for a few moments. “Oz surely needs a Princess now. I may be wicked, but not enough to not see the damage going on around me. Some great, outside force is causing this.”
Dawn wasn’t sure what could possibly be destroying Oz. In fact, she really didn’t see anything wrong with Oz to begin with. Perhaps because she wasn’t use to Oz just yet? Dawn then got the courage and asked: “What exactly is the damage being done? I don’t see the damage.”
Primerose glared. “Oh you don’t do you? Maybe if you stopped focusing on going home and looked around you carefully, you’d see everything going wrong!” Primerose stopped walking. She looked upset. “I’m sorry Dawn. I shouldn’t snap at you. You’re still getting use to things in Oz.”
“Dawn,” the Tin Man said, “the damage is more than what you see around you. People are saying that the Wizard has gone corrupt and that his damage is spreading around, even to May the Good Witch of the North. The Good Witches usually stay loyal to the Wizard of the era. But it seems, or so people say, that the Wizard has become close and dependent on the Witch of the South, who is neither Good nor Wicked. That alone can disrupt a balance that has been in Oz since before Dorothy. That was said to be a very long time ago.”
“The Forest clearly isn’t safe.” The Lion said. “Do you know how I lost my nerve? The Lions were all fighting me at once, which never happened before to see who would be King of the Forest. I lost and with that first loss, I lost my nerve.”
“Everyone is starting to mistrust each other, and the Wizard especially. The Munchkins look up to the Wizard still, but everyone else fears him.” The Scarecrow said.
Dawn sighed. That was a lot to take in. And based on this, the damage was great. Before Dawn could ask another question, Primerose pointed to an opening in the ice castle, which was a moat. The moat lowered itself. They went in.
It was very dark, and hard to see what was around. The rooms were all very large, and each was full of stuff. Primerose knew where she was going. “What did you give up your Pink Sapphire Rose Wand for?” the Scarecrow asked.
Oh right, the one thing the Wizard wanted. Dawn remembered. That and Primerose’s broomstick.
“To gain access to the Hall of Oz. May the Good Witch of the North use to be in charge of it, but once this Wizard got to power, the Witch of the South who is neither Good nor Wicked, moved it here. He favors her a lot. I owe her a lot of favors. The Hall of Oz is the place where you can see the various leaders, Wizards, Witches and Princesses of Oz. It’s good for motivation. So I gave her my wand. It’s not my only wand though. I have the Pink Topaz Rose Wand too.”
“You collect stones?” the Lion asked.
“It’s not easy to find these kinds of stones in Oz.” Primerose explained. “They were incredibly hard. That’s why the Witch of the South covets these so much. But she has my Pink Sapphire. I intend to keep my Pink Topaz. It was another story to form these stones into rose shaped wands.”
Soon they found themselves in a room with a huge ice sculpture in front of them. It looked similar to a Lapras. “Wow,” Dawn breathed. “It’s so pretty. It’s shaped like a dragon.” She went to touch it but the Lion stopped her.
“Dawn!!! Are you crazy? That is a real ice dragon!” he said. “He only awakens when something warm touches him.”
Dawn looked at the frozen dragon-Lapras. She could have sworn one sleepy eye opened and looked at her expectantly, but when she looked at it again, its eye was closed as if it never opened it at all.
“The Witch keeps him here because the Wizard gave him to her. It is unclear how the Wizard got it here anyway, but perhaps the dragon is worth an unlimited amount of favors.” Primerose said. “It’s strange. I try to keep myself away from politics, yet I know so much of it.”
Soon they arrived in another room, full of bones. Needless to say, the Lion was very reluctant to step foot in it but he eventually gave in. No one said anything as they went through this room. The next room was a room of fire. Both the Tin Man and the Scarecrow were scared, but they crossed without complaint.
“Is this the only way to get to her room?” Dawn asked.
“Honestly, this house is a maze and this is the way I know best.” Primerose said.
The next room had another sleeping dragon, this one resembled a Salamance. “I believe Alanna gave that one to her so she had unlimited passage to the thorns.” Primerose whispered. The dragon stirred a little, then went still again.
The room after that was like a chessboard. That was simple enough to cross. The next one was a room like a Pac-Man machine. The sure had a hard time getting through that one. Thankfully the ghosts were asleep in their box. And after that, they came to baseball field, then a basketball court, then they came to an archery field, where they had to dodge machines spitting arrows at the targets. No one really said anything, as these were really straight forward things to avoid and walk across. Then came a growl.
“What was that?” the Tin Man asked holding his ax up.
“I’m not sure. That is new. Perhaps someone gave her a Wicked Witch’s Wolf, formerly owned by Alanna.” Primerose said.
“Will it listen to you?” the Scarecrow asked.
“No. A Wicked Witch’s Wolf will only listen to its owner. And since Alanna was the only owner of a Wicked Witch’s Wolf, they take orders from no one really. Unless the Witch of the South who is neither Wicked nor Good forced it to obey.”
“How do you stop it?” Dawn asked. The Lion by this point had begun to shake out of nervousness.
“Stop it? Only the owner can stop it. That is, if it’s order to kill us.” Primerose said.
But they never came to a wolf. The next room was the final chamber.
There was a throne, made of ice. The room was full to the brim with various expensive luxury items. On the throne was a woman who wore a jeweled crown that was far too small for her head. She wore a small kimono made of pure silk, and held a staff made of gold and other stones. Her smile was mocking. On a small ice table was a small deep pink crystallized rose. Dawn figured that it was the Pink Sapphire Rose Wand. Obviously the Witch coveted it.
“Ooh hello my pets!” she spoke. Her long red hair was held back by a ponytail and her green eyes were very enchanting. “Rose.” She said. “Who are these? New toys to add to my collection?”
“No, we need to ask you a few favors.” Primerose said sourly.
“Ah. Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Jessie, the Witch of the South who is neither Good nor Wicked. Or so they bother. I insist that they just call me Jessie. Now, I can do anything you want, as long as you pay me with something interesting. If I can do it of course.”
Dawn, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion looked at each other. They didn’t have anything to offer. The Scarecrow then had a flash of inspiration on his face. “We can offer our services, Jessie, you wonderful Witchiness!”
Jessie raised an eyebrow. “Why would I want your services? That’s no luxury!”
“No, but we can sort out your mess here in this room. Organize and redecorate everything.” The Tin Man added.
Dawn and the Lion looked at each other. They didn’t trust Jessie very much.
“Your offer is very tempting, as this room is a bit messy. But no, I have a better idea of what I want.”
“Which is?” Dawn asked.
“Release the wolf!” A giant black wolf with yellow eyes appeared. It looked like a Mightyena. “You see, the Wizard deemed this a perfect pet for me, and it will do whatever I say. It did belong to the late Alanna, but now it obeys me perfectly. He gave me this pet as long as I did one thing.”
Primerose glared. She looked purely evil again. “Which is?”
“To spare you, Rosey-Posey and kill them! The Wizard could care less about you, but he thinks that killing you will look bad. He cannot afford to appear as a murderer, after all. The Wizard is a genius.” Jessie said. “I’m sorry for you little ones though. It’s nothing personal from me, but I do anything for the right price.” She turned back to the wolf. “Don’t touch the Witch, just the others.” The wolf growled and howled and began to lunge.
Primerose took out her Pink Topaz Rose Wand and began to use different spells to cast on the wolf, but nothing slowed it down. The Wicked Witch’s Wolf somehow gained protection from magic. The Tin Man swung his axe. At first, that seemed to work. The wolf backed off for a moment. But then the wolf got smart and tossed the axe away from the Tin Man, leaving him defenseless. The Lion closed his eyes then let out a huge roar. It was the loudest noise that ever came out of the Lion’s mouth, in all of his time with Dawn. Everyone, stared at him. Even Jessie, who now had an excited look on her face.
“Wait, wolfy!” she called. “You, Lion! You gave the roar of an alpha Lion. Are you the former King of the Forest of the Hidden Magic?”
“Y-y-yes!” he said. “And I had to abdicate because I was attacked by a whole bunch of lions at once.”
“Yeah, I'm aware of why you had to leave. After all, the Wizard is against animals who look and act like humans, such as yourself. It's part of his politics. He did something, even I don't know what, to enrage the Lions to kill each other. You are the only survivor left who the Wizard didn't imprison. He knew better then to wipe everything out. He is after all, a pure genius."
The Lion shook. Dawn gasped. "Drew?" it was rude, but Dawn thought it would get his attention. He kept shaking.
"The Wizard is behind this?" the Lion roared louder than ever.
Suddenly, a blue light glowed from the center of the room. And then a pink light. The familiar bubble floated around Dawn. "It's May!" Dawn cried.
"And the blue is Alanna's spirit! Judgment time has come!" Primerose crowed. "Alanna! Tell me what I must do before May saves Dawn!" For a moment there was silence, and then Primerose seemed to calm down. "She wants me to forgive you, for an outside force is behind all of this, just as we suspected earlier on our way here. May isn't coming to save you though... She was summoned here by some strange power, according to the spirit."
Dawn didn't know how a spirit could know all of this information, but she was relieved to be pardoned for everything. "May... was summoned by a strange power? What of the Wizard? The Wicked Witch's Wolf? Won't they do anything?"
"Something beyond that is going on." Jessie whispered. "And I want no part of it!" she ran off, taking the Pink Sapphire Rose Wand with her.
May appeared from her familiar bubble. "Dawn!" she said. "You are okay after all!"
Dawn walked over to May. "May, the Good Witch of the North. Did you know about this?"
"About what?"
"The Wizard being corrupted and evil?"
May gave no answer for a long time. "I had a hunch." she said finally.
"I'm still so confused about everything, May."
"Me too Dawn. I felt a strange feel in the ether veil of Oz, and it was right above here, so I came to investigate." She noticed the Wicked Witch's Wolf for the first time. "The Wicked Witch's Wolf!" she cried.
The Wolf seemed aware that its master was gone, and the hair rose on its back. It's eyes flared in anger. It howled, giving a chill to the air. Suddenly, it began to fuse with blue spirit.
"Alanna's spirit is talking to it!" Primerose said. "Or becoming part of it."
The wolf suddenly had green eyes and a blue stripe on one large strand of fur on its head. "Well done, beloved Sister and Dawn! You have given me the strength and body to right the wrongs in Oz alone. Now, I'll let you in on a little secret. Once I'm done with that, I'm going to the afterlife. It is so wonderful, I think. I don't think there are any more Wicked Witches. I think we are all just Witches. I don't think there is pure evil anywhere in the world. I think there is just misunderstandings. And people who don't care to learn about whats the same or not in the world. And then they follow there own hearts and ambitions, and it may be wrong, but because they do that, they cannot be considered evil. Remember, we are always taught to follow our hearts. So how can they be to blame? I also think people should look at how wonderful life is as it is, not try to fancy it up to the point that you don't know it.
"Anyway, I have one more bit of business before I go on. And that would be to crown the new Princess of Oz. Dawn, come forth please."
Dawn nervously stepped forward toward the Alanna-Wolf. The Alanna-Wolf seemed friendly, and its fur was calm and it was smiling with soft eyes. Dawn brushed her sapphire hair out of her eyes. The Alanna-Wolf ran around, sniffing for something then it pointed out at the hallway that Jessie ran down. "The Hall of Oz has what I seek for the coronation."
Primerose and May ran after the Alanna-Wolf, while the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man all celebrated with Dawn.
"I just knew it!" said the Scarecrow. "I just knew that inside you could save us all!"
"We all knew!" the Tin Man said. "Oh boy! Lets go!"
Dawn hung back with the Lion. "You okay?"
The Lion nodded. "Now I am. I'm not sure what came over me."
"You showed your courage. I think I figured it out. You had your courage all along. The Scarecrow had his brain all along, and the Tin Man he always had a heart. I'm the only one who doesn't have what she needs."
The Lion smiled. "Let's go keep up. This is a huge moment. You Dawn, a Princess of Oz!"
Soon, they arrived in the Hall of Oz. Dawn was in pure awe. The walls were made of pure gold, and there were pictures of various famous people, including the princesses. There was even one of Dorothy. The Alanna-Wolf stood in front of a small table which had a tiara on it. "This is a truly momentous day. In fact, it shall go down in the histories, both oral and written. The record shall be kept here, in the Hall of Oz.
"The Hall of Oz is a truly special place. It is this way because it is full of the memories and struggles each person represented in the Hall. No one got in here because they born into the title. One becomes part of the Hall of Oz because of their trials, there beliefs, and for saving the lives of others.
"A Princess of Oz is spoken to be a descendant of Dorothy, the first Princess of Oz. Dorothy and her dog Toto did all she could for Oz. She dealt with many magical beings. There weren't many more Princesses, as you can see on this wall. But I am beyond happy to be the one crowing Dawn the new Princess.
"Dawn, may you live long, and right all wrongs and find happiness in your heart, and peace in your afterlife. I now crown you Princess of Oz." the Alanna-Wolf placed the crown on Dawn's head. Dawn smiled. "Long live the Princess!"
"Long live the Princess!" came the reply from Dawn's friends.
Suddenly, there was an earthquake. It shook the castle for a few moments, then it stopped. Then a huge dark blue light appeared and then took the form of a dragon. It looked familiar to Dawn. Then she realized it was Latios. "My name is Latios, brother of Latias. We are the Messenger Twins and the Finders, the Seekers, and the Keepers! I have found you all at long last. My sister had more trouble finding who she needed to find."
"Why are you here?" Dawn asked.
"I am here because I need to take you, Primerose, Gary, Drew, Harley and May home. get on my back now, if you please."
They all got on without another word. Dawn looked at the Alanna-Wolf and smiled. The wolf looked up and then loped off, free to right all wrongs that Dawn couldn't. Free to live a life without magic.
