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bestworstcase · 1 year

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& since i’m on the subject of allusions tonight:

let’s talk about rwby’s actual oz allusions

so, generally speaking, the fandom—understandably perplexed by how tangential or even superficial rwby’s reference to the wizard of oz appears to be—takes the oz allusions in one of two ways: either, 1. the core ozian characters are deconstructions of the correlating oz character [the scarecrow drinks, the tin man throws his heart away, etc.] or 2. the oz allusions are a deliberate red herring intended to misdirect attention from the deeper or truer allusion to whatever, whence the g.u.n. theory or the bastardized norse myth madlibbing and so forth; or on occasion both at once.

the first camp has a lot of interesting things to say that i would probably find persuasive were it not for the fact that they also keep wrestling unsatisfyingly with the persistent questions of:

1. who is dorothy?

2. what about raven and summer and tai? (oh my)

3. how do the ozma/wizard/tip and ozma/ozpin/oscar trifectas fit together?

and the answers to all of these questions are in fact pretty straightforward...

...the trick is just that rwby isn’t alluding to the wizard of oz.

for the uninitiated there are a lot of oz books. there are-- there are so many oz books. fortunately for my sanity however rwby appears to be focusing primarily on one, the marvelous land of oz, which occurs not too very long after the wizard’s departure from oz at the end of the wonderful wizard of oz.

now, i will say up front that you are going to look at this list and immediately go “wait. what?” but just... trust me, ok? here we go.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? god of light → mombi* ozma → ozma/tippetarius ozpin → the wizard oscar → jack pumpkinhead glynda → good witch of the ✨north✨ [NOT GLINDA] theodore → dorothy gale lionheart → the soldier with the green whiskers ironwood → nick chopper [the tin woodman] qrow → the scarecrow raven → the woggle-bug taiyang → the cowardly lion [provisionally**] maria → the sawhorse summer rose → general jinjur and, last but not least, salem → glinda the good [TRUST. ME.]

*the god of darkness is sir not appearing in this book, but if rwby does what i think it will re: theodore, i’d place my bets on the nome king.

**taiyang is an unknown quantity in that i don’t think his primary role in the narrative has revealed itself yet; he might alternatively turn out to be the gump or the queen of the field mice. my money is on the lion, though, because the lion is also sir not appearing in this book but, like dorothy, appears in the next as a member of ozma’s retinue.

MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ ANY% NO GLITCH—

long story short, in the before times the land of oz was ruled by a king named pastoria who took up with the fairy-queen lurline and had a baby, ozma, rightful heir to the ozian throne; shortly thereafter, oscar diggs crash landed in oz, deposed pastoria, disappeared the infant princess by giving her to mombi, sorceress of the north, and became ✨the wizard✨. ...some... amount of time later, dorothy crash lands in oz, yellow brick road, silver slippers, smashes one witch and melts another, yada yada, the wizard sails off back to omaha in his hot air balloon, CUE MARVELOUS LAND; the starting positions are thus:

the scarecrow sits on the throne of oz in the emerald city, having been appointed to rule in the wizard’s stead on account of being Very Wise.

winkie country, liberated from the tyranny of the wicked witch of the west, is now the domain of the tin woodman.

dorothy is back in kansas where everything is grey and sandy and horrible.

the lion is...somewhere, presumably doing king-of-the-forest things.

glinda the good is occupied with research [trying to find out what the wizard did with ozma] in her home in quadling country, to the south.

QUOTE, the winged monkeys are now the slaves of glinda the good, who owns the golden cap that commands their services, END QUOTE.

mombi transformed the infant ozma into a boy named tippetarius because, why not, and raised him as her ward on a farm in gillikin country, to the north.

tip is a teenager and he does teenager things like making a life-sized puppet with a jack-o-lantern head to scare mombi with, as one does, and mombi has about had enough of this so she brews up a potion to turn him into a marble statue, as one does, and tip who does not especially want to be turned into a marble statue instead steals a pepper-box full of magic powder that makes things come to life, and runs away with his newly animate bestie/son jack pumpkinhead, AS ONE DOES. subsequently uses the magic powder to make a wooden sawhorse come to life so they don’t have to hoof it all the way to the emerald city.

the sawhorse is born with a limp and the personality of an octogenarian with no fucks left to give and also he periodically goes deaf on account of his ears breaking off, so when i say maria calavera is the sawhorse—

ANYWAY, minor hijinks ensue. jack blithely accepts everything his dear father says without question because his head is a pumpkin and he has been sapient for approximately eight hours, the terrible trio splits up for a bit on account of tippetarius falling off the sawhorse who likes to go real fast, consequently while jack and the sawhorse make it to the emerald city and meet the scarecrow, tip falls behind and crosses paths with general jinjur and her army of revolt.

jinjur is sick of the way things are and the powers that be and is therefore en route, armed with a pair of very glittery very pointy knitting needles and a lot of other girls outfitted in the same, to conquer the emerald city. tip is not about this revolution thing but tags along because he wanted to appeal to the scarecrow for help with the marble statue nonsense anyway; upon arrival jinjur and her army conquer the emerald city in approximately 0.2 seconds on account of the entire royal army being composed of one (1) man, the soldier with the green whiskers who guards the gates but squeals and books it at the first hint of a brandished needle.

tip races to the palace well ahead of the girls, who are busily sacking the city, to warn the scarecrow of the situation and reconvene with the rest of terrible trio, whereafter they and the scarecrow leave the cowardly soldier to his fate and gallop like the dickens to escape the city, heading west to regroup with the tin woodman. jack is now wracked by existential dread on account of the scarecrow having told him that pumpkins rot, meaning he spends the rest of the book worrying about his imminent decay and rapidly dwindling lifespan, this is fine dot jpg.

one unfortunate incident with a river and some drying-out and a nap later, they reach winkie country and rendezvous with *ahem* the magnificent! nickel-plated tin woodman, celebrated! emperor [it wounds his pride to be called only a king] of the winkies, nick chopper. who sweeps the scarecrow up in a hug because of how delighted! he is to see him again, tells jack not to be such a downer about the my-head-is-slowly-inevitably-rotting thing, and whose immediate response upon learning that the emerald city has been conquered is to declare, quote, we do not need an army; we four, with the aid of my gleaming axe, are enough to strike terror into the hearts of the rebels, end quote, also everybody gets tidied up and repaired and the scarecrow’s strutting by the time they disembark again.

somewhat less minor hijinks ensue on account of mombi not being pleased about tip skipping town and attempting to waylay them by means of dazzling, blinding illusions and, when that fails, dramatically altering landscape in hopes of getting them lost. the sawhorse breaks his leg and the group encounters the woggle-bug, who is very large and very keen to impress upon them that he is, having snuck into a schoolroom long ago and listened in on classes for months, thoroughly educated; eventually he was caught by the professor, transformed via magnifying glass into his present size, and subsequently ran away to do woggle-bug things. on his suggestion they fix the sawhorse’s leg by amputating jack’s, because jack is riding anyway owing to his poorly-fitted knees, and using that as a prosthetic for the sawhorse [LAUGHS NERVOUSLY]. from there the woggle-bug swiftly proceeds to earn the whole group’s ire by making an offensive number of puns at their expense. they navigate through four more illusory obstacles [a raging river; a granite cliff; a writhing maze of dancing roads; a wall of fire] with the aid of the queen of the field mice.

on making it to the emerald city they are promptly captured by jinjur, who plans to dismantle everyone except tippetarius on the grounds of their not being human, but is interrupted by the timely arrival of some mice who frighten her out of the room long enough for the gang to escape by constructing a... thing, called the gump, out of a pair of sofas and a stuffed elk-like creature’s head and various other bits and bobs and animated with the final pinch of magic powder. it flies them out of the emerald city and overshoots quadling country by a wide enough margin to crash them into a nest of nasty jackdaws somewhere not in oz, a misadventure which mainly serves to facilitate the discovery of a secret compartment within the now-emptied pepper-box and, inside that, three silver pills that grant a wish when swallowed.

tip tries one to wish the gump repaired, which doesn’t work because it pains him so badly that he instead wishes he’d never taken it; the woggle-bug does the same and succeeds, they fly back home, the pills are lost, and they reach quadling country at last.

the squad attempts to fill glinda in. she already knows everything.

she fills them in on what she’s been up to, presents evidence mombi aided the wizard in his scheme to disappear ozma, and marches with them to reclaim the emerald city, intending to capture mombi and force her to reveal the truth. further illusion-based hijinks ensue of which the most potentially interesting as it pertains to rwby is that mombi transforms herself into a red rose in an effort to escape detection.

glinda sees through the ruse. mombi transforms herself into a griffin and flees, pursued relentlessly by glinda until she collapses from exhaustion in the desert waste beyond the border of oz—whereupon glinda lassos her with a golden thread that stifles her magic, drags her bodily back to the emerald city, and demands that she tell the truth or else die by glinda’s hand. mombi tries to lie, glinda is furious and having none of it, and mombi begrudgingly reveals tip’s true identity, whereupon glinda forces her to undo the curse and then strips her of her magical power forever; tip is restored to her true self, jinjur is swiftly deposed, and peace restored, hooray!, the end.

QUESTIONS!

WHY ARE YOU SO SURE SUMMER IS JINJUR? frankly a decent case could be made for interpreting cinder as the allusion to jinjur instead: jinjur is a wrathful but cunning scullery maid raging against the powers that be, and after all it is cinder who sacks beacon academy—i.e., the emerald city stand-in.

but here’s the thing: after routing the royal army, jinjur installs herself as the queen of oz and rules without interruption for most of the story. she is not ousted from this position until the final chapter. cinder is grievously injured before the battle is even properly ended, returns immediately to salem’s side, and has been a thorn in her side and also the sides of the heroes ever since—meanwhile, all this time, salem has had an unknown lieutenant stationed at beacon, searching for the crown. somebody has been holding that throne, as it were, and we have a certain silver-eyed warrior still unaccounted for.

further, jinjur’s army of revolt makes quite a conspicuous show of being united from every province, and she herself wears the colors of all four; in the event summer turns out to be working for salem of her own accord, which i think likely, her presumable reason is something along the lines of having burnt out and shattered under the pressure of being the ideal huntress, the lone guardian, the blessed warrior—precisely in the same way that we have seen ruby begin to crack under the same—and this, i think, dovetails tidily with the imagery of jinjur’s revolt. a turncoat summer rose who still holds to ozpin’s ideal of strength and peace through unity, who is perhaps reinforcing salem’s numbers at beacon by recruiting the people of vale, is what ozpin asked her to become, turned against him for how she suffered in becoming.

also, look at this flower. common name, malay rose:

it’s not a true rose; it’s etlingera venusta, and it belongs to the ginger family.

sidebar, i don’t think cinder has an ozian allusion except insofar as i suppose she performs the functional role of glinda’s army through her relation to salem. she’s, well, cinderella, and in being cinderella also a symbolic repetition of salem through her rapunzel aspect—cinder echoes the desperately furious girl in the tower, the fairytale heroine trapped by forces beyond her control, not the formidable sorceress who would lay waste to the gods.

BUT SALEM AS GLINDA, THOUGH? REALLY?

while it is clear that rwby’s primary reference is to marvelous land, there are a handful of overt nods to the film adaptation of wizard of oz specifically, in theodore’s ruby gloves and the black-and-white photo of the girl in gingham with the little black dog. naming the good witch of the north glynda as a nod to the film (and pop culture generally) conflating the two is hardly out of the question, and a tidy bit of narrative sleight-of-hand besides.

and, listen. it’s not just enslaving the flying monkeys and it isn’t just serenely running mombi into the ground and forcing her to reveal the truth and undo the harm she did to ozma; it’s also not just that glinda the good plays a critical narrative role following the wizard’s departure and the good witch of the north does not. it’s also that of the pair glinda is the more powerful and more formidable by an order of magnitude, and indeed glinda is said to be ageless, ancient, and perhaps the most powerful sorceress in the land of oz; it’s also that the ozian color-coding checks out in both directions (in glinda’s quadling country, everything is red; and gillikin country is purple); it’s also that glynda goodwitch was faultlessly loyal to a secretive cabal and believed in ozpin, as the good witch of the north believed in the wizard, whereas salem, like glinda the good, knows ozpin for a fraud, despises emerald for her deceptive semblance, and has a keen intuition and a short temper for being lied to.

the only respect in which salem and glinda do not, within the context of rwby’s ozian narrative, almost perfectly align is that salem is an antagonist and glinda is not—but here let me remind you that rwby’s mombi is the god of light, with her deceptive shape-changing and illusions reimagined as defter subterfuge and symbolically intertwined with the blinding of rapunzel’s prince. the god of light poisoned ozma’s ear against salem so well that he persuaded ozma to drink the potion and become the wizard of his own volition, cursed and blind to the true nature of the gods, his mandate, and his lost love.

but tippetarius learns the truth and finds ozma again; rapunzel’s tears heal the ruined eyes of her prince.

where do you think rwby is going with this?

AND LEO LIONHEART, THE LION FAUNUS, ISN’T THE COWARDLY LION?!

he’s the easily-cowed and fully-bearded guardian of the closest thing rwby’s scarecrow has to an emerald city to administer on the wizard’s behalf, and he is in this capacity an army of one because he’s sent every other warrior in the faculty away and sold half the huntsmen in mistral out to salem. salem sends her needling bastard of a henchperson to menace him and lionheart folds like wet cardboard, handing over the keys to the vault without a whisper of resistance. and once the battle for haven is ended, the former allies he stabbed in the back shrug and leave him to his fate at salem’s hands.

leonine faunus or not, the role lionheart plays is precisely that of the soldier with the green whiskers, the solitary and pathetically inept guardian who betrays the scarecrow and his allies out of panicked cowardice.

meanwhile the cowardly lion does not appear in marvelous land at all, but he does figure in ozma of oz—the third book—wherein he professes himself a coward still but acts no less bravely than he ever did, now a loyal member of ozma’s retinue and accompanied by his new friend, the hungry tiger. taiyang, who has either been doing big important secret cult things or else trying to psych himself up to leave his empty nest depression cabin ever since beacon fell and ozpin died, is a much likelier candidate for being the cowardly lion’s true analogue by far.

IS RAVEN JUST THE WOGGLE-BUG BECAUSE SHE’S KNOWLEDGE?

that’s part of it but not the entirety; note that the woggle-bug is not merely intelligent but gleaned all of his knowledge by spying, for no other reason than burning curiosity; note the professor who caught him and irrevocably changed him, for better or for worse, and his hasty escape for fear of being exploited thereafter; note that he is pompous and anxious and performs intelligence far more than he shows it, and note that his often-callous and sometimes-snide commentary is met with such sharp hostility by the others that at one point nick chopper implies a threat to murder him if he makes another pun at a companion’s expense.

and note, finally, that the woggle-bug does not properly enter the narrative until after the protagonists leave winkie country, the province for which atlas is very obviously an analogue. raven played a major role in volume five, of course, one which thoroughly alienated her from the rest of the ozian characters on both sides of the conflict... but then she vanished into the ether without a shred of resolution for anything but the question of whether the relic of knowledge would be retrieved and by whom, and if that isn’t a mere prelude in her character arc i’ll eat somebody’s hat.

and as for what her future role in the story might entail. well. three silver pills that grant you wishes—and one that poisons tip when he tries, the same one the woggle-bug uses to mend their way home. three silver-eyed warriors ostensibly blessed by the god of light—and one a turncoat poisoned by the unbearable weight of ozpin’s ideals.

we still don’t know what raven knows, or who she learnt it from.

IF THE SILVER WISH PILLS ARE SILVER-EYED WARRIORS THEN, MARIA?

to activate the pills you need to swallow them and then count up to seventeen by two. the sawhorse is the one who solves the riddle, which is to start with half one, double it, and then count up by two from one to seventeen.

...WHAT WAS THAT YOU SAID ABOUT FOUR ILLUSIONS AND A MOUSE?

the ever after may be bleeding wonderland out of every frame—and oh boy is it!—but, look, what is rwby if not a gleeful mishmash of inspirations and in the trailer and preview clip alone we’ve got a helpful mouse and three of the four [twisting, impossible paths? check. impassible cliff? check. walls of fire? check, twice over]. as obstacles go a torrential river crossing is not exactly out of left field in any setting—and then there’s the girl on the beach who’s wearing ozma’s original colors.

to say nothing of how well those four obstacles align so very nicely, symbolically, with ruby (paths), weiss (flood), blake (cliff), and yang (fire).

it’s a little eyebrow-raising if nothing else. something to watch.

#slams this down.#read the marvelous land of oz.

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things-i-would-do-if-i-were-rich · 1 year

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3. I’d make a Wizard of Oz film series long enough and with so much lore it could rival lord of the rings

Lord of the Rings gets so many films and high budgets when Wizard of Oz gets one famous 1939 film while the sequel books (13 sequels in original run) rarely (if ever) get noticed

The books world is rich in history, lore, and maps (if you want to know more I’ll TELL YOU MORE) and it never gets noticed! Imagine a world where the land doesn’t HAVE to have green grass and trees. Sometimes it’s blue! In the countries of the Gillikin it’s purple. People made of gears walk alongside men with pumpkin heads! A Lion can live peacefully in a city across the street from Santa Claus. This world deserves some sort of cinematic masterpiece with a good plot.

It’s worth mentioning that the wicked film my put some respect back in the name of Oz, but still

If someone draws a cinematic scene from a Wizard of Oz book I will pay you... a reblog (I can’t pay)

#wizard of oz #wicked #lord of the rings #rich #please draw this

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mackerelphones · 1 year

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The Marvelous Land of Oz, the Strange (Transgender?) Sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Over on my website, I made a post about the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. What follows is the beginning of it, as a kind of preview.

While it was not the first, the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz has proven the most enduring and popular adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s original novel. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published thirty-nine years prior to the release of that film. To be frank (pun intended), I find the movie boring. I assume it is popular because it was a special effects extravaganza for 1939. Baum’s novel, in contrast, is an inspiration to me for its incorporation of lush and extensive artwork by W. W. Denslow with the text. My copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz sits proudly on my shelves of classic literature.

I am not writing about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz today, however. It only recently occurred to me that I should read a few of the other books in the series. Baum himself wrote at least fifteen Oz books in total. He seems to have been hesitant to pursue the endeavor. But money is a powerful motivator. When the second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, proved another hit, Baum, like a certain man named Arthur Conan Doyle who continued his Sherlock Holmes stories despite being averse to doing so, committed to writing more bizarre modern fairy tales set in this magical world.

My copy of The Marvelous Land of Oz is the William Morrow & Company 1985 reprinting of the 1904 original, a high-quality hardcover book that faithfully reproduces the large text and the illustrations that flavor almost every other page. The color drawings feature their own glossy pages, which disrupts the aesthetic of the book as a physical object but ensures the highest possible quality for the drawings themselves. Most of the illustrations are line drawings without color.

The later Oz books brought back Dorothy by popular demand (according to Baum). However, The Marvelous Land of Oz keeps the action in the titular magical region, or “fairy country” as Dorothy calls it in the sequel, no isekai involved. The protagonist is a young boy named Tip who lives in the country of the Gillikin people with a mean old sorceress—not a witch, for bureaucratic reasons—named Mombi. The story begins with Mombi out buying a life-bestowing powder from a shady wizard. A series of events leads to Tip running away from home with a terrifying but friendly living mannequin named Jack Pumpkinhead and a similarly living Saw-Horse that can gallop at rapid speeds. Tip and his friends become entangled with political intrigue after General Jinjur and the Army of Revolt overthrow the Scarecrow and seize the Emerald City, later bringing Mombi aboard as a royal advisor. Along the way, like Dorothy, Tip becomes a member of a bizarre group of travelers. The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman (real name Nick Chopper) are well known from Dorothy’s adventures, both in the universe of the fiction and in the world you and I inhabit. But the aforementioned Pumpkinhead, the pun-slinging Woggle-Bug, and the wobbly but indefatigable Saw-Horse also join Tip on his journey. The Pumpkinhead’s presence is also my justification for posting this on Halloween. (I posted this on Halloween.)

Again, please read the rest over at my website.

#wizard of oz #marvelous land of oz #mackerelphones #oz #ozma

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witchesoz · 1 year

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What we know of Oz: Book 2, Gillikins and Mombi

The second Oz book is “The Marvelous Land of Oz” (of its full title “The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman”), published in 1904. # The first thing this book makes us learn about Oz is the famous Northern Country! Remember, in the first book the land of the North was left unnamed. In this book we discover that it is the “Country of the Gillikins”, with for titular color purple. Now, at first we think it is just like in the first book, the color only applying to people’s clothes and houses and such. But here, Baum went a step ahead… Indeed, Tip mentions that in the Gillikin Country “everything” is purple: the grass is purple, the trees are purple, the houses and fences, even the mud is purple! This “everything” mention still seems like an exaggeration though, because the narration still mention the “green” of the corn stalks, and the “golden red” of the pumpkins. This is probably a retcon because Tip also claims that everything is blue in the Munchkin Country, yellow in the Winkie Country, and so on and so on, yet we know from the first book that it isn’t true. The description of Tip and Mombi’s farm also give us some indication about the Gillikin Country – it is located near a forest on one side and a valley on another (“below” the farm). It has several corn fields and pumpkin fields, and the animals raised there are several brown pigs and one four-horned cow, said to be the “pride” of Mombi. From the farm, one can see hills to the east. Interestingly, Mombi’s farm is said to be “dome-shaped”, “round” and the narration clearly states that all of the farms of Oz are shaped this way (in fact, later it will help the characters differentiate the farms from Oz and the ones from the “Outside World”). # One of the two big characters introduced here is Mombi, or “Old Mombi” as the book likes to call her. Keep in mind that Mombi wasn’t identified yet as the former Wicked Witch of the North, this was an idea that came later in the series. In this story, Mombi wishes to be a Witch, but we learn that the Good Witch of the North forbid any other Witch to exist in her “dominions” (quite a specific term to choose), so Mombi, while “aspiring to work magic”, can’t be a Witch due to it being unlawful, and has to be “a Sorceress, or at most a Wizardess”. This description is quite interesting because it gives us a new look at the world of magic in Oz. According to this book, Witch is merely a title and seems to correspond to the high magic practitioners, or the magic practitioners of high level, with under it the title of “Wizardess” and at the bottom the one of “Sorceress”. Which is quite weird given that Glinda, specified to be above Mombi in terms of magic, is still said to be a Sorceress while Mombi is said to be a Witch… If we are pragmatic, we know very well that Baum was merely inconsistent in his confused world-building, but it can still leave us with many theories. Mombi is introduced as the guardian of Tip, full name Tippetarius. Physically, she is described as an old woman that hobbles and need a cane or a stick to walk. Usually wearing an apron and knit stockings (with a cloak for her travels), she is described as having “stern and wrinkled features”, “long bony fingers”, a “crooked form”, “evil features”. To the point that the Tin Man calls her “ugly”, and both Jinjur and the narration refer to her as an “old hag”. We know that she has a bad reputation due to people suspecting her of indulging in magical arts, which alienates her from the Gillikin community. However, she has neighbors that directly know of her “curious magic” and thus are afraid of her, treating her “shyly but respectfully”. Due to the vastness of her farm, she seems to be quite rich. At the beginning of the story, she says to Tip that she goes to buy “groceries” at the village, a travel of at least two days, when in fact, she went to meet a mysterious figure only said to be a “Crooked Wizard” who lives in a lonely cave “in the mountains”. She traded several “important secrets of magic” with him, obtaining in the process three new recipes, four magical powders, and a selection of herbs of “wonderful powers and potency”. However, Mombi reveals that she “wickedly fooled” the Crooked Wizard, and that he was stingy, giving him the smallest portions possible (one of the objects traded being the Powder of Life, of course). Mombi’s other defining trait is to be the one taking care of Tip, the book’s young hero, an adventurous boy. Tip is the charge of Mombi, but she rather treats him as a slave, making him do all the chores: feed the pigs, collecting wood in the forest, working in the cornfield, milking the cow… Yet Tip is by no mean servile. Whenever he can he plays around or laze about instead of working, and he hates deeply Mombi, often playing tricks on her or trying to scare her. In relation, Mombi seems to be quite violent, given that she threatens to beat Tip “black and blue” for his latest trick – Tip himself says that he knows she is “bad and revengeful at heart” and that she doesn’t hesitate to do “evil things”. It is later revealed that she only keeps Tip around to do all the work for her (the narration mention that he is “as strong and rugged as a boy may be”): once Jack Pumpkinhead is “born”, Mombi decides he will be her new slave now, and that Tip can just disappear. Yet she insists on keeping him around… By turning him into a marble statue. Because she plans to grow a beautiful flower garden in Spring, and she thinks he would be a perfect ornament there. We later learn why she wishes to keep him around no matter what, even turned into a statue, but one think that is jarring about this scene is that Mombi tells Tip right in front of his face what she is going to do to him. She doesn’t think one minute that Tip would try to flee or go away or resist his fate (even though she still takes the precaution to keep the magic potion in her room so that Tip wouldn’t destroy it). Did she spill the beans because she was tired and it was the end of a long night? Or was there another reason she thought Tip wouldn’t flee? Mere sociopathy or something else? Theories are open. # The Powder of Life is one of the biggest new magical items. Sold by the Crooked Wizard to Mombi, it is kept in an old pepper box, with a label written by the Wizard himself. The Wizard only have enough for two or three uses. The Powder of Life’s power is that, when put on an object correctly, it can bring it to life. One just needs to sprinkle the powder like pepper on the object, and then to accomplish a small ritual similar to the one needed to activate the Golden Cap: lifting the left hand with the little finger pointed upward, say “Weaugh”. Then, with the right hand lifted with the thumb upward, say “Teaugh”. Finally, with your two hands lifted and all fingers spread out, say “Peaugh”. Then the object will come to life. During the book it animates Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, as well as the Gump-Thing. Note however that the object must be ENTIRELY covered in the Powder, else the parts that did not receive it will stay numb and inanimate. # This book confirms that winters exist in Oz, because Mombi and Tip feed their cow pumpkins during “winter time”. We also know that sickness exists in Oz, given that Tip had the “ague” one year prior to the story. # Here’s what we know of Mombi’s “how to turn children into marble statues” recipe: in a small black kettle, measure equal part of milk and vinegar. Add to it several packets of herbs and powders, wait until the potion boils. Then let it cool for a whole night – in the morning it will be ready for consumption. # Jack Pumpkinhead gives us two interesting bits of information. One, about his clothing: the clothes he wears are all possessions of Mombi. Tip found them in a “great chest” where Mombi keeps all of her keepsakes and treasures, including these clothes. One might wonder why they are of such importance to her. Said clothes are: purple trousers, a red shirt and a pink vest dotted with white spots. The other interesting point is that the narration keeps talking about the real-life Halloween tradition of “Jack Lanterns” and how, since Tip had no playmates, he ignored everything about emptying the pumpkin beforehand. This comment can be interpreted in two ways: 1- This was a joke intended for the modern American reader 2- Jack Lanterns are indeed known and a common child’s game in Oz. Take your pick. # More animals of Oz: we get the confirmation that horses and donkeys are actually common animals in Oz, since Tip speaks about them. # Tip tells to Jack the recent history of Oz, and it is quite interesting to note that it slightly differs from the events of the first book – showing that what really happened and what people, or at least Tip, heard of are slightly different. Tip explains that the Emerald City is the “biggest town” of the country, located at the center of the Land of Oz. He heard many stories of it – of how it was built by a mighty and powerful Wizard name Oz, of how the Scarecrow was “invited” by the citizens of the City to rule over them, just like the Tin Woodman was (and not, you know, appointed by the Wizard as in the previous book). Tip mentions that Dorothy is from Kansas, a place in “the big Outside World”, which seems to be a new notion in Oz. Tip doesn’t mention at all the Lion in his stories, in fact the Lion is completely absent of this book (for reasons I’ll explain later). And he also adds that the Wizard “wasn’t so much of a Wizard” and that he fled in a balloon because Dorothy and her friends were angry at him for being deceived and threatened to expose him. Something which enters in direct contradiction with the events of the first book… but again, Tip is a little farmboy living far away in the North of Oz, and since stories spread from mouth to hear, it may have been heavily distorted. But we know that the Scarecrow is a very popular ruler at the Emerald City (and again we have a big ambiguity, the Scarecrow being at the same time said to be the ruler of the Emerald City, and the City alone, and yet the ruler of the City also ruling over Oz entirely). # Something people tend to forget: there is another yellow brick road! Indeed, when Tip goes to the Emerald City, he follows a Yellow Brick Road that leads to it, and even has sign posts indicating things such as “Nine Miles to the Emerald City”. Interestingly, just like how the Brick Road in the East got cut off by a wide river, this Northern Road is also cut by a broad and swift rider (two miles after the “nine miles” sign). This river however has a man with his ferry-boat that can let people pass, but only if they pay him with good money (he is noted to have a face looking “cross and disagreeable”). This river seems to be the limit between the Gillikin Country and the Central region – indeed before the river, the “purple tint of the grass and the trees” faded away to a “dull lavender” than “greenish tint”, but past the river, the grass and trees become “bright emerald-green”.

- - -

Because yes, ladies and gentlemen and animated woodpeople, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz got a sequel if you ignored it! The kids kept sending Baum many letters asking to know more about Oz, to read more about Oz, and they had a special interest in the characters of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man, that were apparently very popular. So Baum finally gave in to the popular demand, was published in 1904, four years after the first book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz". The full title however is "The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman". But it was sometimes shortened to "The Land of Oz", just like how "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was shortened to "The Wizard of Oz". This book was a very big success at the time, before falling into oblivion for the decades following the MGM movie, and then springing up again, first n the 80s/90s thanks to "Return to Oz", the movie, and then in the 2010s thanks to modern Oz takes such as Emerald City, and also the feminist, LGBT and transgender movements, because... well, you'll see. One thing to note is that this book was written in a different style than the first. The first was really a sort of little fairy tale, with simple descriptions, a simple plot, simple characters, and self-contained chapters that could easily be cut-off. This second book however is clearly intended for an older audience, even though still young, being more complex in terms of characters and plot, having a lot of jokes and being much more funny/parody in style than the first, having chapters often ending in cliffhangers or cutting in the middle of the action, and in general being thicker and filled with much more action than The Wizard of Oz.

#what we know of oz #the land of oz #the marvelous land of oz #mombi #gillikin country #l. frank baum

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magicaldogtoto · 1 year

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Parallel Worlds Record Chapter 14: I Won't Keep You Waiting For Long

Rating: Teen

Genre: Magical Girl, Fantasy, Angst, Drama, Crossover

Word Count: Approx. 7,300 words

Summary: Yachiyo is briefed on what the other her was up to in recent months and is given a new goal to help her get home.

Author's Note: A bit exposition-heavy, to help people who may not be familiar with the Oz books. Special thanks to @celesticnova and @evatriceakiyama for proofreading this for me, as always!

***

[YACHIYO]

Before Yachiyo and Ozma could get around to catching up, however, it was decided that Yachiyo needed to freshen up. After fighting a Familiar in a construction area, and Oriko and Kirika in a dirty alleyway, not to mention being plopped into the middle of an ancient forest with dirt and wild animals, Yachiyo was inclined to agree that she was starting to smell.

Ozma summoned Jellia Jamb and had her lead Yachiyo back to the room they had provided her. It didn’t appear that Jellia was all that phased about Yachiyo sneaking off while she was cleaning. She said nothing about it while preparing the bath for Yachiyo, at least.

After all the fighting and confusion of the last twenty-four hours or so, Yachiyo was more than happy to submerge into the warm bathwater, letting out a pleased sigh as she did so. She leaned back against the porcelain tub and gazed at the ceiling, all manner of emotions going through her. There was a small window to her right, which was slightly open, and she could hear the sounds of birds chirping, and see the blue sky over the palace.

In the stillness of the bath, Yachiyo found herself reflecting over the turn of events she had found herself in. Not only had she wound up in another world, but now she was in a country that, to the best of her knowledge, at least, didn’t exist in her world.

Her world… The thought of it caused Yachiyo to tense up a bit in the water. How were Mifuyu and the others doing? By now they’d have to be worried about her, that was for sure. Did they start looking around Kamihama for her? Did they tell Kanagi, Momoko, or any of the others about her disappearance? Was the whole Magical Girl community of Kamihama aware of it? The thought of worrying everybody made Yachiyo feel even guiltier.

I have to get back as soon as I can, she thought, washing her face with renewed energy.

When she had dried herself off she stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in only a green towel that Jellia had provided her. The green woman in question was waiting for her patiently by the bed.

“I bought some clothes for you, Miss Nanami,” Jellia said, gesturing to the bed. On it was a green halterneck, and a pair of green dress pants.

Yachiyo looked them over. “Is everything in this place green?”

Jellia chuckled. “Well, only in the Emerald City. It’s in our name, after all. The other four regions of Oz have different colors.”

“I see.” Yachiyo took the clothes and went behind the changing screen in the corner of the room. “And what are the colors of the other four regions?” she asked as she changed.

“West of here is the Country of the Winkies,” Jellia continued. “Their primary color is yellow. To the South is the Country of the Quadlings, which favors the color red. You’d fit in with the Munchkins in the East–they like the color blue. And North is the home of the Gillikins, who love the color purple. That’s where I’m from.”

“Really?” By now Yachiyo had finished changing, and had stepped out in her new outfit. She looked at herself in the mirror; even if the green was overplayed in this place, the clothes did look good on her, the halterneck even giving a slight peek at her pale back.

After admiring herself for a bit, she turned back to Jellia. “But you’re probably the greenest person I’ve seen here so far.”

Jellia gave her a cheeky smile. “Well, I had to look the part when I started working here.”

“I suppose so,” Yachiyo said.

Jellia held up a green hairbrush. “Now, let me fix your hair a bit, and then we can meet up with the others.”

That seemed like a good idea, and before long Jellia had brushed Yachiyo’s long, blue hair and tied it into a ponytail. She then gave Yachiyo some green sandals to wear. With that all done, the two made their way out of the room, and through the palace, before heading out into one of the gardens. It was a serene place full of colorful flowers and tall, green trees, surrounded on all four sides by the green walls of the palace, some of which had green gems decorating them. Up above, the clear blue sky of Oz was without a single cloud. Indeed, it was the kind of garden one could have a relaxing, quiet rest in.

“Master!!!”

Before Yachiyo could properly react to the familiar, loud voice of Uwasa Tsuruno, she found herself tackle-hugged by the Mightiest Uwasa, her ribcage feeling like it was going to snap.

“Erk! Tsuruno…!” Yachiyo managed to gasp out.

Tsuruno looked up at her with her magenta eyes, a relieved smile on her pale face. “We were so worried about you!” she cried out. “After Amare told us what had happened, she contacted Princess Ozma so you’d be saved. We all came to the Emerald City with Amare to make sure you’d be okay!”

“‘We…?’” Yachiyo looked up, and saw a wooden table under a tree. Seated at the table were Claudine and Mifuyu. It appeared that they had all been enjoying a meal, for there were plates of green porcelain set on it, and a pitcher of lemonade. Beside them were empty, metal lunch pails with a red color.

Yachiyo approached the table, Tsuruno following by her side. It was clear the closer she got Claudine, Mifuyu, and as she now saw, Tsuruno, had also been given a new change of clothes by Jellia Jamb. Yachiyo was no expert on Emerald City fashion, but she did know a thing or two about fashion in general to see that Jellia had given the other three girls what must have been some of the trendier outfits available in the city.

Claudine had ditched her beige sweater and salmon-colored skirt for a vibrant green gown with floral patterns and many folds. It was so long that it obscured her feet, and had a green ribbon around her waist. Additionally, the dress was asymmetrical, with Claudine’s left shoulder covered by a green sash, while leaving her pale right shoulder completely bare. Even her headband was now dark green, and she had a green choker around her neck to complete the look.

Mifuyu meanwhile had exchanged her usual red blouse and black shorts for a green strapless dress and a small, green coat that went over her shoulders. The dress itself appeared to be made of green lace and went all the way down to her thighs. There were patterns on the dress showing small pixies with butterfly wings fluttering about, as well as a few birds. On her legs were green stockings, and she had green high heeled shoes covering her feet.

Tsuruno, for her part, was no longer wearing that big parka she had on when they had gone to see Touka Satomi. Instead, she wore a green, sleeveless dress that went down to her knees, with a dark green ribbon around her waist that was capped off with a bow on her left side whose fabrics dangled behind her in twin trails. Her side ponytail was also now complemented with a green flower bow on her head, and her feet had heeled shoes similar to Mifuyu’s.

"Bonjour, Yachiyo,” Claudine said, leaning forward from where she was seated, her blonde hair seeming almost golden in this light. “Glad to see you’re looking as good as ever.”

“Hello, Claudine,” Yachiyo said. She turned her attention to Mifuyu, who was staring at her empty plate. “Hello, Mifuyu…”

Mifuyu immediately tensed up, looking at Yachiyo with her teal eyes. “H-hello, Yacchan…”

Yachiyo took a step closer. “Honestly, I’m surprised you came here, too.”

Mifuyu gripped her glass of lemonade. “I-I was worried about you…” she said. There were bags under her eyes; Yachiyo noticed them as Mifuyu sipped from her glass.

“Mifuyu…” Yachiyo said, looking her over. “Is everything okay?”

“Mifuyu had a bad dream last night,” Claudine explained, reaching out and rubbing the white-haired girl’s back. There was a soft look on the former child actor’s face as she comforted Mifuyu.

“Bad dream?”

Mifuyu looked at her glass. “I dreamt that we were at Mizuna Shrine. It was evening, you attacked me, and before I knew it, we were fighting each other and then…” She paused, then looked up at Yachiyo and the others, frowning.

“Never mind,” Mifuyu said. “It was just a nightmare, nothing important.”

“If you say so…” Yachiyo said. Just then she heard a low growl.

Yachiyo turned to her right, just in time to see a large tiger curled up under a tree. It was like any other tiger she had seen on TV or in pictures, but this one had a bow of red ribbon on his tail, close to the end.

“What the–?!” Immediately Yachiyo got in front of the others, assuming a battle-ready position. “There’s a tiger in this garden?!”

Tsuruno nodded. “There is! He’s the Hungry Tiger. Don’t bother him right now, though, he’s trying to take a nap.”

Indeed, the creature’s eyes were closed, and it was snoring softly. Yachiyo slowly calmed herself down.

“Funny,” Yachiyo said. “I’d half-expected to see a Cowardly Lion, not a Hungry Tiger.”

“The Cowardly Lion is busy in the Quadling Country at the moment.”

Yachiyo turned, and saw Ozma enter the garden with Dorothy next to her. Ozma still carried her staff, but now had what looked like a tablet tucked in her arm. Dorothy, for her part, held a small dog with black fur in her arms.

The dog caught Yachiyo’s attention. “Is that…?”

Dorothy smiled. “Toto. The dog I got back when I was livin’ with Uncle Henry and Auntie Em in Kansas.” She gave him a tight squeeze, and Toto shifted a bit in her arms, turning his head to Yachiyo.

Yachiyo smiled; he was one of the cutest dogs she had seen.

“I see you met the Hungry Tiger,” Ozma said.

Yachiyo glanced at the tiger in question, then back at Ozma. “I did.”

Just at that moment, Amare also walked into the garden, still wearing the green gown Yachiyo had seen her wear earlier.

As soon as she caught sight of Yachiyo, Amare stopped, staring at her.

Yachiyo looked back at her. “What is it?”

Amare’s face turned a light shade of pink. “Nothing,” she said. “I just thought, in this light… you look really beautiful.”

Now it was Yachiyo’s turn to blush just a bit. “Oh…” she said, “thank you.” She wondered if Mifuyu would say the same if she saw her here.

Yachiyo covered her mouth and coughed; time to change the subject. “Amare, you never told me you were friends with two princesses… or from Oz.”

Amare blushed. “There’s a lot I hadn’t really told you, Yachiyo.”

“I can see that.” Yachiyo crossed her arms, giving her a stern look. “I believe you owe me an explanation.”

“We sure do,” Ozma said. “But you must be hungry, too.”

The foreboding stance Yachiyo had assumed was soon undermined by her stomach growling. She looked aside and grabbed her right forearm with her left hand. “I might be.”

Ozma smiled. “Take your pick from that tree there.” She pointed with her staff at the tree next to the one the group was under.

Yachiyo looked at the tree, and her jaw dropped. It wasn’t like any tree she had seen before, in this world or her own. At first glance, it looked like a regular tree with branches, green leaves, and fruit hanging from it. But upon closer inspection, Yachiyo could see that the leaves were actually green napkins, and the fruits were actually metal lunch pails, some green, and some bright red.

“Make sure you get one that’s ripe,” Amare commented. Ozma and Dorothy sat next to each other at the table.

“Right.” Yachiyo found a low-hanging lunch-pail and plucked it from the branch. Though made of metal, it wasn’t terribly heavy. She set it down on the table and opened it. To her surprise, the pail was full of ramen and soba.

“How is this…?” she began, only for Ozma to cut her off.

“Possible? Why, it’s magic, of course!” She grinned as Yachiyo sat next to Tsuruno and pulled the contents out of the pail, before talking again.

“The lunch-pail tree was given to us by the Queen Mother of Ev. That’s another hidden country, near Oz, but cut off by the desert. She gave it to us as a way of saying thank you for how we saved her and her family from the Nome King over a century ago.”

“The Nome King…” Yachiyo remembered what the Immortals had said when she was in the Forest of Burzee. “Wait, a century ago?” She did a double take at the two princesses–they definitely did not look a century old.

Ozma smiled. “You’re new to Oz, that’s for sure,” she said. “It’s part of the magic in this land. Ever since I came to power after the Wizard was removed, no one within Oz’s borders has to worry about growing old, unless they want to. People can stay as young as they like. Dorothy and I have been like this for a long time.”

“I… I had no idea.” Yachiyo tried to wrap her head around that. For the longest time, she had thought that her wish to survive had resulted in people she was close to dying off. It had gotten to the point that she was mentally preparing herself to outlive just about everyone she knew. To think that this world had an entire country where no one had to worry about that…

“So you’re telling me,” Yachiyo asked, “that no one dies in this place?”

Ozma shrugged. “Well… not naturally.”

“But people die if they are killed,” Dorothy added.

“It’s also how you’re able to understand everyone here,” Amare cut in. “The magic in the air also acts as a universal translator.”

“Longevity and easy translations…” Yachiyo looked at Amare. She narrowed her eyes.

“So how old are you, really?”

Amare blushed. “Nineteen,” she said.

“Really…?”

“Yes, really!” Amare looked aside. “I’m nineteen both physically and mentally.”

Yachiyo smirked. “Relax, I believe you. I don’t see any reason why you’d lie to me about that.”

Amare pouted. “The other you asked me the same thing a while back.”

The mention of the other her made Yachiyo’s face turn more serious. “Right. Speaking of that explanation…”

Ozma nodded. “Yes, there’s a lot to say, but I’ll keep it as simple as possible. You already know that this is the Land of Oz, the same one that you’ve probably seen in books or movies.”

“Oui, I sure have heard of it,” Claudine said after sipping on her glass of lemonade once more. “Some girls I knew did a play about it. Never thought it really happened, though…”

“Nor did I,” Yachiyo said. “In my world, they’re just books written by an American.”

“L. Frank Baum.” Dorothy said his name with a face that seemed to betray mixed feelings about the man. “It’s the same in this world, too. Except when he said in his forewords that he got the stories by talkin’ to me, he was actually tellin’ the truth.”

“That doesn’t really explain how the books also exist in my world.” Yachiyo slowly ate some of her ramen. For something that grew on a magic tree, it was no different than the ramen back home.

Ozma thought for a moment. “Maybe,” she said after a while, “the Baum of your world had some kind of psychic link to ours. I’ve heard from others that different versions of the same person may be connected through some cosmic freak of nature.”

“Or perhaps the Oz of your world just hasn’t made itself known to you, yet.” Dorothy put Toto down and let the little dog roll on the green grass. The others chuckled at the sight of him. “I’d say anything is fair game, really.”

“Still,” Yachiyo went on, “I’ve never heard of an Ozma, and I always thought Dorothy figured there was no place like home.”

Ozma gave her a wry smile. “Most people tend to not remember me,” she said. “But I assure you, I’m in there.”

“And as for me,” Dorothy added, “I’ve come to believe that home is ultimately where the heart is. And my heart was here, with Ozma.”

The two girls looked at each other and smiled. It was the kind of smile one expected from two people who knew each other for so long that they understood everything about each other. It was a bond that Yachiyo could see plain as day, even if Dorothy and Ozma said little about it out loud.

“That’s understandable.” Yachiyo put her ramen down. “So how exactly did the Yachiyo of your world get involved in all of… this?”

Ozma glanced at Amare; Amare for her part held a neutral expression, but Yachiyo thought there was something that flashed in her black eyes. After a split second, Ozma turned to Yachiyo.

“It’s quite simple, really,” the princess said. “After we thwarted the Nome King’s attempt to invade Oz with an army a century ago, Glinda the Good Witch decided to isolate Oz from the rest of the world. She used her magic to make us invisible to outsiders; the magic also had the effect of making the other countries nearby invisible, too.”

Again with the Nome King… Yachiyo recalled the Nome that had stolen her shield. She was beginning to suspect that she would be meeting the Nome King very soon. “And you eventually decided to open up Oz again in the present?” she asked after partaking of her ramen again.

Ozma nodded. “You have to understand, our country never had Magical Girls until recently. But eventually while observing the outside world, I became aware of their existence. They had magic that was similar to ours, but different. And I saw how they were suffering, and wanted to see how I could learn more, to figure out a way to help them.”

“So you contacted the other me?”

“Yup! Through the internet.”

That was an answer Yachiyo didn’t expect. “The internet?”

“Oh yes. Ever since I became the ruler of Oz, I limited access to magic, to ensure no more Wicked Witches would arise to terrorize the populace. We advanced alongside the outside world, if still separate from it. In some ways we surpassed it.” As she spoke, she took out the tablet she had brought with her and set it down in front of Yachiyo.

“We’ve had magic slates like these for a while before you outsiders did,” Ozma said. The slate came to life, showing a map of Oz. It was a country that was almost perfectly rectangular, with desert around all four sides. Ozma tapped the center of the map, and the image zoomed in, until it showed the Emerald City, glowing as green as its namesake. Yachiyo and the others looked at it in awe.

“That was also how I found out about you, even about your modeling career.” The image of the city faded, an image of Yachiyo modeling some winter outfits appeared.

Claudine looked at the image. “Personally, I think my girlfriend is prettier,” the blonde said. Yachiyo rolled her eyes.

“Through my magical arts, I found out you were a Magical Girl, and we made contact. This would have been sometime during your first year at Kamihama University.”

“From what the other you told me,” Amare said, “it was before you met Iroha and the others, and before the whole business with the Wings of the Magius.”

“You don’t say.” Yachiyo remembered that time. It was a lonely time, when she did her best to get by without even Mifuyu to talk to. She wondered if the Yachiyo of this world felt a little different, having befriended the princess of a fairy country.

“To make a long story short, we invited the other you to visit Oz, and she explained everything she knew about Magical Girls, Kyubey, and the Witches while she was here. We even showed her around the countryside a bit. You even met Glinda at her palace in the Quadling Country.”

“I remember that,” Amare butt in, her dark eyes sparkling just a bit. “I was still working there as a guard–it was how Yachiyo and I met.”

“Really?” Yachiyo asked. “What was that like?”

Once again, Amare’s cheeks turned pink. “It was great,” she said. “We had you model for us.”

Yachiyo raised an eyebrow at that.

“Anyway,” Ozma went on. “It wasn’t long before we discovered that Witches were now in Oz, too. Not the kind we’re familiar with… I mean the Incubator kind.” She gripped her staff. “There were too many across the land, and so–with great reluctance–we had to let Kyubey contract Magical Girls here.”

Yachiyo frowned. “That must have been a hard decision,” she said.

Ozma nodded slowly. “You have no idea. We would have preferred the other you staying with us, or at least recruit other Magical Girls from outside. But she had her own commitments back in Japan, and Glinda wasn’t sure if we could trust everyone from outside Oz just yet. So we let her go home, and got to work trying to accommodate our new Magical Girls.”

“And then came Epithene,” Dorothy said, grimacing.

“Epithene?” Yachiyo asked.

Tsuruno and Claudine were attentive; Amare, however, had a sick look on her face. Ozma simply sighed and fiddled with her magic slate, allowing it to project a holographic image of a girl with long, dark brown hair, wearing a blue dress and holding an open book in her hand, a contemptuous look on her face.

Immediately Yachiyo went into high alert. “That girl… I saw her in the vision the Fairy Queen showed me!”

“She grew up in the Munchkin Country,” Ozma said. “Her father was a necromancer, or was, until I outlawed necromancy while limiting the use of magic in Oz.” She frowned. “Seemed he never got over my decision to do that, and Epithene agreed with him.

“She lost her family to a Witch. After that happened, she met Kyubey, and made a contract with him.” Ozma paused, as if trying to get herself to say the next part.

“Ozma…?” Dorothy asked, a look of concern on her face.

“... She managed to raise an army of Magical Girls. They began attacking all over Oz, trying to force me to surrender and let Epithene rule in my place.” The image on the slate changed, showing Epithene, and an army of Magical Girls behind her. Behind them were hundreds of squat, jagged creatures–Nomes, Yachiyo realized.

Ozma wringed her hands. “The Magical Girls who were loyal to me fought against them, as did others… but then Epithene made a deal with the Nome King, and he gathered all his forces from beneath the earth to attack us. Eventually they took the Emerald City. We were backed into a corner…!”

Ozma paused, looking down. Even if she was over a century old, Yachiyo noted, she still seemed like any other teenage girl. Dorothy reached out and took Ozma’s hand in hers.

“That’s when I contracted,” Dorothy said. With her free hand, she summoned her Soul Gem; it burned a bright golden color. “I wished that Ozma could be sent somewhere safe; she ended up in Kamihama.” Dorothy frowned. “They captured me, though. And Toto. Epithene liked usin’ my Soul Gem as a stress ball when she was upset.”

“Ouch,” Claudine said, wincing.

Ozma regained her composure. “Around that time the Wings of the Magius had already been dealt with. Kamihama was recovering from Eve and Walpurgisnacht, but it was still safer than Oz was. I found the other Yachiyo, and she let me stay at Mikazuki while we came up with a way to get back and save Oz.”

“That’s where I come in,” Amare said slowly (Reluctantly? Yachiyo thought it sounded that way).

“You?” Yachiyo asked her. By now she had made her way through her food.

Amare glanced at Ozma, then back at Yachiyo. “I was sent to find Ozma and bring her back to Oz. Glinda was still leading the fight against Epithene at that point.”

“Is that when the two of you got together…?”

“... Yeah.” Amare looked aside, while a pained expression flashed across Mifuyu’s face. “That’s for another time, though. Point is, the other you, me, and Ozma found a way back to Oz together. We rescued Dorothy and regrouped with Glinda, and eventually we stopped Epithene. Or, the other you did, when she crushed Epithene’s Soul Gem right before she could become a Witch.”

“So the other me killed her, huh…?” Yachiyo leaned back in her seat and stared at the blue sky. That was… a lot to take in.

“She helped save Oz,” Ozma said. “Because of her, and Amare and the rest, we were able to rebuild and begin integrating Magical Girls more into our country. It’s not perfect, and we’re still trying to figure out how to spread that Doppel System of your city over to our side, but we’ve done our best.” She gave Yachiyo a reassuring smile. “In the end, it worked out alright.”

Kyubey’s words from Yachiyo’s vision the other night came across her mind. “Still,” she said, looking uncomfortable, “I��m not sure if the other me coming here was a good thing…”

“I think it was,” Amare said quietly.

“So do I,” Ozma said. “Don’t let Lurline’s words get to you. She just wants someone to blame, and she can’t exactly get back at Kyubey.”

Before Yachiyo could reply, Tsuruno gasped. The Hungry Tiger had woken up, and was stretching, opening its big mouth in a yawn that showed off its teeth and gums.

“He’s awake…” Claudine muttered.

The Hungry Tiger slowly walked on its four big paws towards the table, focusing its eyes on Yachiyo.

Yachiyo tensed up, keeping her Soul Gem in mind, just in case.

“You look like you’d be tasty…” the Tiger said in a deep voice.

“E-excuse me…?!” Yachiyo remained frozen in place, waiting to see what the tiger would do next. She had never expected Ozma to have a tiger of all things as a pet.

“Oh, don’t worry about the Hungry Tiger,” Claudine said, a bored tone in her voice. “He talks a big game, but he’s not much.”

Yachiyo blinked. “Really?”

“Oh, of course,” the Hungry Tiger replied. “I could eat you–all of you–but then I’d still be hungry when it was all said and done. So what would be the point of it all?”

“Sounds like a real dilemma there,” Yachiyo said.

“He said he wanted to eat us all when we first got into this garden,” Claudine said flatly. “But he’s just a big kitty in the end.” She covered her mouth and snickered at her own comment.

“And in any case,” Tsuruno said, “it’d be an honor to eat me! My flesh is the mightiest there is!”

“Really?” The Hungry Tiger leaned forward, licking his lips.

Tsuruno nodded. “Definitely. But you’d have to beat me to get to it first!”

The Hungry Tiger hung his head. “Then it’s no use.”

Ozma cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. The Tiger slowly walked away into another part of the garden.

“Now that we’ve caught you up to speed,” Ozma said, putting her magic slate away, “we can get to the matter at hand. And that’s trying to get you back to your world, and figuring out a way to get our world’s Yachiyo back home.”

“Not to mention find out what happened to your friends Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname,” Dorothy added. “They’ve been gone for a while now, too.”

“I already know how to get back,” Yachiyo said. “I need my shield. The Nome stole it from me.”

“Which means it’s most likely in the Nome Kingdom, underground.” Ozma made a face. “We have an uneasy truce with the Nome King, and can’t risk another attack right now. Not to mention Ev is preoccupied with its own issues…”

“So what do you suggest?” Yachiyo asked. Oriko’s vision was in the back of her mind; she was hoping she could leave as soon as possible as a result.

“I’ll get in contact with the Nome King, convince him to hand over the shield without letting him know what it really is,” Ozma said. “Meanwhile, you all can go to Glinda in the Quadling Country.”

That caught Yachiyo’s attention. “Glinda?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? She knows all sorts of occult knowledge. I’m sure she can figure out a way to help you, as well as find the other Yachiyo, Homura, and Madoka. You can visit her at her palace.”

“What’s her palace like?” Yachiyo asked.

“It sits at the edge of the Quadling Country, right near the Desert,” Ozma explained. “It’s also staffed entirely by women. Some say they’re the most beautiful women in the whole land. Amare would know since she worked there in the past.”

“I did…” Amare said, her mind seemingly elsewhere.

“Glinda herself is unfathomably old, but uses magic to retain her beauty,” Ozma went on. “You’ll be right at home there, they already know the other Yachiyo.”

Yachiyo looked around at everyone. She wondered how Mifuyu, Claudine, and Tsuruno were handling all of this. Oriko’s vision still haunted her. Until she knew what it was that Oriko saw, however, Yachiyo wasn’t sure if it was good to scare Ozma or anyone else. The sooner she got back to her world, the better, and if she was gone from this world, then there was no way she could cause its destruction. The other Yachiyo would have some explaining to do when she gets back, though. Besides, Mifuyu and the others were surely missing her by now.

She looked at Ozma. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go and see Glinda.”

Ozma beamed. “Great! I’ll let her know you’ll be there by tomorrow afternoon.”

Yachiyo nodded, then turned to Tsuruno, Claudine, and Mifuyu.

“I’m sorry you all got dragged into this,” she said. “If you want, I’m sure we can figure out a way to get you back to Japan.”

“Yeah,” Amare said. “Ozma can use her magic.”

“I can,” Ozma said. “It will be as quick as it took to get you all here in the first place.”

Tsuruno shook her head furiously. “No way! I’m not leaving you in a strange land, Master! Wherever you go, I go! You and Amare need the Mightiest Uwasa as your bodyguard!”

“Tsuruno…” Amare began.

Claudine shrugged. “Amare’s told me so much about Oz. I figured I may as well stick around and see if it lives up to the hype. Count me in.” She looked aside. “I need to contact Maya and tell her I’ll be gone for a while, though.”

“If you’re sure…” Yachiyo turned to Mifuyu.

“Mifuyu?”

Mifuyu closed her eyes and sighed. “All I have to go back to is a lonely apartment and a half-empty bottle,” she said. “Maybe while I'm here, I can figure some things out.”

So, Yachiyo figured, it was her, a girl from another world, Amare, a girl from a fairy country; Tsuruno, an Uwasa; Mifuyu, who seemed like she’d rather be somewhere else without Yachiyo and Amare; and Claudine, who was French.

It’s a ragtag team, she thought. But I guess it’s better than nothing. “Alright,” she said. “If you’re all willing to stay… we’ll head out first thing tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Tsuruno nearly jumped for joy.

Ozma beamed. “Until then, how about I show you around the city?”

*** Amare said she was feeling a little tired, so she excused herself from the tour. Ozma had gotten a carriage pulled by a horse, and all of them rode in it out of the palace, into the city streets. Yachiyo considered herself a city girl, but the Emerald City still caught her by surprise. She later saw on a map that the whole thing was circular in design, with a green wall keeping the city apart from the outside (though there was now a suburban area just outside the walls, as well).

The Emerald City lived up to its name by being entirely emerald green. The palace was the oldest building, and in the center of the city. There were buildings that appeared to be made of stone, with emerald gems decorating them. The further they traveled through the streets, however, Yachiyo began to see buildings that seemed more recent in construction. There were buildings that were Art Deco in design, rising above the older ones. Even taller were skyscrapers of metal and green glass, reflecting the sunlight off of their surfaces. There were green, dome-shaped homes with chimneys, and further on, homes and buildings that appeared to be made of the same materials as the other buildings. They all had windows and doors that were arranged in a way that gave the impression of faces looking at the people wandering the streets with all manner of expressions–happy, surprised, sad, annoyed, it was surprising how much expression one could see in simple buildings.

And there were a lot of people around the city, of course. The Emerald City had entire streets that were made less for vehicular travel, and more for walking on foot. It was easy to tell who was from the Emerald City, and who was visiting, for the Emerald City people wore green clothes and had green hair, in some cases even skin dyed green. Meanwhile the visitors from outside the city wore purple, red, blue, or yellow. Occasionally Yachiyo could see green streetcars that shuttled people around the city with ease. In contrast to how one would imagine a fairy country’s city to look, the entire place seemed just about as modern as Kamihama, if a little more green and a little more futuristic in places. Ozma took them everywhere, from shopping areas, to the public parks and library, to even the public soda fountain.

Along their tour, Yachiyo noticed a few buildings that seemed burned out, or under construction. “The leftovers from the war,” Ozma explained.

As she spoke, Yachiyo noticed a few stores with signs on them in big, red letters: NO MAGICAL GIRLS ALLOWED.

“I guess I can’t blame them,” Yachiyo commented. “Not after everything that happened.”

Ozma frowned. “Perhaps,” she said. “But I’m hoping things can get better overtime.”

By evening, the group had returned to the Emerald City’s palace, and were treated to a delicious dinner. Afterwards, Yachiyo retired back to her green room, while the rest were left to their own devices.

Yachiyo was just about to settle in for the night when there was a knock on the door. She answered it, and saw that it was Amare.

“Amare, there you are” she said, letting her in. “You missed dinner.”

Amare shook her head. “I was still tired. Jellia brought some food to my room instead. How was the tour?”

“It was great.” Yachiyo closed the door and turned to her. “So you’re from Oz,” she said after a bit.

Amare nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Amare shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how to; at first it was because I thought your memory had been messed with, and then it was because I knew you were from another world. Wasn’t sure if you’d believe me.”

“I get that,” Yachiyo said. “Still, you could have called up Ozma to explain things. You two seem really close. Or even Glinda, if you worked for her in the past.”

Amare shifted in place. “Yeah, that, that’s not as easy for me to do as you think it would be.”

“When I get back to my world, I don’t think the others will believe me, either,” Yachiyo said, sitting down on her bed. “That Epithene sure sounded like she was a piece of work.”

“She was absolutely horrible,” Amare said, clenching her fist. “Just an unruly child who demanded a lot and would hurt people to get it, without a second thought. You wouldn’t be able to stand being with her.”

Yachiyo looked at Amare’s fist. “You sound like you have personal experience with her.”

Amare paused, then sighed. “That’s because… I was her prisoner for a while.”

“Really?”

Amare nodded, running a hand through her long, dark hair. “When we returned to Oz to save it, we managed to rescue Dorothy and Toto from the palace before flying off to Glinda. But we needed to buy time to get away… so I stayed behind as a distraction.”

She made a pained expression. “They tortured me for days. The only thing that kept me from giving up was hoping that I could see you–the other you–again.”

“Amare…” Yachiyo couldn’t imagine how much that would have hurt. And she felt even more bad that she wasn’t the one that Amare needed at the moment. Whatever connection the other her and Amare had, that didn’t exist between the two of them now.

Amare sighed. “It’s okay, it’s in the past.”

“Still, you helped save Oz. You’re a hero.”

Amare let out a hollow chuckle. “I’m not a hero, Yachiyo. I just… I did what I needed to do.”

“Even if that’s true, I’m sure the other me is proud of you.”

“I sure hope so…”

“That does make me wonder,” a familiar, chipper voice cut in, “where is the other Yachiyo?”

Immediately Yachiyo tensed up, as did Amare. Yachiyo turned to the windowsill. It was open, letting the night breeze blow in, and under the moonlight Yachiyo could see the small, red-eyed form of Kyubey.

“You,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Yachiyo Nanami,” Kyubey said. “When I heard you were back, I was surprised. You quite literally fell off our radar a while ago.”

In a flash, Yachiyo summoned her halberd and pointed it at Kyubey. “Of all the things to exist in more than one world, it had to be you.”

Kyubey, undeterred, hopped down from the windowsill and made its way to the bed. “I’m not overtly familiar with alternate timelines or universes, but your presence here sure piques my interest. I wonder if there’s an Oz in your world, too.” Its eyes shined brightly. “If there is, it’s only a matter of time before we penetrate it and begin making contracts.”

“You monster,” Yachiyo hissed. “You have the rest of this world already; why bother a place like this?”

Kyubey tilted its head. “If you have a machine working at only ninety-five percent, wouldn’t you want to make it so it worked at a hundred? This was more efficient for our goals.”

“You caused a whole war!”

Kyubey shrugged. “Magical Girls have been involved with wars throughout this world’s history. I’m sure the same applies in your world, too. It’s not our problem what happens, so long as we get our energy. Besides, it’s better we get in before Ozma finds a new way to keep us out, like the others have in Kamihama.”

Kyubey turned to Amare. “And Amare Morita…” Kyubey’s gaze was unwavering. “You know, your mother and father have been worried about you. Now that you’ve decided to return, you should visit them. They miss you.”

Amare glared at him. “What do you care about my parents?”

“I don’t. I just thought you’d like to know. They’ve had a… rough time since you left.”

Amare grimaced. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.” She held out her hand, and a length of chain appeared in it. “Now leave us, before we hurt you!”

“Oh my. I’m sensing some misplaced anger there…”

Yachiyo threw her halberd at Kyubey; the small white creature leaped out of the way just in time, and out the window. Amare immediately ran after it, looking out of the window.

“Do you see him?” Yachiyo asked, standing behind her.

“... No. Bastard got away.” Amare strained her neck forward. Soon her body was over the ledge; before she knew it, her balance started to slip.

“Yachiyo!” she gasped out.

Immediately Yachiyo grabbed Amare by the waist and pulled her in. “I got you!”

She pulled Amare in; a little too hard, it seemed. Before she knew it, Yachiyo had fallen onto her back on the floor, letting out a yelp, Amare falling on top of her.

“Are you okay?!” Amare asked.

“Yeah…” Yachiyo shook her head, before realizing what position she was in. “Oh…”

Amare looked down at her, her long hair falling beside her, Yachiyo’s legs entangled with hers. Amare’s dark eyes stared down at Yachiyo.

“Yachiyo…” Amare gasped out.

“W-what?” came the other girl’s reply.

“... From down here, you look pretty cute.”

“T-thank you.” That was the second time Amare had complimented her, and the second time Yachiyo had blushed.

Amare didn’t move. “What about me?” she asked, looking at her pleadingly.

Yachiyo’s face remained pink. For a moment, her eyes wandered over Amare’s figure. “I, uh, I think you’re cute, too.”

At the mention of “cute,” Amare pouted. “The other you thought I was more than just ‘cute.’”

Yachiyo winced. “Sorry,” she said. “What did she call you? Pretty…?” She looked at Amare’s face, before her eyes wandered down at the rest of her body. “Or… sexy…?”

Amare blushed. “I liked when she called me ‘sexy.’” She looked aside. “She said I looked good in black leather, too,” she muttered.

Now it was Yachiyo’s turn to blush. “O-oh…” The thought of Amare in black leather caused her mind to go off in a dozen tangents. And Amare also had the ability to tie people up in chains…

“Yachiyo.” Amare saying her name caused Yachiyo to come back to the present.

“Yeah?”

Amare’s lip trembled. “I… I just…”

Before she could say more, the door to the room opened.

“There you two areWHOAHOHOWHAT?!”

Yachiyo turned. Tsuruno stood at the entrance, along with Claudine and Mifuyu. Immediately the two girls separated, completely flustered.

“I-it’s not what it looks like…!” Yachiyo began to say.

Mifuyu looked like she had been hit by a train. Claudine for her part seemed mildly amused at the sight. Tsuruno’s jaw may as well have been on the floor.

“It looks like we walked into something,” Claudine said, hand on her hip and a smirk on her face.

“N-no, it’s not like that!” Amare said. “It was an accident, I swear! I just tripped, that’s all.”

“... Hm, okay.” Claudine shrugged it off. “Anyway, we just wanted to say good night. We’re all heading to bed now.”

“I… Okay.” Yachiyo took a deep breath to get herself under control.

“See you tomorrow, then!” Tsuruno ran out of the room. Mifuyu looked at Amare, then closed her eyes and walked out of the room.

“Bonne nuit, you two,” Claudine said. “Try not to stay up too late tonight…” She excused herself.

Soon it was just Yachiyo and Amare in the room once more.

Yachiyo spoke first. “You should head to your room now, Amare.”

“Ah, right.” Amare began making her way out, before stopping in front of Yachiyo.

“Amare?” Yachiyo asked.

“Yachiyo, I…” She paused.

Yachiyo looked aside. “Good night, Amare.”

“Good night…” Soon Yachiyo was all alone in her room.

What a day… She walked over to her window and closed it shut. As she did so, she gazed up at the moon.

“I’ll be home soon, Mifuyu,” she said quietly. “I won’t keep you waiting for long.”

#parallel worlds record #puella magi madoka magica #magia record #madoka magica #the wonderful wizard of oz #fanfiction #yachimifu #yachiyo nanami #princess ozma #dorothy gale #tsuruno yui #uwasa tsuruno #claudine saijo #mifuyu azusa #my writing #text #my post

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