Marvelous Lands

Oz walked towards Pumperdink in silence, tapping his cane on the ground with each step. As he continued to walk forward he could hear a faint sound. As he got closer it got louder.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

It was some sort of strange screech. It sounded like nothing Oz had ever heard before. It grew louder and louder until Oz could finally see the creature. It was a strange beast with the head of a howler monkey, the body of a snake, and the claws of a panther. It was caked in dried blood. Oz raised his staff to fight it, but he looked closer. The blood was from the creature itself. Its cries were from pain. Oz moved slowly and got closer to the creature to get a better look. Upon further inspection, it was clear something about the creature was just wrong. Its limbs were in unnatural positions, its scales were misshapen, and its teeth were bent in ways teeth don't bend. As the creature continued to howl, Oz realized why its howls sounded strange to him. Its voice was a mix of several beasts and a human. Oz's eyes went wide in shock.

"No way... no one would do something that cruel right? Still, have to at least try." He muttered to himself before clearing his voice and looking directly at the creature.

"Hey, if you can understand my words at all, I'm going to try to break your curse, if you have one. It will be far easier if you stay still." The creature stared at him before sitting as best it could. Oz put his hand on its head and surged his magic through it. Emerald bolts surged from Oz's hand throughout the beast. The emerald bolts surrounded a strange purple magic coursing throughout the creature.

"Forced Transformation huh? Guess I was right..." Oz's magic grabbed hold of the purple magic and attempted to rip it apart. However, the magic was unaffected, and pain shot through Oz's entire body.

"AGGH!" As Oz trembled in pain he could see the silhouette of the witch who cast the spell. This was already odd, but he could then hear the woman talking through the spell somehow.

"Magic alteration on this level? No, Magic Destruction actually? Interesting. It probably would have worked, if I was not the one who cast the spell on this fool. Now, writhe in agony as you fail to save him! AHHAHAHAHAAH!" As the woman's cackles rang through his ears and pain racked his body Oz started to chuckle himself.

"Heh. I can't destroy your magic in that case, I'll just move it!" His magic wrapped around all of the witch's magic, and he pulled back. The purple magic was condensed into a single bolt that shot into Oz. Oz was launched far away from the creature, crashing into a tree, and splitting it into two. Oz grunted in pain before using his cane to push himself back on his feet. He walked towards where the creature stood, but when he got back the creature was now a man. The man was quite short and held a gold key that was strangely large for a key. He was wearing a strange pointed hat, black pointed shoes, a black coat with green sleeves, a black shirt with green buttons, and green spectacle glasses. The man was nearly crying.

"Th-thank you so much kind sir! I was stuck like that for years! You are my savior!" Oz grinned a bit.

"No problem friend. Mind telling me who you are?" The man did a strange salute before answering.

"Right! I'm the Guardian of the Gates! I'm supposed to defend the Emerald City! Though I suppose I haven't done the best job of that so far..."

"How did you end up here then?"

"W-well, actually when the King, Queen, and their child disappeared Oz slowly fell apart. The Emerald City stood as our last bastion of hope, but our forces were stretched thin trying to combat the many witches who rose to ravage the Land. The Emerald City can be made to blind intruders, so we were able to weather several attacks until she showed up..."

"She? You wouldn't be talking about Mombi would you?"

"The Wicked Witch of the North is the one I am talking about, yes. She showed up one day and with a single snap of her fingers, our defenses vanished. The Emerald City was overrun and many of us were either enslaved or ran out. Well, those who weren't killed were anyway. I nearly got out unscathed, but a stray bolt from Mombi turned me into, well it turned me into the beast you saw. I wandered this country for years until you found me. Once again you have my thanks, sir!" The man bowed his head to Oz.

"Oh, well I'm glad I was able to help! What do you plan to do now?"

"I don't know... if you don't mind me asking who are you, sir?" Oz grinned.

"I'm Oz in human form."

"Oh ok then. Nice to meet-" the Guardian of the Gates blinked.

"WHAT?! YOU'RE OZ!"

"Yep. Sorry it took me so long. Making a body that could interact with this world took even me so long"

"It's- it's no problem OZ! You saving me at all was enough! My prayers have been answered!" Oz turned his head and rolled his eyes before turning back towards the Guardian of the Gates with a warm smile.

"Well, you said you have no plans for the time being right? If so I recently saved a village, you could stay there for now. If you have a map on you I could show you where it is.

"Oh yes, please! Thank you OZ." The man fumbled around with his pockets until he pulled out his map. Oz took out a pen and circled where the village was.

"Oh before you go let me call the follower I left in charge, don't want your arrival to be a surprise." He fiddled with the gold end of his staff and it made an odd ringing noise. Soon Chalk's voice could be heard coming out of the staff.

"What do you want?" Chalk's tone was dry and a bit bothered.

"Well my  most loyal follower, I am sending a fellow I just saved to you! He's the Guardian of the Gates from the Emerald City! He has a large gold key and green glasses." Chalk was rolling her eyes, not that Oz or the Guardian of the Gates could see her. She was sure to change her tone though.

"Oh, well I would expect no less from you Lord OZ! Quite amazing! I'll tell the others to be on the lookout for your guest!" She now actually sounded like a fanatical follower. Oz was a bit disturbed by this.

'Creepy' he thought to himself. The Guardian of the Gates turned to leave before quickly turning back around.

"Oh before I leave I think I have something that could help you OZ!"

"Oh, what is it?"

"Well, you said you're body is still that of a human right? I was able to sneak away some books of ancient magic, maybe they'll help you. I can't make heads or tails of them..." Oz thought to himself. He wanted to take those books. He wanted them really badly but...

'I can't risk it. For all I know he's trying to test me, I'm supposed to be the God of Magic. I really don't want anyone else questioning me. Having to tell Chalk my secret is one person too many. Even if he's not testing me it might look odd to those not already devoted to me... I can't risk it.'

"Just keep them. I'm still the God of Magic! I'm sure they would do someone else more good!" He said this with a strained smile.

"Well, if you're sure... Anyways thank you for everything OZ!" The Guardian of the Gates walked off and this time did not turn around. Oz started to walk towards Pumperdink, before collapsing to his knees. His face slowly turned into that of a monkey's. his body into that of a snake's, and his arms into that of a panther. He let out a pained roar before he flashed with Emerald Magic and he returned to normal.

"I don't need the help of others, can't trust them anyways. I just need something or someone to dump this curse on." Oz hurried to his destination.

As Oz walked off Mombi, who was hidden in shadow, was using a crystal ball to view Oz fighting the Yoops. As long as her curse flowed through him she had a limited connection to his memories.

"Ah so that's why those two went silent. After I was so kind to disappear they go off and die... oh well." She cracked a wicked grin.

"I'll plunge that man into despair! I wonder how'll he react if he comes back to that village only to find corpses! Still, I can't go myself so I wonder... which beast should I send?!" As she smiled at the thought of massacring the village, a loud crash could be heard above her. She shouted at the source of the sound.

"Quite boy! Or else I will turn you into a toad!" She then picked up a book before flipping through it, taking time to read through each entry.

"Ah, what the heck, it has been too long anyway! I'll go out!" She engaged in full-blown cackling as magic coursed through her veins.

"I'll send them all!"

Eventually, Oz finally made it to the Kingdom of PumperDink. He was met with a strange sight immediately, as the Kingdom was surrounded by a stone wall with several people stuck in the walls they were making pained sounds, long losing the will to scream.

"Please...King...Pompus...I...Apologize..." Oz looked upon those in the wall with concern. He went out to touch it but was stopped by a strange stone creature.

"HALT!" It had a boulder for a head, a much larger boulder for its main body, and limbs made of floating stones connected through magic.

"Visitor, I am Stone Guardian #1131. In the name of King Pompus, do not touch the wall. You are free to enter the kingdom, but you must immediately report to the castle. If you wish to proceed please follow me." Oz looked at the Guardian and realized it was being completely automated by magic. It could speak, but it had no actual will. It was not actually alive.

"What if I touch the wall anyway?"

"I will terminate you." With a smug smile, Oz put his finger on the wall while maintaining eye contact with the Stone Guardian. It rushed towards him with a punch. Oz dodged and put his hand on the Guardian's chest and the purple magic of Mombi's curse surged through the Stone Guardian, transforming it into a stone version of the creature the Guardian of the Gates was turned into. Since automated magic has to be specific to a creature's form, the Stone Guardian was rendered immovable.

"Well, the curse is gone now. Still, this looks tough..." He cracked a smile.

"Oh well. I enjoy a good challenge!" He thought for a bit before turning back and touched the wall. Magic shot out from his arm to his hand and then surged through the wall. This particular spell allowed him to speak to all those stuck in the wall.

"Listen up. I don't have much time, but I am Oz in human form. If I free you all will you swear loyalty to me?" Though the reply was weak, the answer was the same throughout the entire wall.

"Yes...OZ...I...Swear." Everyone in the wall said the same thing at slightly different times. Oz then surged his magic through the wall once more. He saw the grey magic that was holding the wall together. It was massive and powerful but..,

'Nothing compared to Mombi... she really is a monster huh?' as he thought this he destroyed the magic effortlessly, destroying the wall and freeing everyone in it. He cracked a wide smile as he communicated his first order to the now-freed people.

"Now everyone, we storm the castle!" As everyone charged forward Oz pushed to the front as he led them all.

'Too easy!' he thought.