"I see parody as another form of comedy."

—Bruce Campbell

Preface

Inspired by the final four-part arc for season five from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I wanted to write something similar, but in a different setting. Because I'm writing and posting these chapters in advance of the corresponding episodes, I'm curious to see how my version compares with the Star Wars version, and how each story turns out in terms of plausibility and the final outcome.

I originally wrote this in 2013, and I reformatted it in 2014. In 2015, I've added an epigram, this preface, and further reformatted the story to be more consistent with my current writing style.

Acknowledgments

Although most—if not all—of Baum's Oz books are in the public domain, I'm grateful for his characters and stories that inspired this one.

As a new morning began in the land of Oz, the sun was out, the birds chirped happily, and all the creatures eagerly looked forward to the new day.

Ozma finished freshening up, and she changed into her royal apparel. She then went next door to greet her friend and fellow princess, Dorothy. Oddly, a knock on the door produced no response from the inside.

"Dorothy?" Ozma asked with slight concern.

There was still no answer.

Ozma felt concerned now. She checked the door. Discovering it was unlocked, she opened it, and she entered the room. Dorothy was sound asleep in her bed, as if it was still the middle of the night.

"Dorothy, wake up," Ozma said as she gently nudged Dorothy's shoulder. Dorothy, however, did not budge.

Ozma's concern slowly turned into worry. However, she had an idea. She went to fetch the magic belt. As much as she hated to wake Dorothy this way, she didn't know what else to do. She put the magic belt on, and then she returned to Dorothy's room. Ozma then took a deep breath as she looked at Dorothy.

"I command you to wake up," she stated.

Dorothy remained asleep, much to Ozma's dismay. She was still breathing, however, so Ozma knew she was still alive.

Now a bit panicked, Ozma tried to figure out what to do next.

"Your highness, are you going to have breakfast?" a voice asked, interrupting her. It was the servant girl, Jellia Jamb.

"Jellia, you nearly scared me," Ozma confessed.

"I'm sorry, your highness," Jellia apologized sincerely.

"Something's wrong with Dorothy. She won't wake up. Contact Glinda for me. I may need her help."

Jellia nodded and did as she was asked.

When Glinda heard about what happened at Ozma's palace, she left for the Emerald City at once. Upon Glinda's arrival, Ozma further explained the situation. Glinda asked to be alone with Dorothy. There, she spent the time using her own magic in an attempt to learn what had happened.

After a short period, Glinda opened the door and left Dorothy's room.

"Did you wake her up?" Ozma asked.

Glinda shook her head no. "I'm sorry, Ozma, but she will not wake up, no matter what I try. Someone has put her under a very powerful dark spell," she replied.

"What do we do now?"

"Did you recently encounter any illegal magic practitioners?"

Ozma pondered the question before she answered, "No. It's been very quiet in the Emerald City. We haven't even traveled outside its borders for weeks."

"This is very peculiar." Glinda became more perplexed by the situation. "Tell me, is the Wizard around?" she asked.

Ozma nodded. "He should be out in the courtyard," she replied.

"I wish to speak to him. Maybe one of his spells didn't work."

The Wizard stood outside in the courtyard. Every morning, he practiced some of his favorite magic tricks. Occasionally, he tried to learn new tricks so that others wouldn't think he was the humbug wizard he once was. At the moment, the sight of both Glinda and Ozma walking towards him surprised him.

"Glinda, what brings you here?" he asked curiously.

"Not pleasure, unfortunately," Glinda replied. "Dorothy is asleep and won't wake up. She's under the influence of magic so strong, my normal spells can't break it," she explained.

"Oh my, that's dreadful."

"Have you tried any new spells this morning?"

The Wizard was taken aback by the question. He finally told her, "Well let me think. I did my usual morning sunlight spell. I did my good fortune incantation. I put together my sword and took it back apart for the exercise. No, I don't think I did anything out of the ordinary."

"Is there any chance you mispronounced something or used the wrong combination of magic?"

"I don't know," the Wizard answered truthfully. The questions started to concern him.

Glinda, realizing she wasn't quite prepared for a full-scale investigation, decided she needed to prepare for one. "I need to return to the Quadling Country. I need more of my own magical items to determine what's happened. In the meantime, I must ask you to stop practicing magic," she stated.

"You can't be serious!" the Wizard protested. "I'm licensed to practice my magic here," he reminded Glinda.

"That may be, but until we get to the bottom of this, we must keep all magic to a minimum."

The Wizard looked nervous, but he reluctantly agreed.

Later in the day, Ozma waited for Glinda to return. Elsewhere, the Wizard sat in his private room. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

Say, I could try using my own magic to see if I can learn what happened to Dorothy. Surely Glinda would approve of that, he thought.

He opened a cupboard and pulled out a small cauldron. After filling it with water, he then produced some magic powder and poured it in as he put the cauldron over an open flame. Next, he looked for his book of magic spells to look for an appropriate spell. He was all set to begin an incantation when he heard commotion at his door. Before he could go to open it, Glinda opened it herself. Joining her was two of her own guards.

"Guards, you shall seize the Wizard at once. He has gone back on his word, so I need to know he will practice no more magic," Glinda ordered them.

The Wizard, wishing to avoid more trouble, surrendered himself willfully. Glinda produced a magic rope and tied it tightly around the Wizard's waist. "The rope can only be tied or untied by me. As long as you wear it, you will no longer be able to practice any magic," she told him.

"Is this really necessary?" the Wizard asked half-pleadingly.

"I'm sorry, old friend. But, you've given me no other choice until I can complete my investigation."

Glinda's guards escorted the Wizard to the prison house. Unlike most prisons, this one was furnished as any other house. However, the Wizard was not too pleased to be escorted in diamond-studded handcuffs. He also wore a white prisoner's robe that covered his entire body, aside from eye holes. He was thankful nobody knew it was him under the robe. Once inside the prison, he decided to pass the time reading from one of the many books available.

Meanwhile, Glinda reported back to Ozma.

"I can't believe the Wizard would disobey you. What happens now?" Ozma asked.

"I will conduct my investigation. I have all the materials I need and I will look around and interview everyone to see what I might find out," Glinda replied.

"What about the Wizard?"

"I don't foresee him being in custody long. I plan to prove he's not responsible first so he can be freed as soon as possible. I also need to ask him more questions about his morning spells and what he was trying to do when I found him earlier."

"Oh good," Ozma replied as she breathed a sigh of relief.

All the while, Dorothy remained in her enchanted sleep.