The Key (3/3) for kseda
Title: The Key
Author: Amedia
Characters: DG, Cain, Glitch, Queen, Tutor, and Princess Mombi
Pairing: Cain/Glitch
Rating: PG
For: kseda
Word count: 4687
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Imagiquest. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: DG finds a key to a secret room in the Sorceress's Tower. Crossover with Return to Oz.
Author's note: Response to the following portions of kseda's request: "Characters/pairings: Glimbrose/Cain […] I also love DG in all her unimpressed, snarky glory.
Prompts: Magic Gone Wrong, aka 'DG goofs a spell with hilarious/terrifying consequences.' ...I'd actually love something with a Return to Oz infusion, because Princess Mombi freaks me out and I love her."
Beta'd by TODS.
Part One may be found here.
Part Two may be found here.
"You have a lot to answer for, young lady," said the Queen.
Patmol nodded agreement.
"You should not have gone prowling around the Tower with a magical key," continued the Queen. "What sort of magic did you think it would unlock? The Sorceress chose to rebuild that tower as her headquarters precisely because of its legacy of evil! You knew that, DG!"
"Yeah, I'm sure you told me," DG said. "Along with about five thousand other pieces of information that you've dumped on me in the last three weeks with no time to assimilate." Her indignation rose as she continued speaking. "You want to know what I know? I know how to tune a motorcycle. I know how to fix a generator. I know how to fill out applications for art school and how to make a nice collage of the rejection letters. I know how to balance five tables with four people each and keep track of who doesn't want mustard and who wants extra syrup and who needs a refill of sweetened iced tea with no ice. That's what I know."
The Queen's expression softened. "I'm sorry, my angel."
Patmol harrumphed. "I suppose there's no point in haranguing you over what's already happened. We need to start with what we've got and move on. Tell me more about the spell. What color was the light? What pattern did it form?"
DG explained as much as she could remember; Cain, now in human form again, corroborated her account and added a few more details. Finally DG told Patmol how she had tried to remove the spell. "Instead of reversing it, I just made it worse! Now they're both affected."
Her tutor shook his head. "No. They were both affected all along. I've read about this kind of spell. They'll probably change back and forth every few hours until the spell is broken. It's actually impressive that you could change them off-schedule." He looked over at Cain, who had Glitch in his lap and was absent-mindedly rubbing his belly, making him purr. "Oh, now that's just not right," he said with a frown. Cain glared at him.
DG hastily changed the subject with the first question she could think of. "Does Glitch understand what we're saying when he's a cat?"
"To a limited extent, I think, with this kind of spell," said Patmol. "He probably recognizes his name and a few other words. He would also recognize familiar people, familiar places."
Cain nodded agreement. "That's what it was like when I was a dog," he said. "Professor, can you remove the spell?"
Patmol shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. This kind of spell normally comes with a condition that has to be fulfilled in order for the spell to be broken. You'll have to find out what it is."
"Princess Mombi is the one who would know, of course," mused the Queen. "DG, darling, did she give you any indication of what she might want in exchange?"
"She wants to come back into our dimension," said DG. "She said that she really isn't particular otherwise, and would--let me get this right--'consider accepting any reasonable restrictions.'" She delivered the last five words in a fair approximation of Mombi's speech patterns. "You also have to keep in mind that she's only a head now, so there would have to be some sort of accommodations. Like, you know, a life-support system."
"I have an idea," said Patmol unexpectedly. "Tell Princess Mombi we'll grant her request if she reverses the spell, assuming that she accepts the following conditions." He turned to the Queen and added, "Subject to your approval, of course, Your Majesty." He brought out pen and paper and began to write, reading aloud to DG and the Queen as he went along.
******
DG returned to the tower the next morning with Glitch and a German shepherd. Trying to conceal her trepidation, she marched briskly to the door of Mombi's room and opened it with the special key. "You guys wait out here, okay?" Glitch nodded. Cain barked. Glitch patted Cain's head.
"Welcome back, my dear," said Mombi's voice, silky with confidence. "I knew you just couldn't stay away."
"I need your help," said DG without preamble. "I need you to reverse the spell on Cain and Glitch."
"Seems to me you managed to reverse it all by yourself." Mombi sounded amused.
"You know what I mean," DG fumed. "Break it. Remove it. Make it go away so they can both be human at the same time and not turn into dogs or cats or anything."
"That's a lot to ask for, young lady," said Mombi.
"Don't. Call. Me. That. Ever. Again." DG was furious. "I get enough of that from my mother."
"Cool off, firebrand," said Mombi. "Show me what kind of offer you've brought for me."
DG brought over the plans that Patmol had drawn up and held them up in front of Mombi's eyes for her to read. "Hm," she said as she read along. "Hm. Mm-hm. Well. I hadn't thought of that before. Hm." DG waited impatiently as Mombi closed her eyes and thought.
Finally Mombi opened her eyes with startling abruptness and spoke. "Very well. We have a deal. Bring your friends in here."
DG went to the door. "You can come in now," she told Glitch and the dog.
Glitch's eyes widened as he saw Mombi's head. She narrowed her eyes in turn, staring at his zipper. Cain growled softly, moving protectively in front of Glitch. "This won't be hard," Mombi said enigmatically. "All right, Princess, time to undo the spell. Is this how they were originally?"
"No," said DG. "Cain was human and Glitch was a cat."
"Switch them back," ordered Mombi.
DG closed her eyes and concentrated. Moments later, Cain was standing beside a scruffy Himalayan cat.
"Now, listen carefully," said Mombi, turning her eyes toward Cain. "Whenever the two of you switch, there's a moment when you're both human. I'm going to have DG switch you again, and I need you to act very quickly during that moment. In case Glitch can't understand me in his present condition, you'll need to do whatever it takes to get him to cooperate."
"All right," said Cain. "What do I need to do?"
"Kiss him."
Cain looked as if he were going to jump and run. "You want me to kiss Glitch?"
"Right on the lips. And you have to keep kissing him until the spell dissipates. You should both be able to tell." She tilted her head slightly toward DG. "Switch them again now, before he has a chance to change his mind."
DG obeyed. The moment Glitch reappeared in human form, Cain grabbed him by the shoulders and planted a kiss right on his lips. Glitch made a startled noise as if he were trying to squawk, but Cain didn't let go.
Mombi and DG watched in fascination as rays of emerald-green light began to emanate slowly from Cain and Glitch, outlining their bodies.
Glitch appeared to relax and moved closer to Cain, who shifted so that he had his arms around Glitch. Glitch reached up with a hand behind Cain's neck and wrapped the other arm around him.
The green light reached an apex of brightness and then faded away as the spell dissipated; both men ignored it and continued kissing.
Mombi cleared her throat delicately. "Ahem."
"Guys," said DG, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice, "you can stop now." She turned to Mombi. "You don't look surprised."
Mombi raised her eyebrows briefly in a gesture DG had learned to interpret as a shrug. DG laughed, and to her surprise, Mombi joined in. Cain and Glitch, who had finally separated, looked sheepish.
Glitch recovered first. "Thank you, Princess Mombi," he said. "I appreciate your help in breaking the spell."
"You're welcome, young man," she said.
"I don't see why we should be thanking her," grumbled Cain. "She's the one who cursed us in the first place."
"You're welcome, too," said Mombi. He glared at her. "Don't tell me you didn't get something out of it, in the end," she added. Glitch reached out and took Cain's hand, and Cain's expression softened.
******
A week later, DG and Patmol were wrapping up a lesson when he said, "Do you want to see Princess Mombi's new home?"
"Love to, Toto," said DG, then grinned sheepishly. "Professor, I mean."
He frowned, but she could tell he really wasn't angry. "Get your coat, we're going out to Central City."
The driver dropped them off at a major shopping plaza in the city. DG looked around, curious. "Where is she?" In response, Patmol led the way down a side street into an arcade filled with nickelodeon mini-movies and pachinko machines. In the center was a gleaming new machine in the form of a wooden cabinet with a glass top, containing Mombi's head on a red velvet cushion. The sign on the front read in florid script, "Your Fortune Told by Madame Mombi, Witch-Princess of Historic Oz." There was a long line of people waiting to use it.
"A fortune-telling machine?" asked DG. "Like Airofday's?"
"Well, that's where I first got the idea. There's nothing like it in Central City, and I thought it looked like something people would enjoy. But Mombi has put her own spin on it." DG was about to ask what it was when Patmol held a finger to his lips. "Listen," he whispered.
A tired-looking woman had just put in a coin. Gears whirred and clicked, and Mombi's voice, sounding tinny and electronic, said, "What do you wish to ask?"
The woman glared at the line pressing behind her and they backed off a little. Her voice shaky but determined, she asked, "Will I ever find love?"
"A downtrodden, homely, middle-aged spinster like you?" Mombi said derisively. The people in line snickered. "Hey! I'm not talking to you people! Listen up, lady. Believe it or not, my powers tell me that somewhere out there is an even bigger loser than you, just waiting to sweep you off those flat feet. Now get out there and find him!"
"Thank you," said the woman, and walked away. Despite the tone in which Mombi had delivered her news, it was clear that the woman was encouraged; she had squared her slumped shoulders and her eyes were looking ahead instead of down.
"Next!" shouted Mombi. The next person in line stepped forward eagerly.
DG looked at her tutor. "Hey. Mombi looks like she's enjoying herself."
"Enormously," said Patmol.
"Where does the money go?"
"Part goes for rental fees to the arcade owner. The rest is for her to spend as she pleases." He shrugged. "Maybe she'll save up for a new body."
"She actually seems to be doing some good," DG observed.
Patmol smiled. "Yep. Weren't you the one who said it was all about second chances?" he said. "Look, there's a cotton candy stand. I'll treat."
Author: Amedia
Characters: DG, Cain, Glitch, Queen, Tutor, and Princess Mombi
Pairing: Cain/Glitch
Rating: PG
For: kseda
Word count: 4687
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Imagiquest. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: DG finds a key to a secret room in the Sorceress's Tower. Crossover with Return to Oz.
Author's note: Response to the following portions of kseda's request: "Characters/pairings: Glimbrose/Cain […] I also love DG in all her unimpressed, snarky glory.
Prompts: Magic Gone Wrong, aka 'DG goofs a spell with hilarious/terrifying consequences.' ...I'd actually love something with a Return to Oz infusion, because Princess Mombi freaks me out and I love her."
Beta'd by TODS.
Part One may be found here.
Part Two may be found here.
"You have a lot to answer for, young lady," said the Queen.
Patmol nodded agreement.
"You should not have gone prowling around the Tower with a magical key," continued the Queen. "What sort of magic did you think it would unlock? The Sorceress chose to rebuild that tower as her headquarters precisely because of its legacy of evil! You knew that, DG!"
"Yeah, I'm sure you told me," DG said. "Along with about five thousand other pieces of information that you've dumped on me in the last three weeks with no time to assimilate." Her indignation rose as she continued speaking. "You want to know what I know? I know how to tune a motorcycle. I know how to fix a generator. I know how to fill out applications for art school and how to make a nice collage of the rejection letters. I know how to balance five tables with four people each and keep track of who doesn't want mustard and who wants extra syrup and who needs a refill of sweetened iced tea with no ice. That's what I know."
The Queen's expression softened. "I'm sorry, my angel."
Patmol harrumphed. "I suppose there's no point in haranguing you over what's already happened. We need to start with what we've got and move on. Tell me more about the spell. What color was the light? What pattern did it form?"
DG explained as much as she could remember; Cain, now in human form again, corroborated her account and added a few more details. Finally DG told Patmol how she had tried to remove the spell. "Instead of reversing it, I just made it worse! Now they're both affected."
Her tutor shook his head. "No. They were both affected all along. I've read about this kind of spell. They'll probably change back and forth every few hours until the spell is broken. It's actually impressive that you could change them off-schedule." He looked over at Cain, who had Glitch in his lap and was absent-mindedly rubbing his belly, making him purr. "Oh, now that's just not right," he said with a frown. Cain glared at him.
DG hastily changed the subject with the first question she could think of. "Does Glitch understand what we're saying when he's a cat?"
"To a limited extent, I think, with this kind of spell," said Patmol. "He probably recognizes his name and a few other words. He would also recognize familiar people, familiar places."
Cain nodded agreement. "That's what it was like when I was a dog," he said. "Professor, can you remove the spell?"
Patmol shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. This kind of spell normally comes with a condition that has to be fulfilled in order for the spell to be broken. You'll have to find out what it is."
"Princess Mombi is the one who would know, of course," mused the Queen. "DG, darling, did she give you any indication of what she might want in exchange?"
"She wants to come back into our dimension," said DG. "She said that she really isn't particular otherwise, and would--let me get this right--'consider accepting any reasonable restrictions.'" She delivered the last five words in a fair approximation of Mombi's speech patterns. "You also have to keep in mind that she's only a head now, so there would have to be some sort of accommodations. Like, you know, a life-support system."
"I have an idea," said Patmol unexpectedly. "Tell Princess Mombi we'll grant her request if she reverses the spell, assuming that she accepts the following conditions." He turned to the Queen and added, "Subject to your approval, of course, Your Majesty." He brought out pen and paper and began to write, reading aloud to DG and the Queen as he went along.
******
DG returned to the tower the next morning with Glitch and a German shepherd. Trying to conceal her trepidation, she marched briskly to the door of Mombi's room and opened it with the special key. "You guys wait out here, okay?" Glitch nodded. Cain barked. Glitch patted Cain's head.
"Welcome back, my dear," said Mombi's voice, silky with confidence. "I knew you just couldn't stay away."
"I need your help," said DG without preamble. "I need you to reverse the spell on Cain and Glitch."
"Seems to me you managed to reverse it all by yourself." Mombi sounded amused.
"You know what I mean," DG fumed. "Break it. Remove it. Make it go away so they can both be human at the same time and not turn into dogs or cats or anything."
"That's a lot to ask for, young lady," said Mombi.
"Don't. Call. Me. That. Ever. Again." DG was furious. "I get enough of that from my mother."
"Cool off, firebrand," said Mombi. "Show me what kind of offer you've brought for me."
DG brought over the plans that Patmol had drawn up and held them up in front of Mombi's eyes for her to read. "Hm," she said as she read along. "Hm. Mm-hm. Well. I hadn't thought of that before. Hm." DG waited impatiently as Mombi closed her eyes and thought.
Finally Mombi opened her eyes with startling abruptness and spoke. "Very well. We have a deal. Bring your friends in here."
DG went to the door. "You can come in now," she told Glitch and the dog.
Glitch's eyes widened as he saw Mombi's head. She narrowed her eyes in turn, staring at his zipper. Cain growled softly, moving protectively in front of Glitch. "This won't be hard," Mombi said enigmatically. "All right, Princess, time to undo the spell. Is this how they were originally?"
"No," said DG. "Cain was human and Glitch was a cat."
"Switch them back," ordered Mombi.
DG closed her eyes and concentrated. Moments later, Cain was standing beside a scruffy Himalayan cat.
"Now, listen carefully," said Mombi, turning her eyes toward Cain. "Whenever the two of you switch, there's a moment when you're both human. I'm going to have DG switch you again, and I need you to act very quickly during that moment. In case Glitch can't understand me in his present condition, you'll need to do whatever it takes to get him to cooperate."
"All right," said Cain. "What do I need to do?"
"Kiss him."
Cain looked as if he were going to jump and run. "You want me to kiss Glitch?"
"Right on the lips. And you have to keep kissing him until the spell dissipates. You should both be able to tell." She tilted her head slightly toward DG. "Switch them again now, before he has a chance to change his mind."
DG obeyed. The moment Glitch reappeared in human form, Cain grabbed him by the shoulders and planted a kiss right on his lips. Glitch made a startled noise as if he were trying to squawk, but Cain didn't let go.
Mombi and DG watched in fascination as rays of emerald-green light began to emanate slowly from Cain and Glitch, outlining their bodies.
Glitch appeared to relax and moved closer to Cain, who shifted so that he had his arms around Glitch. Glitch reached up with a hand behind Cain's neck and wrapped the other arm around him.
The green light reached an apex of brightness and then faded away as the spell dissipated; both men ignored it and continued kissing.
Mombi cleared her throat delicately. "Ahem."
"Guys," said DG, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice, "you can stop now." She turned to Mombi. "You don't look surprised."
Mombi raised her eyebrows briefly in a gesture DG had learned to interpret as a shrug. DG laughed, and to her surprise, Mombi joined in. Cain and Glitch, who had finally separated, looked sheepish.
Glitch recovered first. "Thank you, Princess Mombi," he said. "I appreciate your help in breaking the spell."
"You're welcome, young man," she said.
"I don't see why we should be thanking her," grumbled Cain. "She's the one who cursed us in the first place."
"You're welcome, too," said Mombi. He glared at her. "Don't tell me you didn't get something out of it, in the end," she added. Glitch reached out and took Cain's hand, and Cain's expression softened.
******
A week later, DG and Patmol were wrapping up a lesson when he said, "Do you want to see Princess Mombi's new home?"
"Love to, Toto," said DG, then grinned sheepishly. "Professor, I mean."
He frowned, but she could tell he really wasn't angry. "Get your coat, we're going out to Central City."
The driver dropped them off at a major shopping plaza in the city. DG looked around, curious. "Where is she?" In response, Patmol led the way down a side street into an arcade filled with nickelodeon mini-movies and pachinko machines. In the center was a gleaming new machine in the form of a wooden cabinet with a glass top, containing Mombi's head on a red velvet cushion. The sign on the front read in florid script, "Your Fortune Told by Madame Mombi, Witch-Princess of Historic Oz." There was a long line of people waiting to use it.
"A fortune-telling machine?" asked DG. "Like Airofday's?"
"Well, that's where I first got the idea. There's nothing like it in Central City, and I thought it looked like something people would enjoy. But Mombi has put her own spin on it." DG was about to ask what it was when Patmol held a finger to his lips. "Listen," he whispered.
A tired-looking woman had just put in a coin. Gears whirred and clicked, and Mombi's voice, sounding tinny and electronic, said, "What do you wish to ask?"
The woman glared at the line pressing behind her and they backed off a little. Her voice shaky but determined, she asked, "Will I ever find love?"
"A downtrodden, homely, middle-aged spinster like you?" Mombi said derisively. The people in line snickered. "Hey! I'm not talking to you people! Listen up, lady. Believe it or not, my powers tell me that somewhere out there is an even bigger loser than you, just waiting to sweep you off those flat feet. Now get out there and find him!"
"Thank you," said the woman, and walked away. Despite the tone in which Mombi had delivered her news, it was clear that the woman was encouraged; she had squared her slumped shoulders and her eyes were looking ahead instead of down.
"Next!" shouted Mombi. The next person in line stepped forward eagerly.
DG looked at her tutor. "Hey. Mombi looks like she's enjoying herself."
"Enormously," said Patmol.
"Where does the money go?"
"Part goes for rental fees to the arcade owner. The rest is for her to spend as she pleases." He shrugged. "Maybe she'll save up for a new body."
"She actually seems to be doing some good," DG observed.
Patmol smiled. "Yep. Weren't you the one who said it was all about second chances?" he said. "Look, there's a cotton candy stand. I'll treat."