Fic: The Key (1/3)
Title: The Key
Author: Amedia
Characters: DG, Cain, Glitch, Queen, Tutor, and Princess Mombi
Pairing: Cain/Glitch
Rating: PG
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: Written for the demilos_wagon yuletide exchange as a gift for kseda, in response to the following portions of her 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."
Originally posted here.
Beta'd by TODS.
When DG first learned that she was a princess, she was horrified by the prospect. She had a vague notion from storybooks that princesses spent their time sitting around castles in beautiful gowns. She wasn't sure what else they did--embroidery, possibly, or making lace--but she was reasonably certain that it would be boring and girly-girly and she wouldn't enjoy it.
A few weeks after the eclipse, however, she found herself standing in a corridor holding a clipboard, with her hair in a ponytail and a pencil behind one ear, supervising an inventory of the Sorceress's Tower. Barking orders to a burly team of former Longcoats who meekly obeyed her every word was not the most exciting thing in the world, but it was a lot better than her expectation of sitting around in a pink dress making doilies. "Seven-A-West team, let's get a move on!" she shouted.
A tall bald man emerged from a nearby room. "We found an item of interest, Princess," he said. "We thought we should turn it over to you."
Damn right, thought DG, but instead she said, "Very good, Dell," and held out her hand. He dropped a small object into it. It was a small ruby key that shimmered with a distinct air of magic.
DG looked up at him. "Where did you find this?"
"On the top of a tall cabinet, Princess," he said. "Not on the top shelf, you understand, but atop the cabinet itself. There was nothing else up there. I can show you if you'd like."
"No, that's all right," she said, making a note on her clipboard. "Tell your men that I appreciate their thoroughness. It won't go unrewarded."
"Thank you, Princess," he murmured, and went back to his team. DG stared some more at the key. What did it open, she wondered, and why would a key need to be magical? Non-magic keys worked just fine. She was supposed to turn the most important finds over to a central office, but she didn't want to just hand the key over; it was the most interesting thing she had seen all day. She slipped it into her pocket.
******
DG kept her teams working late; they were nearly done with their section and she wanted to finish that day. She missed dinner with the family and got herself a sandwich from the kitchen despite the protestations of the staff, who wanted to fix her a hot meal. While she was munching her dinner, she wondered whether she should go find her mother and show her the key, or perhaps show it to Toto. She generally remembered to call him Professor Patmol during lessons, but she still thought of him by the nickname she had bestowed in childhood. She yawned. Plenty of time for that tomorrow.
Before she went to bed she took the key out and looked at it again. It glimmered in her hand, posing a mystery and promising to unlock it. On an impulse, she put it under her pillow. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes.
A moment after closing her eyes, she opened them to find herself standing in a circular, dimly-lit room. It was lined with white cabinets, the upper halves of which were glass-fronted. The cabinets appeared to contain lifelike sculptures of the heads of beautiful women. Curious, DG approached closer and peered at the nearest head.
It wasn't a sculpture. It was real. DG gasped and took a step backward. At the sound, the head's eyes snapped open and focused on DG, who stood open-mouthed in horror. The head began to scream, emitting a high-pitched wordless shriek.
All the other heads awoke and began screaming as well. DG tried to back away, but every step away from one shrieking head only took her closer to another. From a nearby curtained alcove there came rustling sounds, like a person getting out of bed. When the curtains parted, a woman emerged, tall and elegant, dressed in a sumptuous satin nightgown. With a sickening shock, DG realized that that the woman was only a body; there was no head atop its shoulders. The body lurched around the room with its hands out, apparently trying to open a cabinet and obtain a head. DG froze, unable to move. She watched in silent horror, stifling the urge to scream; even her own breathing sounded loud in her ears. Suddenly the body stopped its quest for a cabinet and turned toward DG instead.
DG tried to turn, to run, even to scream, but she could do none of these things. "Don't want this," she whispered, and found that she could whisper. "I don't want to be here," she whispered fiercely, and closed her eyes.
She opened her eyes again and found herself in bed. She looked around at her familiar surroundings and sighed with relief. Pulling the key out from under the pillow, she put it in a drawer of the nightstand and went back to sleep. In the morning, she hardly even remembered that she had had a nightmare.
******
The Queen and the Professor were in an extended meeting and were not to be disturbed. Ahamo had taken Azkadellia away on a holiday, hoping to improve her recovery; Raw had gone with them. DG wandered around the palace with the key in her pocket, looking for someone to consult and finally ran into Glitch, who was on his way to Cain's office to deliver a report on security. "Hey, Glitch," said DG, falling in with him. "What do you know about magic keys?"
Glitch held out his free hand and DG dropped the key into it. He examined it closely as they walked along. "Where did you find this?"
"One of the teams sweeping Az's Tower found it on top of a cabinet in the administrative section."
He handed it back to her. "Have you tried it out?"
"Where?" DG asked. "I already have keys to all the rooms there."
Glitch shook his head. "This kind of key would open a different room. I mean, if you used your regular key, you would get one room, and if you used the magical key, well, when you opened that same door you would see something different. It's like a portal into another dimension." He temporarily abandoned his scientific tone to add, "It's really cool!"
"Wow," said DG. She stole a glance sideways as they rounded a corner. "Did you invent it?" she asked with a grin.
"No," he said seriously. "This is very ancient magic." They came to Cain's office and Glitch knocked on the open door to announce their presence. "Ancient and dangerous," he clarified.
Cain looked up from his desk. "What's ancient and dangerous, Glitch? Oh, hi, Princess."
"Hi, Mr. Cain," DG said. "Glitch was giving me some background on a key that was found in the Tower." She held it up for him to see. "He thinks it might open a secret room in the Tower."
Glitch put the security report on Cain's desk. "To be more precise, I suspect it would open up a portal to a room in another dimension," he said. "Which could be pretty nifty, when you think about it."
"Possibly nifty," said Cain. "Definitely dangerous."
"Well, yes, I suppose so," Glitch agreed reluctantly. "DG, you'll let us know when you decide to try it out, right?"
"How about right now?" DG asked, suddenly very curious.
"Have you consulted the Queen about this? Or the Professor?" asked Cain.
DG looked down. "They're not available," she mumbled. "They could be in that meeting all day! And then you know they'll take the key away and send someone else to check it out."
"That's what I would do in their place," said Cain. DG frowned at him, and he smiled suddenly. "But I also know what I would do in your place, and I know there's no stopping you. Come on, Glitch, let's go along and keep her out of trouble. If that's possible."
Part Two
Author: Amedia
Characters: DG, Cain, Glitch, Queen, Tutor, and Princess Mombi
Pairing: Cain/Glitch
Rating: PG
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: Written for the demilos_wagon yuletide exchange as a gift for kseda, in response to the following portions of her 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."
Originally posted here.
Beta'd by TODS.
When DG first learned that she was a princess, she was horrified by the prospect. She had a vague notion from storybooks that princesses spent their time sitting around castles in beautiful gowns. She wasn't sure what else they did--embroidery, possibly, or making lace--but she was reasonably certain that it would be boring and girly-girly and she wouldn't enjoy it.
A few weeks after the eclipse, however, she found herself standing in a corridor holding a clipboard, with her hair in a ponytail and a pencil behind one ear, supervising an inventory of the Sorceress's Tower. Barking orders to a burly team of former Longcoats who meekly obeyed her every word was not the most exciting thing in the world, but it was a lot better than her expectation of sitting around in a pink dress making doilies. "Seven-A-West team, let's get a move on!" she shouted.
A tall bald man emerged from a nearby room. "We found an item of interest, Princess," he said. "We thought we should turn it over to you."
Damn right, thought DG, but instead she said, "Very good, Dell," and held out her hand. He dropped a small object into it. It was a small ruby key that shimmered with a distinct air of magic.
DG looked up at him. "Where did you find this?"
"On the top of a tall cabinet, Princess," he said. "Not on the top shelf, you understand, but atop the cabinet itself. There was nothing else up there. I can show you if you'd like."
"No, that's all right," she said, making a note on her clipboard. "Tell your men that I appreciate their thoroughness. It won't go unrewarded."
"Thank you, Princess," he murmured, and went back to his team. DG stared some more at the key. What did it open, she wondered, and why would a key need to be magical? Non-magic keys worked just fine. She was supposed to turn the most important finds over to a central office, but she didn't want to just hand the key over; it was the most interesting thing she had seen all day. She slipped it into her pocket.
******
DG kept her teams working late; they were nearly done with their section and she wanted to finish that day. She missed dinner with the family and got herself a sandwich from the kitchen despite the protestations of the staff, who wanted to fix her a hot meal. While she was munching her dinner, she wondered whether she should go find her mother and show her the key, or perhaps show it to Toto. She generally remembered to call him Professor Patmol during lessons, but she still thought of him by the nickname she had bestowed in childhood. She yawned. Plenty of time for that tomorrow.
Before she went to bed she took the key out and looked at it again. It glimmered in her hand, posing a mystery and promising to unlock it. On an impulse, she put it under her pillow. She climbed into bed and closed her eyes.
A moment after closing her eyes, she opened them to find herself standing in a circular, dimly-lit room. It was lined with white cabinets, the upper halves of which were glass-fronted. The cabinets appeared to contain lifelike sculptures of the heads of beautiful women. Curious, DG approached closer and peered at the nearest head.
It wasn't a sculpture. It was real. DG gasped and took a step backward. At the sound, the head's eyes snapped open and focused on DG, who stood open-mouthed in horror. The head began to scream, emitting a high-pitched wordless shriek.
All the other heads awoke and began screaming as well. DG tried to back away, but every step away from one shrieking head only took her closer to another. From a nearby curtained alcove there came rustling sounds, like a person getting out of bed. When the curtains parted, a woman emerged, tall and elegant, dressed in a sumptuous satin nightgown. With a sickening shock, DG realized that that the woman was only a body; there was no head atop its shoulders. The body lurched around the room with its hands out, apparently trying to open a cabinet and obtain a head. DG froze, unable to move. She watched in silent horror, stifling the urge to scream; even her own breathing sounded loud in her ears. Suddenly the body stopped its quest for a cabinet and turned toward DG instead.
DG tried to turn, to run, even to scream, but she could do none of these things. "Don't want this," she whispered, and found that she could whisper. "I don't want to be here," she whispered fiercely, and closed her eyes.
She opened her eyes again and found herself in bed. She looked around at her familiar surroundings and sighed with relief. Pulling the key out from under the pillow, she put it in a drawer of the nightstand and went back to sleep. In the morning, she hardly even remembered that she had had a nightmare.
******
The Queen and the Professor were in an extended meeting and were not to be disturbed. Ahamo had taken Azkadellia away on a holiday, hoping to improve her recovery; Raw had gone with them. DG wandered around the palace with the key in her pocket, looking for someone to consult and finally ran into Glitch, who was on his way to Cain's office to deliver a report on security. "Hey, Glitch," said DG, falling in with him. "What do you know about magic keys?"
Glitch held out his free hand and DG dropped the key into it. He examined it closely as they walked along. "Where did you find this?"
"One of the teams sweeping Az's Tower found it on top of a cabinet in the administrative section."
He handed it back to her. "Have you tried it out?"
"Where?" DG asked. "I already have keys to all the rooms there."
Glitch shook his head. "This kind of key would open a different room. I mean, if you used your regular key, you would get one room, and if you used the magical key, well, when you opened that same door you would see something different. It's like a portal into another dimension." He temporarily abandoned his scientific tone to add, "It's really cool!"
"Wow," said DG. She stole a glance sideways as they rounded a corner. "Did you invent it?" she asked with a grin.
"No," he said seriously. "This is very ancient magic." They came to Cain's office and Glitch knocked on the open door to announce their presence. "Ancient and dangerous," he clarified.
Cain looked up from his desk. "What's ancient and dangerous, Glitch? Oh, hi, Princess."
"Hi, Mr. Cain," DG said. "Glitch was giving me some background on a key that was found in the Tower." She held it up for him to see. "He thinks it might open a secret room in the Tower."
Glitch put the security report on Cain's desk. "To be more precise, I suspect it would open up a portal to a room in another dimension," he said. "Which could be pretty nifty, when you think about it."
"Possibly nifty," said Cain. "Definitely dangerous."
"Well, yes, I suppose so," Glitch agreed reluctantly. "DG, you'll let us know when you decide to try it out, right?"
"How about right now?" DG asked, suddenly very curious.
"Have you consulted the Queen about this? Or the Professor?" asked Cain.
DG looked down. "They're not available," she mumbled. "They could be in that meeting all day! And then you know they'll take the key away and send someone else to check it out."
"That's what I would do in their place," said Cain. DG frowned at him, and he smiled suddenly. "But I also know what I would do in your place, and I know there's no stopping you. Come on, Glitch, let's go along and keep her out of trouble. If that's possible."
Part Two