Chapter 155: Dorothy Goes Ho
Oz said to the Tin Man,
"Co see again tomorrow, just like the Scarecrow. A good heart takes ti to shape."
The Tin Man happily stepped back.
Next ca the Lion.
When Oz saw such a large and mighty lion approaching him, his eyes widened slightly, but his expression quickly returned to calm.
The Lion spoke, "I am a cowardly lion. I am afraid of many things, even creatures much smaller than myself. I have co to ask you for courage so that I may truly beco the King of Beasts—just like you, the ruler of this beautiful land!"
Oz pondered for a mont before telling the Lion to return the next day as well.
Finally, Pinocchio stepped forward.
"Great Oz, as you can see, I am a puppet. The Tin Man and the Scarecrow only seek parts of what it ans to be human, but I want to beco a real boy! That way, I will have both a human brain and a human heart."
Oz replied,
"Your wish is quite complicated. Turning you into a real boy is certainly more difficult than giving soone a brain or a heart. I am not sure if I can help you. But co back tomorrow, and I will have an answer for you."
Lastly, there was Aurora, but she had co only to accompany her friends—she had no wishes of her own.
And so, everyone withdrew together.
Leaving the grand room with the Erald Throne, the group walked down the corridor, chatting about their experience.
"I really didn’t expect the great and fearso Oz to be like this! He looks just like a kind and gentle old man," Dorothy said in amazent.
Before eting him, she had thought Oz would either be as terrifying and majestic as the rumors claid or, as Magrito had suggested, a cunning and deceitful fraud.
But the short old man they had just t left an entirely different impression—one that was warm and trustworthy.
"And he's a real, genuine magician," the Lion said.
He recalled Oz’s display of magic—it had been truly astonishing.
"He’s no trickster using illusions," the Tin Man added. "His magic must be even stronger than the Eastern Witch who cursed ."
The Scarecrow sumd it up, "Only a king like him could make the people of Erald City live in such happiness and peace."
After they left, Oz sat back down on his erald throne.
A small pigeon, which had been hiding in the corner of the room, flew over. Amidst a swirl of white mist, the pigeon transford into the figure of a silver-haired boy.
"They seem to like you quite a lot," Rhine said with a smile. "They truly believe that you are a great yet kind magician."
Oz nodded in satisfaction.
"That is all thanks to you, my teacher. Without your guidance, I surely would have resorted to trickery, using terrifying magical illusions to scare them away and brush them off."
Then he asked,
"Teacher, how should I fulfill the wishes of the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Puppet, and the Lion?"
Oz had dared to promise them their wishes because Rhine had assured him that he would handle it.
On a side note, Oz referred to Pinocchio as 'the Wooden Man'—in his view, the puppet belonged in the sa category as the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.
Rhine chuckled.
He recalled how Oz had solved this problem in the original story—but it seed that the current Oz hadn’t thought of it yet.
"Am I about to tell Oz an idea that he himself will co up with in the future?" Rhine found the thought amusing.
"Oz, surely you've noticed by now?" Rhine said. "The Scarecrow isn’t truly without a brain, and the Tin Man isn’t truly without a heart—if he really had no heart, then why would he cross half a kingdom just for the one he loves?"
Oz’s eyes flickered with understanding.
At that mont, Aurora also returned, pushing open the door.
"Teacher, you’re right. All along this journey, I’ve felt that aside from Pinocchio and Dorothy, whose wishes require real magic to fulfill, the other three are only lacking confidence."
Rhine then told Oz,
"Tomorrow, I will help you grant their wishes. Here’s how you should do it...
"But before that, I have a wish to grant first—Dorothy’s wish to go ho."
A soldier led Dorothy to a room and stopped at the door.
"The great magician Rhine, Oz’s teacher, is inside," he said before departing.
Dorothy knocked politely. The door opened on its own.
"Greetings, great magician Rhine!" Dorothy said sincerely. "You are Aurora and Oz’s teacher, right? Can you send back to my holand?"
"Hello, Dorothy. I have heard of your story," Rhine said with a warm smile.
He took out a pair of silver shoes.
"Aurora has already t and gave the shoe she carried. Now that I have both, the magic within them is complete.
"These shoes hold great power—they can take you anywhere in the world within three steps. I will use their magic to send you ho."
With that, Rhine removed his own slippers and slid his bare feet into the silver shoes. He placed a hand on Dorothy’s shoulder, clicked the heels together, and spoke,
"Take us to Dorothy’s holand."
A silver wind swirled around them, lifting them off the ground.
Dorothy felt herself spinning as the wind roared in her ears.
After Rhine took three steps, they landed steadily on solid ground.
"Oh my goodness!"
Dorothy found herself standing on the prairie.
Right in front of her was the new house her uncle had built after the old one was blown away by the storm.
"I’m ho!"
Her uncle was in front of the barn, milking the cows, unaware that Dorothy had returned.
Toto leaped from her arms, barking excitedly.
Just then, Aunt Em stepped out of the house to wash so cabbage. As she looked up, she saw Dorothy and Toto running toward her.
"My dear child!" Aunt Em cried in delight. "Where have you been?"
Dorothy threw her arms around her aunt.
"I just got back from the Land of Oz! Toto too. It’s so good to be ho!"
"What is this place you’re talking about?" Aunt Em asked. "And how did you get back?"
"A kind magician nad Rhine used magic to bring ho!" Dorothy answered happily. She turned to point behind her.
"You see, the magician Rhine is right th—huh? Where did he go?"
The prairie behind her was empty. The silver-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.
"As a great magician, Rhine has likely already left," Dorothy said with a touch of sadness. "With those silver shoes, he can go anywhere in the world within three steps."
Aunt Em’s eyes flickered with recognition at the na. She suddenly gasped.
"Rhine? You an the Sage of Rose Kingdom and White Kingdom?"
"Auntie, you know him?" Dorothy asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
She had no idea about any of this—she only knew that Rhine was Aurora and Oz’s teacher.
"Of course! The stories about that magician are famous," Aunt Em said.
"Can you tell about them?" Dorothy asked eagerly, her curiosity fully sparked.
"That would take hours," Aunt Em said, holding Dorothy tightly and stroking her hair. "But first, tell everything about this 'Land of Oz' you visited."
So Dorothy began recounting her adventures—the Scarecrow who wished for a brain, the Tin Man who longed for a heart, the puppet whose nose grew when he lied, the cowardly Lion, the strong yet kind Aurora, the wise and benevolent Oz, and the great magician who taught them both—Rhine.
"And that’s my story, Aunt Em!" Dorothy concluded. "Now it’s your turn. Tell about Rhine’s past!"
"In the north, there is a kingdom called Rose Kingdom. One day, a magician arrived in its forests…"
Feeling the powerful energy of Dorothy’s wish, Rhine returned to the Land of Oz.
"So, Dorothy is ho now too…"
He looked up at the vast blue sky.
"Maybe it’s almost ti for to go ho as well."
"But first, I must find Maleficent—and before killing her, I need to extract the thod she used to contact the founder of the Witch’s Coven!"
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